Stewart and Cyril Marcus


Stewart and Cyril Marcus were identical twin gynecologists who practiced together in New York City. They died together in July 1975 at the age of 45.

Biography

The brothers were born on June 2, 1930. They were gynecologists on the staff of New York Hospital and Cornell University Medical College. The Marcus brothers' lives and the circumstances of their deaths are the subject of an article in Ron Rosenbaum's collection of essays The Secret Parts of Fortune, as well as Linda Wolfe's "The Strange Death of the Twin Gynecologists" in the September 8, 1975, issue of New York magazine. Film director David Cronenberg drew on elements from the biography of the Marcus brothers for his 1988 movie Dead Ringers, in particular their decline and their deaths.
On July 17, 1975, they were found dead in Cyril's Manhattan apartment at 450 East 63rd Street.
First, it was assumed that the brothers had died of barbiturate withdrawal, but the final report excluded this. Stewart died probably between July 10 and July 14 of a barbiturate overdose. Cyril died between July 14 and July 17; his body showed no signs of the fatal convulsions accompanying narcotic withdrawal.