Dorian Leigh, who combined pristine blue eyes, curling eyelashes, an arresting intelligence and intoxicating sexuality to become one of history’s most photographed models — perhaps the first to truly merit the adjective super — died Monday in Falls Church, Va. She was 91.
Ms. Leigh graced seven Vogue covers in 1946, and in the next six years appeared on more than 50 more covers of various magazines.
Her images in Revlon’s “Fire and Ice” nail polish and lipstick campaign in the 1950s — “For you who love to flirt with fire ...who dare to skate on thin ice” — were shot by Richard Avedon and became Madison Avenue legend.
“Dorian was truly the best model of our time,” Eileen Ford, the doyenne of the modeling agency industry, said in an interview with The Roanoke Times in 1997. “She instinctively knew what every photographer wanted, and she came alive just at the moment the shutter clicked.”
Cecil Beaton wrote in his book “Photobiography” (1951) that Ms. Leigh was as demanding as the eminent photographers who shot her. He said she could convey many moods, including “the sweetness of an 18-century pastel, the allure of a Sargent portrait, of the poignancy of some unfortunate woman who sat for Modigliani.”
Excerpt from a article By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: July 9, 2008
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Just look at how beautiful this woman was, its quite incredible. I find it funny that Janis Dickinson can claim she was the first super model when there were many amazing models before her, she's crazy. These photos are so inspiring, I love her makeup and amazing clothing. Her beauty is quite classic and reminds me of my boyfriends
sister who is a model.
