With 50 years of acting under his belt and over 100 film and television credits to his name, Lee certainly kept busy as a thespian. It wasn’t long after that she was spending night after night in bars and pubs, and at the age of 39, she was found dead of heart and liver disease, her appearance so altered that she could hardly be identified. For instance, in 1962, she was charged with public drunkenness after being found sleeping at a Sunset Boulevard bus stop dressed in a coat and bathing suit, and she was arrested the same year for drunk and disorderly conduct during a boisterous afternoon party. Primarily in the 1960s, her alcoholism worsened.Īfter losing custody of her son due to her debauched lifestyle, Payton’s life unraveled even further. Chock full of affairs with seemingly every man she encountered, violent relationships, shoplifting, prostitution, and numerous run-ins with the police, the only thing that seemed to offer any stability to this troubled actress was the bottle. However, Payton’s personal life was a chaotic disaster. Starting out as a small-town Minnesota girl, this gorgeous blonde ran off to Hollywood, and it wasn’t long before she became one of the biggest stars of the 1940s and 1950s, starring alongside acting greats like James Cagney, Gary Cooper, and Gregory Peck.
