Gia Marie Carangi was an American model, considered by many to be the first supermodel.
27 Facts About Gia Carangi
2.
Gia Carangi was featured on the cover of many magazines, including multiple editions of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, and appeared in advertising campaigns for luxury fashion houses such as Armani, Dior, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent.
3.
Gia Carangi's life was dramatized in the 1998 HBO television film Gia, directed by Michael Cristofer and starring Angelina Jolie as Carangi.
4.
Gia Carangi's father was Italian, and her mother was of Irish and Welsh ancestry.
5.
Joseph and Kathleen had an unstable, violent marriage, ultimately leading Kathleen to abandon the family when Gia Carangi was eleven years old.
6.
Gia Carangi 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.
7.
Those who knew Gia Carangi blamed her "fractured childhood" for the instability and drug dependence that plagued her adult life.
8.
Gia Carangi was drawn to Bowie for his fashion preferences and his ambiguous gender play and outspoken bisexuality.
9.
Gia Carangi immediately became infatuated with Linter and pursued her, though the relationship never became stable.
10.
Gia Carangi was a favorite model of various fashion photographers, including Von Wangenheim, Francesco Scavullo, Arthur Elgort, Richard Avedon, and Denis Piel.
11.
Gia Carangi was featured on the cover of many fashion magazines, including the April 1979 issue of British Vogue, the April 1979 and August 1980 issues of Vogue Paris, the August 1980 issue of American Vogue, the February 1981 issue of Vogue Italia, and multiple issues of Cosmopolitan between 1979 and 1982.
12.
At the height of her career, Gia Carangi was most known in modeling circles by only her first name.
13.
In November 1980, Gia Carangi left Wilhelmina Models and signed with Ford Models, but she was dropped within weeks.
14.
Gia Carangi underwent a 21-day detox program, but her sobriety was short-lived.
15.
Gia Carangi was arrested in March 1981 after she drove into a fence in a suburban neighborhood.
16.
In late 1981, although still using drugs, Gia Carangi was determined to make a comeback in the fashion industry and signed with Elite Model Management.
17.
Gia Carangi appeared in an advertising campaign for Versace, shot by Richard Avedon.
18.
Gia Carangi hired her for the fashion house's next campaign, but during the photo shoot, in late 1982, Carangi became uncomfortable and left before any usable shots of her were taken.
19.
Around this time, Gia Carangi enrolled in an outpatient methadone program but soon began using heroin again.
20.
Gia Carangi left New York for the final time in early 1983.
21.
Gia Carangi spent most of her modeling earnings on drugs, and spent the final three years of her life with various lovers, friends, and family members in Philadelphia and Atlantic City.
22.
Gia Carangi was admitted to an intense drug treatment program at Eagleville Hospital in December 1984.
23.
Gia Carangi later found employment as a checkout clerk and then worked in the cafeteria of a nursing home.
24.
In December 1985, Gia Carangi was admitted to Warminster General Hospital in Warminster, Pennsylvania, with bilateral pneumonia.
25.
Gia Carangi died at the Hahnemann Hospital of AIDS-related complications one month later, on November 18,1986, at the age of 26, becoming one of the first famous women to die of the disease.
26.
Gia Carangi is often considered to be the first supermodel, although that title has been applied to others, including Margaux Hemingway, Audrey Munson, Lisa Fonssagrives, Dorian Leigh, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, and Janice Dickinson.
27.
Model Cindy Crawford, who rose to prominence the year Carangi died, was referred to as "Baby Gia" because of her resemblance to Carangi.