Born Mary Elizabeth Hartman in Youngstown, OH; educated at Carnegie Tech. Fragile leading lady of stage and screen, usually in sensitive roles. Nominated for an Academy Award for her very first movie role, as a blind girl in A PATCH OF BLUE (1965). At the time of her Academy Award nomination in 1966, Hartman was the youngest nominee ever in the category of Best Actress. She was 22 years old at the time. Other notable screen credits include THE GROUP and YOU'RE A BIG BOY NOW (both 1966), THE FIXER (1968), PURSUIT OF TREASURE (1970), THE BEGUILED (1971), and WALKING TALL (1973). Plagued by acute depression and insecurity as she saw her once promising career decline sharply within a decade, she turned into a virtual recluse. Her last work was a voice-over job in the animated film THE SECRET OF NIMH (1982). Nothing had been heard of Hartman for years until 10 June 1987, when it was reported that she had thrown herself out of a fifth-floor apartment window in Pittsburgh, PA. Divorced for three years at the time of her death, it was learned that she had been an outpatient at a psychiatric hospital in Pittsburgh and had called her doctor earlier that day informing him that she was despondent. A sad end to an extremely bright and beautiful talent.  Nominated for Actress 1965: A PATCH OF BLUE 1 nomination