Dorian Leigh, whose career as the world’s most famous supermodel began in the mid-1940s, died yesterday at 91. For me she epitomized the excitement and glamor of living in New York in the post WWII years. In that period, I struggled my way out of a cloistered family in New Haven, came to New York, and started work on my first job, which was secretary-would-be-writer, on Vogue Magazine.
She, on the other hand, was a multi-faceted talent who had majored in English at college, studied calculus at NYU, worked at mechanical drafting, as well as designing airplane wings and copywriting. Interested also in modeling, she found her way to the Harry Conover Agency where her looks were quickly spotted by Diana Vreeland of Harper’s Bazaar. The magazine immediately placed her on the cover of the June, 1944 issue. According to one report, she appeared on seven covers of Vogue that same year. Over her long career, my guess is she made trillions.
The end of the war brought hope and ambition to all of us. We were at the top of the world, anything seemed possible. A few, like Leigh, made it very big, others like myself were able to fulfill their dreams on a much smaller scale.
