Former model and actress Suzy Parker dead at 69

KRON4.com ^ | May 5, 2003 | AP

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Santa Barbara, California-AP -- A woman who was the forerunner of today's supermodels is dead.

Her stepdaughter says Suzy Parker died at her home in Montecito, California. She was 69.

Parker, whose face was one of the most widely-recognized in the 1950's, was known for her full red hair and beautiful bone structure. She was the signature model for Coco Chanel, and was the top earner for her time, making 200 dollars an hour.

She made her film debut in 1957, appearing with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn in "Funny Face."

Her other film credits include "Kiss Them for Me" and "Ten North Frederick."

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Not well known but one of my favorites. May she rest in peace.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Here's another article about her death with more background.


http://entertainment.townnews.com/ap.inn?file=apnews49272-08

[Texas_Dawg]

Who??

[habs4ever]

dead redhead alert

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I think people would best remember her from the original Twilight Zone episode "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" also with Richard Long.

[what's up]

No pictures on a supermodel thread?

[cubreporter]

She was popular way back when but...she was a very beautiful young woman with a classic face. Just really clean, neat, healthy and lovely looking. Not cheap and glitzy looking like so many today. Maybe someone will post a photo.

[hole_n_one]

[Slip18]

She was a beauty! May God rest her soul.

[pabianice]

Also did, "Number 12 Looks Just Like Me!", an original Twilight Zone episode that criticized the demand for cosmetic plastic surgery.

[mountaineer]

You're terrible (I said while laughing)!

Here's the late Miss Parker:

[hole_n_one]

[Slip18]

Here's another one.

[Cultural Jihad]

Rest in eternal peace, Suzy.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

[Slip18]

Nice find.

[Slip18]

You were off by just two minutes. LOL!

[Paleo Conservative]

http://entertainment.townnews.com/ap.inn?file=apnews49272-08

I'm posting the story from your link. Interesting how she was considered too tall at 5'9" when she started.

Former Model, Actress Parker Dies at 69

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Model-actress Suzy Parker, one of the most recognizable faces of the 1950s and a forerunner of the supermodel, has died. She was 69.

Parker, known in later life as Suzy Parker Dillman, died Saturday night at her home in Montecito, according to her stepdaughter, Pamela Dillman Harmon.Parker, known for her full, red hair and beautiful bone structure, was the signature face for designer Coco Chanel, photographed by the likes of Richard Avedon and Milton H. Greene. Greene once said Parker helped redefine the word "elegance" in magazines. Author Eleanor Dwight, in her 2002 biography "Diana Vreeland," about the famed fashion editor who gave Parker her start, said Parker was "the" model of the 1950s. She was at one time the highest paid model, earning $200 an hour. "I believe in the gold standard," Parker told The Washington Post in the early 1960s. "I like solid lumps of things. You can always melt them down." In 1957, Parker made her Hollywood debut in the musical "Funny Face," starring Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. She danced in a number called "Think Pink" that spoofed fashion editors like Vreeland. Parker's other film credits include "Kiss Them for Me" (also 1957), opposite Cary Grant, and "Ten North Frederick" (1958) starring Gary Cooper. She also appeared in "The Twilight Zone" and "Tarzan" television series. Dillman, born Cecelia Anne Renee Parker, was the younger sister of model Dorian Leigh, who graced the cover of fashion magazines beginning in the 1940s. Leigh helped her sister get into modeling at the age of 14, according to the Vreeland biography. She took her sister to see modeling agent Eileen Ford, who promptly declared that the teenager _ at 5 feet, 9 inches _ was too tall. But Vreeland wasn't put off by Parker's height and put her to work. In Hollywood, Parker met her third husband, actor Bradford Dillman. They married in 1963. The couple moved to Montecito in 1968 to escape the celebrity life, longtime friend Nancy Failing said. "She'd led the glamorous life and she was ready to draw in her horns," Failing said. Dillman is survived by her husband; four children; two stepchildren; and two sisters, Dorian Leigh and Florian Lee.

[Uncle Hal]

I remember her well. She was the biggest model in the world at one time. Her husband, Brad Dillman, was a well known actor in the 50's and 60's. They never did much after that. I guess they had enough money to live comfortably in Santa Barbara which is a very pricey place.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Your charm is boundless.

[RLK]

America's, and perhaps the world's, top model in about 1961.

[clintonh8r]

Classy and beautiful. Farewell...

[HateBill]

I absolutely loved her in "The Best of Everything." This high-budget picture in the late 50s was based on a Rona Jaffe book and was a very acerbic look at "career women." It took place in a book publishing house and the boss was a late-in-her-career Joan Crawford in a very Hillary-ish portrayal.

Hope Lange played an ingenue who wanted to climb the ladder of success but realized that unhappiness is the result. Suzy Parker played a (very bad) actress who worked at the publishing company while attending auditions and participating in the casting couch. She is one of the first cinema stalkers, going so far as to go through the garbage can of the Broadway director who partakes of her favors (Louis Jourdan) and then rejects her. She winds up committing suicide.

There is also a strong pro-life message in the movie. An innocent (Diane Baker) is seduced by a very naughty Bob Evans (who went on to have quite a successful career as a producer, i.e., "The Godfather" and quite a great fall from grace). After she tells him she is pregnant, he pretends he is taking her to get married (she is carrying a bouquet and all). In reality, he is taking her to an abortionist. She gets out of the car while it is still moving and loses the baby and finds out she can never have children.

I would recommend "The Best of Everything" as a guilty pleasure for all freepers who enjoy a strongly conservative message in a glossy 50's setting.

Suzy Parker was a class act. Rest in peace.

[moyden2000]

But ...

Could she cook?

[Molly Pitcher]

I thought of this movie, too, when I read of Parker's death. It's a good one to watch every now and then when it appears on TCM. That Irish actor who played the villain in Ben Hur plays a good guy in this one.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

I love movies like that. Thank you for the review, I will try to find it.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Usualy when an actor or actress dies TCM does a tribute either the next day or weekend by dropping their scheduled films and showing a block of movies where the actor or actress appeared. Kepp an eye out for it.

[Fraulein]

She took her sister to see modeling agent Eileen Ford, who promptly declared that the teenager -- at 5 feet, 9 inches -- was too tall. But Vreeland wasn't put off by Parker's height and put her to work.

Boy how times have changed.

[potlatch]

modeling agent Eileen Ford

When my twin daughters were in High School, someone sent their pictures to Eileen Ford in New York. She suggested they send their 'portfolios' to her as she was interested.

We never did anything about it, perhaps losing out on a big chance. Suzy Parker was a lovely woman, sorry to hear of her death.

[fish hawk]

That would be Steven Boyd. I believe he is dead now too.(may be spelled Stephen,not sure)

[stands2reason]

Is that picture next to "glamorous" in the dictionary? She was the very image of Chanel...

[reg45]

With her money, she could hire a cook!

[I'm ALL Right!]

Wow. Never heard of her. Stunning.

[reg45]

That Irish actor who played the villain in Ben Hur plays a good guy in this one.

Stephen Boyd?

[Jorge]

I never heard of her. She was definitely attractive.....but I don't think she was the stunning beauty some claim she was.

[freedumb2003]

I find it so amusing that today's producers think they are so "edgy." Heck, they are serving up pablum (for you kids in the audience, this is Cream of Wheat, but with less character) compared to such classics as Imitation of Life or The Best of Everything.

Current "edge" is squat.

[reg45]

See: The Best of Everything at IMDB.