Waifish and wonderfully pert-boobied Jean Seberg, who wowed the world in the French new-wave milestone Breathless, tragically took her own life on this date in 1979.

The Iowa native became a skinternational sex symbol after portraying an American student who harbors a cop killer in director Jean-Luc Godard’s existential 1960 classic. She then starred in multiple arthouse films some hits, many obscurities, a few with nifty nude scenes -- over the next two decades.

Mirroring the radical tendencies of her signature role, Jean supported the Black Panther party, which led to heavy interference in her life from the FBI. The political brouhaha ignited a firestorm of personal troubles for Jean that included multiple divorces, a miscarriage, and several suicide attempts.

Sadly, Jean was found dead on September 8, 1979 in the back seat of her car, holding a note that read “Forgive me. I can no longer live with my nerves."

We forgive you Jean. And we honor you today for never failing to leave us Breathless.