Colleen Corby

Last updated
Colleen Corby
Colleen Corby.jpg
Corby in the 1960s
Born (1947-08-03) August 3, 1947 (age 76)
Modeling information
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Hair colorDark Brown
Eye colorGreen
Agency Ford Models

Colleen Corby (born August 3, 1947) is an American retired model. She is best known for her work as a teen in the 1960s, as well as for her modeling work in department store catalogs from the 1960s and 1970s, including those of Sears, JC Penney, Montgomery Ward, and others. Corby's modeling career began in 1959 when she was eleven years old.

Early career

Two weeks after walking into Eileen Ford's modeling agency (ostensibly to look for a summer job), Corby was sent on her first modeling assignment. By the end of that first summer, she was steadily booking assignments and her parents enrolled her in Manhattan's Professional Children's School, which allows for the irregular schedules of actors and models. By her last year of high school, she was so busy she hardly ever attended classes. [1]

By the mid-1960s, Corby's popularity was at its peak.[ citation needed ] In 1963, she signed a multi-year movie contract with Universal Pictures, and had every intention of making acting her new career. [2] However, her acting career never got off the ground. Her popularity as a model, however, was still strong; she appeared in TV commercials, magazines and catalogs. Corby was most closely associated with Seventeen magazine, appearing on an unprecedented 15 covers [3] in the 1960s (five times in 1964 alone) and in the magazine's fashion spreads almost every month.

By the 1970s, Corby's teen market was gone, but she continued to appear in magazines like Glamour and Mademoiselle and was a fixture in the catalogs of major retailers like Sears and JCPenney. [4] She initially retired from modeling in 1979, when she married businessman Peter Bernuth. Corby briefly returned to modeling in the early 1980s, but after her second child was born she left New York and the fashion world for good. She currently lives in Florida (where her husband's business was located). Her last public appearance was on The Oprah Winfrey Show . [5] Currently, Corby works in Alumni Relations and Development at the University of Miami School of Business in Coral Gables, Florida. [6]

Notes

  1. "Colleen Corby: My How She's Grown — Not Older, Just Better ", Models, Sept/Oct 1975. (Accessed June 15, 2011.)
  2. Todd, R. "Colleen Corby — America's Number 1 Teenage Model!", Teen, Dec 1964. (Accessed June 15, 2011.)
  3. "Colleen Corby: My How She's Grown — Not Older, Just Better ", Models, Sept/Oct 1975. (Accessed June 15, 2011.) Colleen appeared on the cover of the following issues of Seventeen magazine: April, July, September, November and December 1964; August 1965; March 1966; February and May 1967; April May, June and September 1968; and February and March 1969.
  4. JC Penney 1972 Christmas Catalog
  5. "Oprah Winfrey, talk show host: 'My teen idol was Colleen Corby, who was a model in Seventeen magazine. There were not many black models at the time and she was the closest thing ...'". (Pearlman, C. "Celebs Wished Upon the Stars Too. Heartthrobs Cast Spell on Local Heroes", Chicago Sun-Times, November 11, 1990.)
  6. "Colleen the Model" . Retrieved 16 October 2012.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Oprah Winfrey Show</i> 1986–2011 American syndicated talk show

The Oprah Winfrey Show, often referred to as The Oprah Show or simply Oprah, is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced and hosted by Oprah Winfrey, it remains the highest-rated daytime talk show in American television history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyra Banks</span> American television personality, producer, and former model

Tyra Lynne Banks, also known as BanX, is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15 and was the first Black American woman to be featured on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, on which she appeared three times. Banks was one of only a few Black models to achieve Supermodel status. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1997 to 2005. By the early 2000s, Banks was one of the world's top-earning models.

<i>Seventeen</i> (American magazine) American magazine for teenagers

Seventeen is an American bimonthly teen magazine headquartered in New York City. The publication targets a demographic of 13-to-19-year-old females and is owned by Hearst Magazines. Established in 1944, the magazine originally aimed to inspire teen girls to become model workers and citizens. However, it soon shifted its focus to a more fashion- and romance-oriented approach while still emphasizing the importance of self-confidence in young women. Alongside its primary themes, Seventeen also reports the latest news about celebrities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JCPenney</span> American department store chain

Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is an American department store chain that operates 664 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Men's, Women's, Boys', Girls', Baby, Bedding, Home, Fine Jewelry, Shoes, Lingerie, JCPenney Salon, JCPenney Beauty, as well as leased departments such as Seattle's Best Coffee, US Vision optical centers, and Lifetouch portrait studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheryl Tiegs</span> American model (born 1947)

Cheryl Rae Tiegs is an American model and fashion designer. Frequently described as America's first supermodel, Tiegs made multiple appearances on the covers of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and Time magazine. Her 1978 "Pink Bikini" poster became an iconic image of 1970s pop culture.

