45 Years Ago: Last Known Photos Taken of Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison was captured on film for a final time during a day trip with girlfriend Pamela Courson on June 28, 1971, in photographs taken by their friend Alain Ronay.
The Doors singer, who was found dead at age 27 just five days later, was visiting Saint-Leu-d'Esserent in northern France. You can check out Ronay's photos at Dangerous Minds, which include candid shots of the couple rock climbing, at a local cafe and on the banks of the River Oise. Morrison apparently visited Chantilly, a city just 40 minutes from Paris, earlier in the day too.
He had joined Courson in Paris in March 1971, just after the release of L.A. Woman, the Doors' final studio album with Morrison. Over the days following these pictures, Morrison was seen at the Le Mazet bar and at a movie theater called Action Lafayette, where he reportedly saw a Robert Mitchum film titled Pursued. Morrison's body was discovered at an apartment he had rented on Rue Beautreillis on July 3, 1971, after he succumbed to an apparent heroin overdose.
Morrison was buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, where he'd reportedly visited recently to see the graves of other legends like Edith Piaf and Oscar Wilde. The remaining Doors members initially attempted to soldier on, releasing a trio of albums beginning with the Top 40 hit Other Voices in 1971. American Prayer, which featured recorded recitations of Morrison poetry, went platinum in 1978.
Fellow Doors co-founder Ray Manzarek died after a long cancer battle in 2013, leaving Robby Krieger and John Densmore. Courson also died of a heroin overdose, in 1974.
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