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, advertisements, and in movie and television roles. She appeared in several Revlon advertisements, but she also appeared in advertisements for many other cosmetic companies as well, as no model had an exclusive make-up contract until
Lauren Hutton (for Revlon and Revlon's Ultima) and
Karen Graham (Estee Lauder) signed them 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, even if an unreleased one.
[Lewisohn, Mark. The Complete Beatles Chronicle. London: Hamlyn, 2000, p. 309. ISBN 0-600-60033-5]
Early life
Suzy Parker was born as
Cecilia Ann Renee Parker in
San Antonio, Texas to George and Elizabeth Parker. Her parents married when they were 18 and 17, respectively. Their first child,
Dorian Leigh (Dorian Parker) was born in 1917; Florian (Cissy/Cissie) was born in 1918; and Georgibell was born in 1919. In 1931, twelve years after her last child was born, Elizabeth thought she was going through menopause. Instead, she was five months pregnant when she learned she was expecting another baby.
["Model", by Michael Gross, 1995, page 114.] Elizabeth's fourth daughter, was named after three friends.
. Her father didn't like the name and called her Susie. A French
Vogue photographer changed the spelling to Suzy.
Suzy's family later moved to
Highland Park, New Jersey and to Florida. It was her 15-years-older sister, Dorian, who introduced her to agent
Eileen Ford when she was just 15 years old.
