Woman who inspired ‘Three Faces of Eve’ dies

AUGUSTA (TNS) — Christine “Chris” Costner Sizemore, 89, the Edgefield County woman whose challenge with multiple personalities inspired the book and movie “Three Faces of Eve,” died Sunday in an Ocala, Fla., hospice, according to a Greenwood funeral home.

Her story led to a book by two Augusta psychiatrists focusing on Sizemore’s struggle, and became a movie for which a young Georgia actress named Joanne Woodward won an Academy Award.

The film’s world premiere was in held in 1957 at the Miller Theater on Broad Street, a gala event that involved much of the city.

Sizemore went on to become a lecturer and acclaimed author, writing several books about her illness. She was also an accomplished artist specializing in two dimensional paintings including landscapes and portraits.

Born and raised near Edgefield, three traumatic events of her childhood, including witnessing two fatal accidents, seemed to have traumatized her, according to Chronicle archives.

As she grew older, she began developing multiple personalities that eventually emerged under the psychiatric care of Dr. Corbett Thigpen and Dr. Hervey Cleckley, of Augusta. They initially pinpointed three distinctive personalities and in 1953 presented a paper on their patient at the American Psychiatric Association meeting. Its favorable response led to a best-selling book, which became a Hollywood movie.