#Evelyn Mchale

[morbidology]

On May 1, 1947, Evelyn McHale, a 23-year-old woman, leapt to her death from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building in New York City. Her death, immortalized by a haunting photograph, became one of the most iconic images of the 20th century and is often referred to as "the most beautiful suicide."

Evelyn McHale was born on September 20, 1923, in Berkeley, California. After her parents' divorce, she moved to Tuckahoe, New York, with her father and siblings. Evelyn joined the Women's Army Corps and was stationed in Jefferson City, Missouri, during World War II. After her service, she moved to New York City, where she worked as a bookkeeper at the Kitab Engraving Company.

Evelyn was engaged to Barry Rhodes, a college student and ex-GI who lived in Pennsylvania. The couple planned to marry, and by all accounts, their relationship appeared happy and stable. However, beneath the surface, Evelyn struggled with deep emotional turmoil.

On the morning of May 1, 1947, Evelyn visited Barry in Pennsylvania to celebrate his birthday. After returning to New York City, she went to the Empire State Building. She bought a ticket to the observation deck and, after spending a few moments there, climbed over the railing and jumped.

Evelyn's body landed on the roof of a United Nations limousine parked on 34th Street. Just minutes after her death, photography student Robert Wiles happened to be nearby and captured an eerily serene photograph of her body. In the image, Evelyn appears to be peacefully asleep, her legs crossed at the ankles, with one hand clutching her pearl necklace.

This photograph was published in Life magazine and quickly became famous. The haunting image, combined with the apparent calmness and beauty of Evelyn's repose, led to it being dubbed "the most beautiful suicide."

Evelyn left behind a suicide note, found in her purse at the observation deck. In it, she expressed her deep despair and requested that her body not be viewed or held in a public funeral. She wrote:

"I don’t want anyone in or out of my family to see any part of me. Could you destroy my body by cremation? I beg of you and my family – don’t have any service for me or remembrance for me. My fiancé asked me to marry him in June. I don’t think I would make a good wife for anybody. He is much better off without me. Tell my father, I have too many of my mother’s tendencies."

[ewanmcgregorforcemasc]

Sure, we were cynics from the start Spell-bound, still safe as houses Now pander we down for your hearts

[dreams-of-mutiny]

Evelyn McHale, 1947.

[inksplashgirl]

beautiful

Lipstick

Pearls

Gloves

Cradled in metal

Sleeping in tragedy

Beautiful,

They say.

Yet

What is beautiful

About hurting so exquisitely

You could leap off the

Eighty-sixth floor

And feeling so hideous

You begged that you

Be burned in death

And burned she was

Into history’s memory

As

the most beautiful suicide.

[wildoute]

[giornoxgiorno]

Il 1 maggio 1947 Evelyn McHale si suicida buttandosi dall’86esimo piano dell’Empire State Building. Atterra sul tettuccio di una limousine e un passante scatta questa foto. 

[thesiouxzy]

“Barry became an engineer and eventually moved south. He died in Melbourne, Florida on October 9th, 2007 at the age of 86. He never married.

Robert Wiles never published another photograph.”

[never-dim-your-light]

I would usually include a link to various points of sources etc. However this is different. I wrote my own summary and to provide photos is not appropriate.

In the last few years, the infamous Evelyn McHale photograph appears to have resurfaced. The morbid homages made to the photograph over the last 77 years have ranged from Andy Warhol's appropriated photo & his silkscreens, to music videos, album covers, fashion layouts and modelling campaigns. The truly ironic and most tragically horrifying part, is that she worried about not being good enough and feared that she had in her, the same tendancies towards depression that plagued her mother. Very often, trauma to a body can be non apparent at first glance. Even sudden impact of a fall, is dependant on many factors. But bones breaking, and internal damage is guaranteed. The fact this one was less physically traumatic did not give a world obsessed with vanity, a license to exploit it. Barry Rhodes her fiance, an engineer, eventually moved south. He died in Melbourne, Florida on October 9th, 2007 at the age of 86. He never married. Robert Wiles who took the photograph, never published another.

TW: Suicide

Evelyn Mchale- “The most beautiful suicide”

(I am not going to be showing the original photograph, due to disturbing imagery and out if respect)

Evelyn Mchale, a 23 year old bookkeeper, lept from the Empire State Building on May 1, 1947. During a time when mental health was immensely stigmatized, Evelyn Hale landed on top of a parked car after leaving a note wishing her family not to see her body. However, these events attracted the attention of a photography student who was stunned by how beautiful Mchale looked in death. Since that day the image has become sensationalized and is referenced across many medias.