Mercedes Yvette Scelba-Shorte, also known as Mercedes Yvette, is an American fashion model and actress. She was a contestant on Cycle 2 of America's Next Top Model. During the show, Scelba-Shorte revealed that she has lupus, an autoimmune disease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child model</span>

A child model refers to a child who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art, such as photography, painting and sculpture.

Ann J. Simonton is an American writer, lecturer, media activist, and former fashion model. She founded and coordinates the non-profit group "Media Watch", which challenges what they see as racism, sexism, and violence in the media through education and action. Simonton has published two autobiographical chapters, I Never Told Anyone and Her Wits About Her. She has also written and produced two educational videos, one of which, Don't Be a TV: Television Victim, received a Silver Apple Award from the National Educational Video and Film Festival in 1995.

Danielle "Dani" Evans is an American model, crowned the winner of Cycle 6 of America's Next Top Model in the spring of 2006. She currently resides in New York City, where she founded Monrowe, a unisex line of ready-to-wear hats.

Tanisha Harper is an American model, actress and television host. She made her screen debut in the 2006 romantic comedy-drama film Something New and later starred in the MyNetworkTV series Desire. Harper was runner-up in the sixth season of the reality competition series Project Runway in 2009 and worked as a fashion model the following years. Harper returned to television playing Jordan Ashford in the ABC daytime soap opera, General Hospital (2022—present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CariDee English</span> American model (born 1984)

CariDee English is an American fashion model and TV personality who won Cycle 7 of America's Next Top Model in December 2006. Her prize was a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl Cosmetics, a modeling contract with Elite Models, and a six-page fashion editorial and cover for Seventeen magazine. She is the second ANTM winner from North Dakota, the first being Nicole Linkletter of Cycle 5. English was also the host of Oxygen's biggest-premiering show to date, Pretty Wicked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaslene Gonzalez</span> Puerto Rican model

Jaslene Marie González is a Puerto Rican model, television host, and winner of Cycle 8 of America's Next Top Model.

Whitney Lee Thompson Forrester is an American plus-size model and is the winner of the tenth cycle of America's Next Top Model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michaela Angela Davis</span>

Michaela Angela Davis is a writer on African-American style, race, gender and hip-hop culture in the United States. She is also a fashion expert and an "image activist."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Barack Obama</span> Endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for US President by Oprah Winfrey for the 2008 election

Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Senator Barack Obama was one of the most widely covered and studied developments of the 2008 presidential campaign, as she has been described as the most influential woman in the world. Winfrey first endorsed Senator Obama in September 2006 before he had even declared himself a candidate. In May 2007 Winfrey made her official endorsement of candidate Obama, and in December 2007, she made her first campaign appearances for him. Two economists estimate that Winfrey's endorsement was worth over a million votes in the Democratic primary race and that without it, Obama would have received fewer votes. Then-Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich claimed that the endorsement was so significant in making Obama president-elect that he considered offering Obama's former seat in the Senate to Winfrey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oprah Winfrey</span> American talk show host, actress, producer, and author (born 1954)

Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the richest African-American of the 20th century and was once the world's only black billionaire. By 2007, she was often ranked as the most influential woman in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stirrup pants</span>

Stirrup pants or stirrup leggings are a type of close-fitting women's pants that taper at the ankle, similar to leggings, except that the material extends to a band, or strap, that is worn under the arch of the foot to hold the pant leg in place. The band of material is often elasticized to prevent the material around the foot from tearing. Stirrup pants were originally sportswear for women, and remain sportswear for horse riding and skiing. However, they have come in and out of fashion during the 20th and early 21st centuries, peaking in popularity as street fashion during the 1980s to the mid 1990s.

Amy Lemons is an American fashion model and model advocate. She rose to fame quickly by landing the cover of Italian Vogue at age 14. Her ascent in the modeling industry included shooting the covers of Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Elle and Marie Claire. She also landed campaigns for Abercrombie and Fitch, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, and Louis Vuitton. After a brief hiatus to earn her college degree from UCLA, Amy came back to the modeling industry and began speaking out about the industry's "zero-sized standard" and healthy self-esteem for young women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lida Baday</span> Canadian fashion designer

Lida Baday is a Canadian fashion designer who exported her designs to the United States. She used her own name as the brand and she was twice Toronto Designer of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lovie Simone</span> American actress

Lovie Simone Oppong is an American actress, best known for her role as Zora Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf.