Donyale Luna(1945-1979)
- Actress
The world's first black supermodel, Luna was born Peggy Ann Freeman was
in Detroit and grew up there in the northeast side of the city. Her
father, Nathaniel Freeman, worked for almost 40 years at Ford Motor
Company, usually in the foundry. Her mother, Peggy, was receptionist at
the downtown YWCA for almost 30 years. Her parents had a difficult
relationship and her father tended to be somewhat abusive, often living
separately from the rest of the family. He was an alcoholic and came
home in a drunken rage one night in 1950 and attacked her mother, who
shot him in self-defense while five-year-old Luna and her four-year-old
sister Deborah looked on. Although her mother wanted her to go to
nursing school, aspiring actress Luna was allegedly spotted by New York
photographer David McCabe walking around - barefoot, in a Catholic
schoolgirl's outfit - at Detroit's Fisher Theater in September 1964.
She soon moved to New Jersey and lived there with her aunt while her
career took off in nearby New York City.
Luna was black per her birth certificate but denied it was valid and
claimed her mother was Mexican, married a Mexican man named Luna, and
that her grandmother was Irish and had married a black interior
decorator. Although none of this held up to any active scrutiny, with
her exotic looks, she quickly rose to fame in the modeling world with
Harper's Bazaar featuring a sketch of her on the cover of its January
1965 issue. Having an exclusive contract with famed Harper's
photographer Richard Avedon, the April
issue that year had a six-page feature of Luna that caused advertisers
in the south to pull advertising, with some readers actually canceling
subscriptions. After this, the magazine refused to show any more
photographs of her. Her career had suddenly come to a halt and in
December of that year, she moved to the more progressive climate of
London. An article titled "The Luna Year" in the April 1, 1966 edition
of Time Magazine, even states that "A month after hitting New York, she
married a young actor, divorced him after ten months, and now will not
even give his name. Unhappy with that world but unwilling to give it
all up and head back to Detroit, she fled to London and Paris last
December." However, that same article called her "unquestionably the
hottest model in Europe at the moment."
In London, she was photographed by the great European fashion
photographers of the time, including
David Bailey,
William Klein,
Helmut Newton, as well as American music
photographer William Claxton. Claxton
introduced her to famed artist
Salvador Dalí, who called her "the
reincarnation of Nefertiti." In March 1966, Bailey captured her in a
famous cover photograph for British Vogue and she became the first
black model to grace its cover. Racial progress was slow, even in
Europe, and that same year, she became the first black model to grace
the cover of British Vogue Magazine. However, the photo showed her hand
covering nearly her entire face except for one of her eyes, accented
with very bold eyeliner. This was done for fear of the reaction of the
magazine's readers at the time. Ashamed of her heritage, Luna often
wore blond wigs and green contact lenses. A 1968 article in the New
York Times was titled "Luna, Who Dreamed of Being Snow White," and
called her "secretive, mysterious, contradictory, evasive, mercurial,
and insistent upon her multiracial lineage - exotic, chameleon strands
of Mexican, American Indian, Chinese, Irish, and, last but least
inescapable, Negro."
Despite widespread discrimination in the south and other regressive
areas, the striking, six-foot Luna had a presence that did not go
unnoticed by men or women. After her success in London, she traveled
back to America occasionally for assignments and in 1966, at a New York
nightclub, former First Lady
Jacqueline Kennedy came up to
Luna and said, very simply, "You are very beautiful." Over the next
couple of years in Europe, Luna's career soared and by 1968, she was a
full-fledged celebrity with many friends in the fashion, film and music
industry. She became a companion of
Brian Jones of
The Rolling Stones and appeared in
their 1968 film
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1996),
and in films by Andy Warhol and
Federico Fellini as well. She kept
company with celebrity friends such as
Mick Jagger,
Michael Caine,
Julie Christie, and
Yul Brynner among them. She was a fixture in
the "swinging sixties" scene of London. She dated
Terence Stamp, was engaged for a short
time to Maximilian Schell, and later,
she lived for a time with Klaus Kinski.
She did not smoke, drink, or do drugs when she first arrived in New
York City, but this changed after her move to London. In fact, in 1969,
Kinski threw her out due to her increasing drug use. As the years wore
on, she became a professional risk, exhibiting strange behavior and
missing assignments. In November of 1968, she was involved in an
incident at the all-night restaurant at the Cavendish Hotel in London
that received international media coverage. Luna,
Mia Farrow and three male celebrities were
asked to leave the hotel restaurant at about 4 a.m., after being told
that the men were not wearing ties. The entourage pointed out that men
at the other tables were also not wearing ties but management then
called the police. Soon, Luna's date, Canadian actor/photographer
Iain Quarrier, was arrested and charged
with assaulting a "bobby" police officer and was fined.
Alcohol, heroin and other drugs became an increasing part of her life.
