- She was the first model to make more than $100 an hour and $100,000 a year.
- At the height of her popularity, she was known as the most photographed woman in the world.
- Despite her aloof elegance, she was known for her candid remarks and rather quirky laidback style off camera. She publicly condemned drinking and smoking and said marriage killed romance.
- Actress Parker Posey was named after her.
- Was a favorite of designer Coco Chanel and photographer Richard Avedon.
- Is generally considered to have been the very first Supermodel.
- Died following a long period of ill health that included respiratory problems, hip surgeries, and diabetes.
- Audrey Hepburn's offbeat role in the film Funny Face (1957) was inspired by Suzy, who made a cameo appearance (her first film) in the "Think Pink" sequence.
- A $1000-a-week photographer's model, Suzy canceled all assignments for three weeks to rehearse her one-line speaking role in "Producer's Showcase" television program of "Mayerling", starring Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer, on February 24, 1957. She was paid $1,000 a word. The line: "Drunk? He's mad!".
- Child from Pierre: daughter Georgia, born in December, 1959. Children with Dillman: daughter Dinah (born in November, 1965), sons Charles and Christopher.
- Her older sister, model Dorian Leigh Parker, introduced Suzy to Eileen Ford, the doyenne of modeling agents, when she was only 15.
- Landed a two-minute cameo in Funny Face (1957) after photographer Richard Avedon had recommended her for a part.
- On June 7, 1958, she suffered two broken arms and her father was killed when his car collided with a freight train approximately six miles outside of St. Augustine, Florida.
- Met future husband Bradford Dillman on the set of Circle of Deception (1960).
- Briefly gave up her cover girl career for several years to become a photographer.
- Her first marriage, to her high school sweetheart, was brief.
- Grew up and went to school in Highland Park, New Jersey.
- Stepmother of Pamela Dillman.
- Younger sister of model Dorian Leigh Parker.
- Although she played Collin Wilcox Paxton's mother in Number 12 Looks Just Like You (1964), she was only two years her senior in real life.
- Parker was the first choice of Claude Chabrol for the lead in his film Web of Passion (1959) (aka "Leda") in 1959, but the director ultimately opted for Antonella Lualdi, after he decided that Parker did not fit in with the film's decor.
- It was when Ms. Parker posed in one of fashion's first bikini shots that she especially came into prominence. (NYT 2003 obituary.).
- In a 1957 cameo, when Ms. Parker appeared in her first film, Audrey Hepburn (playing a "fast-talking beatnik who somewhat unwillingly becomes a world-famous model," in a role inspired by Ms. Parker) was so charmed that she kept singing Ms. Parker's praises, leading Parker to call Hepburn her ''Hollywood press agent.'' (NYT 2003 obituary.).
- Sister-in-law of Dean Dillman Jr..
- Ms. Parker was the first model to not only earn $100 per hour (as mentioned on this Trivia section), but $200 per hour, and it was in 1956, when her modeling career was at its height, that Ms. Parker became the first to earn $100,000 per year - amounting to $1.1 million today.
- After retiring from acting in late 1970, as described in the 1996 book "Cover Girls and Supermodels, 1945-1965," Ms. Parker escaped the common unhappy fate of other exceptional models when she "became a perfect housewife, even to the extent of baking her own bread.''.
- Met her husband Bradford Dillman when they were both starring in Circle of Deception in1960 at Pinewood Film Studios, They married in 1962 and were expecting their 1st child in 1965.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content