Home Shopping Network beauty mogul Marilyn Miglin dies aged 83

Longtime Home Shopping Network host and ‘Queen of Makeovers’ Marilyn Miglin died on Monday at age 83.  

The beauty mogul passed away at her Chicago home surrounded by family, according to a statement from her loved ones. Her cause of death was not disclosed.

Her family said they are ‘heartbroken’ and that Miglin will be ‘greatly missed by all who knew her,’ noting that ‘her spirit will stay with us.’

Although Miglin was known for her signature fragrances, skincare products and luxury cosmetics line, the 83-year-old entrepreneur was an activist, philanthropist and served in local and state politics.

Her husband, real estate developer Lee Miglin, was murdered in their home in Chicago’s historic Gold Coast district in May 1997 by serial killer Andrew Cunanan.

Cunanan who was also responsible for the slaying of fashion designer Gianni Versace that same summer. Their story was detailed in season two of American Crime Story, with Miglin played by Judith Light in the popular 2018 drama.

Miglin was born in the Czech Republic city of Pilsen in 1938, and moved to the US as a young adult, where she became a model and dancer.

She started her eponymous beauty company in Chicago in 1963, which became a successful empire.

Miglin hosted Home Shopping Network for more than 25 years and brought in an audience of more than 65 million viewers. 

She was recognized as a world-renowned beauty authority and is among America’s top 500 women business owners.  

Miglin also had a philanthropic side. 

She provided beauty services to burn survivors and would make monthly visits to the University of Illinois Craniofacial Center, a trauma unit, to work with the facially disfigured. 

She was also a founding member of the Craniofacial Center’s advisory board. 

Miglin founded and organized Chicago’s Women of Destiny program, which recruited 200 the city’s most successful women to serve as mentors for young women seeking careers in the mentor’s given profession.

The entrepreneur received several awards and honors throughout her career, including the Raoul Wallenberg International Humanitarian Award. 

The City of Chicago declared April 15 as Marilyn Miglin Day in honor of her generosity to the community. The Raoul Wallenberg Pediatric Day Hospital in Jerusalem also dedicated a burn and disfigurement unit to her in June 1998 in recognition for her work with children. 

Mostly recently, she was bestowed with the Best Face Forward Award Humanitarian Award by the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Medicine. She was the first ever recipient of the annual award.

Miglin’s activism also included politics work. She served on Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s special committee on tourism, as an officer of the Chicago Convention, the State of Illinois Board of Economic Development and on the Board of Directors of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  

She leaves behind two adult children, Marlena and Duke, whom she shared with Lee. It is unclear if she has grandchildren or other relatives. 

Lee, 72, was the third victim in Cunanan’s 1997 killing spree.

Lee, who owned a real estate company with partner J. Paul Beitler, was home alone in the family’s Gold Coast residence when Cunanan arrived in Chicago after his two murders in Minnesota. 

He was found in the garage of the home, wrapped in brown paper with his face covered in duct tape, leaving only openings by his nostrils. His ribs were broken and his throat had been cut. 

Following the killing, investigators said, Cunanan slept in Lee’s bed, shaved and left whiskers in the sink, made a ham sandwich that was left half eaten and stole cash and expensive suits. Cunanan ultimately fled the home in Lee’s vehicle, a dark-green Lexus, and began driving east.

However, what led him to the Miglin residence remains a mystery. Rumors had circulated that Cunanan, in his typical name-dropping manner, had mentioned in passing that he was going to start a business with the Miglins’ son, Duke. 

But the shocked, horrified family insisted that none of them had ever seen the killer and had nothing whatsoever to do with him. The Chicago police ruled that there was no connection, which Duke Miglin reaffirmed in a 2017 interview with ABC 7.

‘A lot of false things were brought up, and they were very hurtful, and they were very painful for me personally – and there were attacks on me, as well, that I really did not appreciate and still don’t,’ Duke said at the time. ‘There was no relationship whatsoever between any of the family – never met him. None whatsoever.’    

Following Lee’s murder, Cunanan would go on to kill one other man before fatally shooting famed fashion designer Gianni Versace outside his mansion in Miami Beach on July 15, 1997.

Cunanan allegedly walked up to Versace as the designer was returning to his Miami mansion after buying magazines at a local store.

 As Versace was putting the key in the oor lock, the spree killer shot 50-year-old Verace twice, once in the face at point-blank range and one behind the left ear in the neck. 

Cunanan took off as the designer died on the steps of his home. 

A nationwide manhunt was launched after Versace’s murder, and the Associated Press reported at the time that other people – including celebrities – could be on Cunanan’s hit list. 

 On July 23, a caretaker was checking on an unoccupied houseboat less than three miles from Versace’s home when he found someone inside, heard a shot and called the police. Cunanan, they said, shot himself in the mouth – and left no note. 

Cunanan’s killings were detailed in season two of American Crime Story. Miglin and Lee’s story is mostly depicted in episode three which was titled A Random Killing. 

The episode followed the couple, portrayed by actors Judith Light and Mike Farrell, and track’s Miglin’s relationship with Lee.

It also focuses on how Miglin dealt with the loss of her husband and the strength she uses to keep her businesses together amidst the tragedy.  

Light, in a 2018 interview with Vulture, said that as she prepared for the role she focused on convoying how much Miglin loved Lee.

‘She loved this man deeply and was completely devoted to him. He was a man who allowed her to be all that she could be, and she was, in many ways, a woman ahead of her time,’ Light said. 

‘And she had a man who supported her in her endeavors. She is a great businesswoman and he was a great businessman, and they had a very connected, deeply loving relationship.’