She posed nude for Playboy in 1975 and soon after moved to Rome, where
she married for a second time to photographer
Luigi Cazzaniga. They had a daughter,
Dream, in 1977. She was estranged from Cazzaniga when she died in a
clinic there on the morning of May 17, 1979, as the result of an
accidental heroin overdose.
in Detroit and grew up there in the northeast side of the city. Her
father, Nathaniel Freeman, worked for almost 40 years at Ford Motor
Company, usually in the foundry. Her mother, Peggy, was receptionist at
the downtown YWCA for almost 30 years. Her parents had a difficult
relationship and her father tended to be somewhat abusive, often living
separately from the rest of the family. He was an alcoholic and came
home in a drunken rage one night in 1950 and attacked her mother, who
shot him in self-defense while five-year-old Luna and her four-year-old
sister Deborah looked on. Although her mother wanted her to go to
nursing school, aspiring actress Luna was allegedly spotted by New York
photographer David McCabe walking around - barefoot, in a Catholic
schoolgirl's outfit - at Detroit's Fisher Theater in September 1964.
She soon moved to New Jersey and lived there with her aunt while her
career took off in nearby New York City.
Luna was black per her birth certificate but denied it was valid and
claimed her mother was Mexican, married a Mexican man named Luna, and
that her grandmother was Irish and had married a black interior
decorator. Although none of this held up to any active scrutiny, with
her exotic looks, she quickly rose to fame in the modeling world with
Harper's Bazaar featuring a sketch of her on the cover of its January
1965 issue. Having an exclusive contract with famed Harper's
photographer Richard Avedon, the April
issue that year had a six-page feature of Luna that caused advertisers
in the south to pull advertising, with some readers actually canceling
subscriptions. After this, the magazine refused to show any more
photographs of her. Her career had suddenly come to a halt and in
December of that year, she moved to the more progressive climate of
London. An article titled "The Luna Year" in the April 1, 1966 edition
of Time Magazine, even states that "A month after hitting New York, she
married a young actor, divorced him after ten months, and now will not
even give his name. Unhappy with that world but unwilling to give it
all up and head back to Detroit, she fled to London and Paris last
December." However, that same article called her "unquestionably the
hottest model in Europe at the moment."
In London, she was photographed by the great European fashion
photographers of the time, including
David Bailey,
William Klein,
Helmut Newton, as well as American music
photographer William Claxton. Claxton
introduced her to famed artist
Salvador Dalí, who called her "the
reincarnation of Nefertiti." In March 1966, Bailey captured her in a
famous cover photograph for British Vogue and she became the first
black model to grace its cover. Racial progress was slow, even in
Europe, and that same year, she became the first black model to grace
the cover of British Vogue Magazine. However, the photo showed her hand
covering nearly her entire face except for one of her eyes, accented
with very bold eyeliner. This was done for fear of the reaction of the
magazine's readers at the time. Ashamed of her heritage, Luna often
wore blond wigs and green contact lenses. A 1968 article in the New
York Times was titled "Luna, Who Dreamed of Being Snow White," and
called her "secretive, mysterious, contradictory, evasive, mercurial,
and insistent upon her multiracial lineage - exotic, chameleon strands
of Mexican, American Indian, Chinese, Irish, and, last but least
inescapable, Negro."
Despite widespread discrimination in the south and other regressive
areas, the striking, six-foot Luna had a presence that did not go
unnoticed by men or women. After her success in London, she traveled
back to America occasionally for assignments and in 1966, at a New York
nightclub, former First Lady
Jacqueline Kennedy came up to
Luna and said, very simply, "You are very beautiful." Over the next
couple of years in Europe, Luna's career soared and by 1968, she was a
full-fledged celebrity with many friends in the fashion, film and music
industry. She became a companion of
Brian Jones of
The Rolling Stones and appeared in
their 1968 film
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1996),
and in films by Andy Warhol and
Federico Fellini as well. She kept
company with celebrity friends such as
Mick Jagger,
Michael Caine,
Julie Christie, and
Yul Brynner among them. She was a fixture in
the "swinging sixties" scene of London. She dated
Terence Stamp, was engaged for a short
time to Maximilian Schell, and later,
she lived for a time with Klaus Kinski.
She did not smoke, drink, or do drugs when she first arrived in New
York City, but this changed after her move to London. In fact, in 1969,
Kinski threw her out due to her increasing drug use. As the years wore
on, she became a professional risk, exhibiting strange behavior and
missing assignments. In November of 1968, she was involved in an
incident at the all-night restaurant at the Cavendish Hotel in London
that received international media coverage. Luna,
Mia Farrow and three male celebrities were
asked to leave the hotel restaurant at about 4 a.m., after being told
that the men were not wearing ties. The entourage pointed out that men
at the other tables were also not wearing ties but management then
called the police. Soon, Luna's date, Canadian actor/photographer
Iain Quarrier, was arrested and charged
with assaulting a "bobby" police officer and was fined.
Alcohol, heroin and other drugs became an increasing part of her life.
She posed nude for Playboy in 1975 and soon after moved to Rome, where
she married for a second time to photographer
Luigi Cazzaniga. They had a daughter,
Dream, in 1977. She was estranged from Cazzaniga when she died in a
clinic there on the morning of May 17, 1979, as the result of an
accidental heroin overdose.