Suzy Parker
| Suzy Parker | |
|---|---|
Suzy Parker in 1959
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| Born |
Cecilia Ann Renee Parker October 28, 1932 Long Island City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | May 3, 2003 (aged 70) Montecito, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | kidney failure |
| Other names | Suzy Parker Dillman |
| Occupation | Model, actress |
| Years active | 1947–1970 |
| Spouse(s) |
Charles Staton (m. 1950; div. 1953) Pierre de la Salle (m. 1958; div. 1961) Bradford Dillman (m. 1963–2003) (her death) |
| Children | Georgia Belle (b. 1959) Dinah (b. 1965) Charlie (b. 1967) Christopher (b. 1969) |
Suzy Parker (October 28, 1932 – May 3, 2003) was an American model and actress active from 1947 into the early 1960s. Her modeling career reached its zenith during the 1950s, when she appeared on the cover of dozens of magazines and in advertisements and movie and television roles.
She appeared in several Revlon advertisements as well as in advertisements for many other cosmetic companies, including Solo Products the largest hair care product company in the country at the time. (Models did not have "exclusive" cosmetic company contracts until Lauren Hutton and Karen Graham in the early 1970s). She was the first model to earn $100,000 per year and the only fashion model to have a Beatles song named after her, albeit an unreleased one.
Suzy Parker was born Cecilia Ann Renee Parker in Long Island City, New York, to George (1895 – 1958) and Elizabeth Parker (1897 – 1965), who married in 1916. She had three older sisters: Dorian (1917 – 2008), Florian (1918 – 2010), and Georgiabell (1921 – 1988). Elizabeth believed she was undergoing menopause, but then discovered she was several months pregnant with Cecilia/Suzy.
Suzy's original names came from three of her mother's best friends. A then teenaged Dorian advised her mother to arrange the names in the order, Cecilia Renee Ann Parker, so the initials of the names would spell the word "crap". Dorian claimed her mother had no idea what it meant. Parker's father George disliked the name Cecilia and called her Susie, a name which Parker would retain throughout her life. A French Vogue photographer later changed the spelling to "Suzy".
Parker's family later moved to Highland Park, New Jersey, and then to Florida. When Parker was 15, sister Dorian, herself one of the top models of the era, introduced her to Eileen Ford.
Parker and two of her sisters were tall, all measuring between 5'10" and 6'1". Sister Dorian (who modelled under the name Dorian Leigh) was the sole exception, standing 5'5". In 1944, Dorian worked as an advertising copy writer when a coworker encouraged her to go to the Conover Modeling Agency. Dorian was one of the top models in the world, arguably referred to as the "world's first supermodel" (along with Lisa Fonssagrives).
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