Swedish model Gunilla Lindblad

Gunilla Lindblad has been a model since before your mother was born, or almost.

She arrived in Paris from Sweden in 1968, and soon after that, she would go to New York, where she became a favorite of legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland.  In the seventies, Ms. Lindblad would come to personify the "haute hippie" look, a style that combined hippie culture with haute couture.  

It was indicative of how the Merry Pranksters and the Deadheads would influence mainstream culture, though they probably weren't too thrilled with seeing their look get turned unto a commodity.

But if any model was going to legitimize it, it was definitely Gunilla Lindblad. :-)    

She was represented in Paris by the Paris Planning and Elite agencies, appearing on Vogue covers as well as in Vogue editorials.  She would be represented by the New York and Los Angeles offices of Elite as her modeling career progressed in the 1980s.

After fifty years as of this writing, Ms. Lindblad continues to model, and she is a client of Iconic Focus, an American modeling agency that specializes in veteran models, many of them famous names like Ms. Lindblad herself.  

I ask you, does this look like a woman who has been modeling for half a century?  Well, believe it.  And believe this: Real beauty never fades, It improves with age, like a fine wine.  Gunilla Lindblad certainly proves that in spades. :-)

Model/actress Vendela Kirsebom

Vendela Kirsebom is so unique in the modeling profession that, like Iman (Abdulmajid) and Wanakee (Pugh), she usually goes by her first name alone.

Discovered in her native Sweden in 1980 by legendary modeling agent Eileen Ford, eventually she became the face of Almay cosmetics in the United States.  Not only did she appear repeatedly in Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue, she has also graced the covers of American magazines such as Bride's and Shape, as well as the British magazine FHM.

She's also branched out into acting, playing - what else? - a bridal gown model in the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, as well as episodes of "The Larry Sanders Show" and "Murphy Brown"  (the original "Murphy Brown," not the reboot).  Ms. Kirsebom has also been the host of both Norwegian and Swedish versions of the reality-contest show "Top Model."

Vendela Kirsebom is of unique ancestry. Though born in Sweden, she's the daughter of a Turkish father and a Norwegian mother.  She currently lives in Oslo, and she remains active in modeling while also serving as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. 

TV actress Ashley Jones

Ashley Jones has distinguished herself on not one, but two CBS soap operas at a time when the soap opera is an endangered television genre.

 

She played Megan Dennison on the CBS soap "The Young and the Restless" from 1997 to 2000 and briefly again in 2001.  Coincidentally, her character on "The Bold And the Beautiful," Bridget Forrester, became a regular character in 1997 after a number of child actresses played the little girl.  By the time Ms. Jones assumed that role, she became the fourth actress since 1997 to play Bridget, who by then had grown up and would eventually become a doctor.  She assumed the role of Bridget in 2004.   

Dr. Forrester ceased being a regular character in 2011, but Ms. Jones has played her periodically since then.

Among Ashley Jones' other roles are as Daphne in the dark-fantasy series "True Blood" and a slew of Lifetime TV movies.  

Fun fact #1:  Ashley Jones was married to actor Craig T. Nelson's son Noah for seven years beginning in 2002.

Fun fact #2:  The role of Bridget Forrester was also played by Jennifer Finnigan, an earlier honoree on this blog.  

CNN newswoman Poppy Harlow

Katharine Julia Harlow - called Poppy by everyone who knows or watches her - is one of the more prominent anchors on the Cable News Network (CNN).

Originally from Minnesota, Ms. Harlow interned for CBS News while in college  and worked there for a spell after graduation.  She later worked for the local cable-news channel NY1 in New York City, covering Staten Island and New Jersey.

At CNN, she has been a business correspondent for the parent channel, CNN International, and CNN's Headline News (HLN) Channel.  She also anchors part of the parent channel's morning newscast.  She has been at CNN since 2008.    

Model Andrea Ford

Andrea Ford is a model from the late 1980s.

She worked in Vienna, and she represented by the Tausendsassa agency in that city.  No other biographical information is available.   

Musical actress Kerry Ellis

Never heard of Kerry Ellis?  That's probably because you're an American who has never been to London and seen a West End play.

Ms. Ellis is as big a star there as Patti LuPone and Betty Buckley have been on Broadway. 

Her credits include the Queen musical We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre, the role of Fantine in Les Misérables, and the role of Nancy in a  2010 production of Oliver!  Oh yes, and she also played the role of Elphaba in Wicked at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre from 2006 to 2009, and also reprised the role at the Gershwin Theatre in New York in 2014 - her only American credit of note, at least so far.

When she's not appearing on the West End, Ms. Ellis is doing TV appearances in Britain and Ireland, appearing in British touring companies, and also making records of various show tunes.  She's regarded as the leading lady of British musical theater, and and hopefully she'll perform stateside again.    

Model Rosie Draughn

Never heard of Rosie Draughn, a model from the seventies? That's because she was a regular on the Ebony Fashion Fair circuit, which was a proving ground for black fashion and beauty that, like Ebony magazine itself, was completely alien to white audiences.

But I look for beautiful women everywhere. That's why I get to feature Rosie Draughn here. :-)    

Originally from Mississippi, Rosie Draughn grew up wanting to be a fashion model, and in 1978 she joined the Ebony Fashion Fair tour, realizing her dream, after having seen one of its shows.  The fashion-show tour promoted Fashion Fair, a black cosmetics brand featuring models that only the most rabid bigot would not find beautiful.      

Ms. Draughn eventually settled in Houston, where she became a fundraising consultant.   

Cincinnati newswoman Jackie Congedo

Jackie Congedo is a former reporter for WLWT-TV in Cincinatti.

She spent four out of ten years as a TV reporter for that station, which is the NBC affiliate in that city.

In 2015 she chose to leave TV reporting for a career in public relations, saying that the career move allowed her to spend more time with her family.  And I'm sure the television audience of greater Cincinnati misses her.    

Model Sharon Bramble

Sharon Bramble is a model from the 1970s and 1980s, and her career took her far and wide.

She modeled through two agencies in Paris - L'Agence and Paris Planning - before moving on to Germany, where she was represented by the Talents agency in both their Hamburg and Munich offices. 

Ms. Bramble doesn't need Babbel! :-D

She later worked at the Reinhard agency.  Where's that, you ask - Berlin?  Stuttgart?  No - Philadelphia. :-)

And it's always good to know how to speak Philly.  (She should know that Thirsty is the day before Friday. :-D)  

Journalist Julia Ainsley

Off we go into another year for this blog, and I start it with a journalist, as reporters are becoming ever so more important in the Age of Trump.

Julia Ainsley is NBC News's national security and justice reporter. She covered the Paul Manafort trial in Virginia earlier this year. 

Her rise has been rapid.  A graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, she was an intern at the Chicago Tribune​ in the summer of  2010, where she wrote for the lifestyle section.  She worked for Thomson Reuters as a criminal justice correspondent and also covered Congress for the National Journal before arriving at NBC News. 

Watch out, Pete Williams. :-D