66 Facts About Dorian Leigh

Dorian Elizabeth Leigh Parker, known professionally as Dorian Leigh, was an American model and one of the earliest modeling icons of the fashion industry.

Dorian Leigh is considered one of the first supermodels, and was well known in the United States and Europe.

Dorian Leigh Parker was born in San Antonio, Texas, to George and Elizabeth Parker.

Dorian Leigh's parents married when they were around 17 or 18 years old and Elizabeth promptly gave birth to three daughters in quick succession: Dorian, Florian "Cissie", and Georgiabell.

Dorian Leigh gave birth to her fourth daughter, Cecilia, who became known as model and actress Suzy Parker.

Dorian Leigh graduated from Newton High School in Queens, New York, in 1935 and enrolled at Randolph-Macon Women's College in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Dorian Leigh claimed this was because she loved learning, and she took many classes at once since the school was supposedly overcrowded.

Dorian Leigh wrote that she was a 17-year-old college sophomore when she first married, when in fact, she was 20.

Dorian Leigh found that she had an aptitude for math, mechanical engineering, and drawing.

Dorian Leigh began to go to night school at Rutgers and said she learned about mechanical engineering at New York University.

Dorian Leigh worked at Bell Laboratories, then during World War II, was a tool designer at Eastern Air Lines.

Dorian Leigh assisted in the design of airplane wings, beginning at 65 cents an hour and ending up with an hourly wage of $1.00.

Dorian Leigh met with Vreeland and fashion photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe, who were intrigued by her zig-zagged eyebrows.

Dorian Leigh's parents thought modeling was not respectable, so Dorian Leigh used only her first and middle name during her career.

When Dorian Leigh became an enormous success though, they thought it was acceptable that their youngest daughter Suzy use the Parker last name when she became a famous model.

Dorian Leigh quickly became busy with modeling assignments, landing on the covers of major magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Paris Match, LIFE, and Elle.

In 1946, Dorian Leigh appeared on the cover of six American Vogue magazines.

Dorian Leigh worked with famous fashion photographers Irving Penn, John Rawlings, Cecil Beaton, and Paul Radkai.

Dorian Leigh dated Irving Penn, who later married another model, Lisa Fonssagrives.

Dorian Leigh easily transitioned to working with Harper's Bazaar's new, young photographer, Richard Avedon.

Dorian Leigh became well known for her advertising work for Revlon.

Dorian Leigh's bridemaids were her teen sister Suzy and Suzy's teen model friend Carmen Dell'Orefice.

Dorian Leigh decided to start her own modeling agency called the Fashion Bureau, and devised a "voucher system" method for paying the models.

One day, at a photographer's studio, Dorian Leigh met a young fashion stylist named Eileen Ford.

Dorian Leigh then telephoned Eileen Ford and told her that she would join the Ford Agency if they signed her 15-year-old sister, Suzy Parker, sight-unseen.

Suzy, 15 years younger than Dorian Leigh, had already been working for the Huntington Hartford agency making $25 per hour.

Dorian Leigh told Ford she believed Suzy should be making $40 per hour.

Dorian Leigh was thin, had an extremely small waist, and had black hair and bright blue eyes.

The Fords were shocked during their initial meeting to see that Suzy was almost six inches taller than Dorian Leigh and had a larger frame, bright red hair, freckles, and green eyes.

Dorian Leigh gave birth to her daughter, Young Eve Mehle, on March 27,1949.

Mehle's naval career stationed him in Atlantic City, and Dorian Leigh commuted to New York City and Paris for modeling work.

Dorian Leigh began to work more often in Europe with Avedon.

In 1952, Dorian Leigh played the part of a model in the play The Fifth Season.

The previous summer in Paris, Dorian Leigh had met the married Spanish athlete Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca, Marquis of Portago.

Dorian Leigh's children were again sent to live with her parents in Florida.

Dorian Leigh was still married to Mehle, and Portago was married, to an older American showgirl named Carroll McDaniel who later married Milton Petrie.

Dorian Leigh told Dorian that years before he had seen her "Ultraviolet" Revlon ad in a drugstore in Spain and was captivated.

Dorian Leigh became pregnant by him, but chose to have an abortion because she feared Mehle would divorce her and take full custody of their daughter Young Eve.

Dorian Leigh returned to the United States and divorced Mehle on November 24,1954, in Mexico.

Dorian Leigh continued her affair with Fon, even though his wife Carroll gave birth to their son Anthony de Portago around 1954.

Dorian Leigh did not tell her parents about this child and instead lied and told her family that she was in a tuberculosis clinic.

Dorian Leigh had lent the financially irresponsible Portago about $15,000.

Dorian Leigh told her that he was entering the famous Mille Miglia car race in Italy on May 8,1957, and Carroll was supposed to sign their divorce papers on May 9.

Dorian Leigh was shocked that Suzy leaked this secret, and Dorian Leigh's parents only learned about the child's existence from reading about it in the newspaper.

In 1957, Dorian Leigh returned to Florida and visited Young at her parents' home.

Dorian Leigh then took her daughter, fled to Paris, and remained mostly in France for the following 21 years.

Dorian Leigh continued to run her modeling agency in Paris and became pregnant by yet another man in 1958.

Dorian Leigh then had her gynecologist, Dr Serge Bordat, abort her baby.

Dorian Leigh moved out of their apartment, but they remained legally married.

Dorian Leigh kept busy with her Paris modeling agency, which now had branches in Hamburg and London, and often traveled to these offices.

In September 1961, Dorian Leigh gave birth to her fifth child, Miranda, in France.

Dorian Leigh suspected that a young ski instructor at Klosters was the father.

In 1964,47-year-old Dorian Leigh met 23-year-old Israeli writer Iddo Ben-Gurion and they were married.

Dorian Leigh then discovered Iddo was a drug addict who was embezzling money from her modeling agencies.

Dorian Leigh divorced him in 1966, and she remained single for the remainder of her life.

Dorian Leigh eventually had to close her agencies because so much money had been stolen by Iddo.

In 1972, Dorian Leigh became a born-again Christian at the urging of her sister Georgiabell and daughter Young.

Dorian Leigh tried to get cooking jobs in Corsica and Orleans, as well.

In 1977, Dorian Leigh received a phone call from the New York City modeling agent Stewart Cowley asking her to work as his office manager, so she agreed to return to New York, which was where her 21-year-old son Kim was living.

However, Dorian Leigh soon discovered that Kim had developed a serious drug addiction, and she sent him to live with her sister Suzy in California briefly.

Dorian Leigh was told to leave when it was discovered that he was continuing to use drugs in their home.

Kim then returned to New York, and only six months after Dorian Leigh had resettled and reunited with him, he jumped 33 floors from his apartment window to his death, leaving a suicide note behind.

Dorian Leigh worked with Martha Stewart in the early 1980s and wrote two cookbooks, Pancakes: From Flapjacks to Crepes and Doughnuts: Over 3 Dozen Crullers, Fritters and Other Treats at the age of 77.

In 1980, Dorian Leigh published an autobiography, The Girl Who Had Everything.

Dorian Leigh died in a Falls Church, Virginia, nursing home from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 91 in 2008.

Dorian Leigh was survived by several grandchildren and one remaining Parker sister, Florian, who died at the age of 92 in 2010.