Gia Carangi

Gia Carangi
Scavullo Images 1982
Born	Gia Marie Carangi (1960-01-29)January 29, 1960 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	November 18, 1986(1986-11-18) (aged 26) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Cause of death	AIDS-related complications
Nationality	American
Occupation	Model
Years active	1977–1983
Modeling information
Height	5 ft 7½ in
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Brown
Manager	Wilhelmina Models Ford Models Legends Elite Model Management

Gia Marie Carangi (January 29, 1960 – November 18, 1986) was an American fashion model during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Considered by some to be the first supermodel, she was featured on the cover of fashion magazines, including multiple editions of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, and appeared in advertising campaigns for such fashion houses as Armani, Christian Dior, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent.

After she became addicted to heroin, Carangi's modeling career rapidly declined. She died of AIDS-related complications at the age of 26, becoming one of the first famous women to die of the disease. Her life was dramatized in the television film Gia, starring Angelina Jolie, which debuted on HBO in 1998.

Carangi was born in Philadelphia, the third and youngest child of Joseph Carangi, a restaurant owner, and Kathleen Carangi (née Adams), a homemaker. She had two older brothers. Her father was Italian, and her mother was of Irish and Welsh ancestry. Joseph and Kathleen had an unstable, violent marriage, ultimately leading Kathleen to abandon the family when Carangi was eleven years old. Those who knew her blamed her "fractured childhood" for the instability and drug dependence that plagued her adult life. She was described as "needy and manipulative" by relatives who recalled her as spoiled and shy as a child and a "mommy's girl" who did not receive the motherly attention that she desired.

In her adolescent years, Carangi found the attention she sought from other teenage girls, befriending them by sending flowers. While attending Abraham Lincoln High School, Carangi bonded with "the Bowie kids", a group of obsessive David Bowie fans who emulated Bowie's "defiantly weird, high-glam" style. Carangi was drawn to Bowie for his fashion preferences and his ambiguous gender play and outspoken bisexuality. One of Carangi's friends later spoke of her "tomboy persona," describing her relaxed openness about her sexuality as reminiscent of the character Cay in the 1985 film Desert Hearts. Carangi and her "bi-try Bowie-mad" friends hung out in Philadelphia's gay clubs and bars. Though she associated with the lesbian community, she did not want to take up "the accepted lesbian style".