[ID: Drew Barrymore in a Neiman Marcus ad, laying on the hood of a damaged purple car. End ID]

[ID: an image from Taylor Swift’s music video ‘Bad Blood’ if her laying on top of a damaged light blue car. End ID]

[ID: Image taken from David Bowies music video titled ‘They say Jump’ while laying on a damaged black car. End ID]

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Evelyn Francis McHale (September 20, 1923 – May 1, 1947) was an American bookkeeper who jumped to her death from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building. A photography student took a picture of her corpse where it lay on top of a crushed car.

[mosertone]

The haunting photograph of Evelyn McHale's suicide, often referred to as "The Most Beautiful Suicide," was taken by a photography student named Robert Wiles. He captured the image just minutes after she jumped from the Empire State Building on May 1, 1947. The photo has since become one of the most iconic images of its kind, even inspiring artists like Andy Warhol/

[wumblr]

a surprising amount of dust has accumulated behind the door i never close, which seems unfair, so naturally i have been having a fit of ennui in order to mobilize the fortitude necessary to face this incredibly simple problem that will inevitably lead to me sweeping many of the 500 floor surfaces in my house and if i do that then i suppose i'll have to clean some marks off the walls and wipe the fingerprints off the windows too. there's also some kind of goth wasp corpse wrapped in the shroud of a towel where i killed it, which of course i do not feel great about doing, but it's clearly wearing a little wasp corset and i find that somewhat alarming on a visceral level. there but for the grace of god go i, wrapped in the shroud of an internet comment that said "it makes me sad to see poor people trying to make ends meet" like that wasn't the exact same invisible hand smothering me and crushing my exoskeleton. could they really not see their complicity? lightning cannot create value except in the form of debt when it rips the air we breathe apart, you know. we're very evelyn mchale, this wasp and i. i must admit i've become attached, gruesome as it may be. and it's in the point nemo of my apartment, the furthest possible spot away from a trashcan and i'm afraid of dropping it and stepping on it and getting stung postmortem. like planting a mandrake root. what would i become, they'd have to kill a dog to harvest me. oh right shoes i forgot i could put on shoes alright i'm going i'm doing it. i'm putting on my exosk--(crunching sound)

[femmeoutoffocus]

Evelyn McHale (September 20th, 1927 -> May 1st, 1947)

I don't want anyone in or out of my family to see any part of me. Could you destroy my body by cremation? I beg of you and my family - don't have any service for me or remembrance for me. My fiance asked me to marry him in June. I don't think I would make a good wife for anybody. He is much better off without me. Tell my father, I have too many of my mother's tendencies.

[free--ends]

“ T h e m o s t b e a u t i f u l s i u c i d e “

Evelyn McHale 1947 🌹

[detournementsmineurs]

"Evelyn McHale Crashing Atop a Limousine Parked on a Street below the Empire State Building" by Robert Wiles in New York City, 1947.

[nezoid]

Here is a recap of my 2023:

-Evelyne Brochu (with Felix dyotte) - “Le danger” live in Quebec City

-Tatiana Maslany (& Laurie Metcalf) in “Grey House” in NYC

- D’Arcy Carden (& Scott Foley, Chris Sullivan Katie Finneran) in “The Thanksgiving Play” in NYC

-Stephanie Beatriz at Funkool Shop

-Emma Myers (and Hunter Doohan ) at the “Family Switch” Premiere with Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Brady Noon

-Melissa Barrera (and Benjamin Millepied) at “Carmen” opening night

-Lolo Zouai

-Milk & Bone

-Edgar Wright at the Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Panel

-The Last Improv Show (pics with Joel Mchale, Terry Crews)

-Search History UCB & Spanish Àqui Presents at UCB Theatre

-Comedy Pole Show (pics with Melissa Villasenor Sarah Siverman, Beth Stelling, Ron Funch)

-ASSSSCAT with Will Ferrell

-Yelle

-“Finestkind” screening and Q&A with Brian Helgeland (talking about Jenna Ortega)

-Postal Service & Death Cab for Cutie

-Scream immersive experience

-Screamvı special screening

- Jodie Comer in Prima Facie

-Dior event

-Family

-Friends

-Dogs (Tallula, Wednesday, Emma, Winston, Hanzo)

-adopting Wednesday

-events

Thanks 2023,

Peace out

✌️♥️

[gaiusozarkus]

Evelyn McHale 1947