Karyn Kupcinet (March 6, 1941 – November 28, 1963) was a promising young American actress whose life and career were cut tragically short when she became the victim of a sensational and still-unsolved Hollywood murder.
The daughter of a prominent Chicago newspaper columnist, Kupcinet began her career with guest roles on a number of popular television shows, including The Donna Reed Show and Hawaiian Eye. She also had supporting roles in feature films, appearing in the Jerry Lewis comedy The Ladies Man (1961) and as the flower shop customer, Shirley, in Roger Corman’s original cult classic The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).
Just as her career was beginning to blossom, at 22 years old, she was found dead in her West Hollywood apartment on Thanksgiving Day, 1963. The mysterious death was officially ruled a homicide, but despite numerous theories involving stalkers, jealous lovers, and even a connection to the JFK assassination, her killer was never found, and the case remains one of Hollywood’s most enduring and tragic mysteries.
