Janice Dickinson

Janice Doreen Dickinson (born February 15, 1955^[4]) is an American model, fashion photographer, actress, author and agent. Additionally, she was considered a supermodel in the fashion industry,^[5] and later expanded her profession to reality television by judging for four cycles on America's Next Top Model. She subsequently opened her own modeling agency, which was documented as The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.

Early life

Janice Dickinson was born in Brooklyn, New York to parents Ray Dickinson, of Belorussian descent, and Jenie Dickinson née Pietrzykoski, of Polish descent.^[1][6] She was raised in Hollywood, Florida with two sisters, elder Alexis, a real estate agent, and younger Debbie, a model.^[1][7]

Dickinson has been open about the emotional and physical abuse she suffered as a child and teenager,^[1][5][8][9] and how her father used to sexually abuse one of her sisters. Of her childhood with her "rageoholic pedophile" of a father, Dickinson stated, "Because I wouldn't give in and let him have sex with me, I was verbally and physically abused on a daily basis. I was told that I looked like a boy and wouldn't amount to anything. I think if you abuse a child, your balls should be cut off. You should be castrated immediately."^[9]

Career

Modeling

In the early 1970s, Dickinson moved to New York City to pursue work as a model after winning a national competition called "Miss High Fashion Model".^[10][6] At a time when blue-eyed blondes dominated the fashion scene,^[11] Dickinson was turned down several times by modeling agents, including Eileen Ford, who informed Dickinson she was "much too ethnic. You'll never work".^[10] She was discovered by modeling agent Jacques Silverstein when his girlfriend, Lorraine Bracco, mentioned she liked Dickinson's look.^[12][13] Wilhelmina became Dickinson's first agent. Her modeling pursuits led her to Paris, where her "exotic looks" secured her reputation within the European fashion industry.^[10]

She returned to New York in 1978, and spent the next several years working steadily, earning $2,000 per day, nearly four times the standard rate.^[10] Dickinson eventually signed with Ford Models to land a major ad campaign for a new JVC camera. ^[14] Dickinson, who had not forgotten Ford's initial rejection, was intent on revenge.^[14] She soon became one of twenty Ford models to defect to John Casablancas' upstart Elite Model Management.^[15]

By the 1980s, Dickinson was considered a supermodel, as she "possessed the kind of name and face recognition" that the majority of women in the modeling industry strive to achieve.^[6] She appeared within and on covers of magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Playboy, and worked with some of fashion's best-known names, including Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Valentino, Azzedine Alaïa, Pino Lancetti, Halston, and Calvin Klein.^[16] Dickinson has appeared on the cover of Vogue (both American and international editions) 37 times.^[1] She appeared on the cover of Elle seven times in a row and has been the face of ad campaigns for products like Revlon cosmetics, Alberto VO5, Obao, and Orbit Gum.^[11]

Dickinson looked for ways to sustain her relevance within the fashion industry as she aged, becoming a fashion photographer. In 2008, Dickinson launched her own jewelry line on HSN.^[17]

First supermodel claim

Dickinson is the self-proclaimed "world's first supermodel".^[1] In E! Network's E! True Hollywood Story, she described how she coined the term "supermodel" in 1979.^[18] Her manager, concerned that at the peak of her modeling career she was doing too much work, told her, "You are not Superman." Dickinson replied, "I am not Superman, I am a supermodel."^[19]

Dickinson's claims for coining the term "supermodel" and being the first one to represent the title are disputed. The term "supermodel" was already known in the 1940s. The writer Judith Cass used the term in 1942 for her article in the Chicago Tribune, which headlined "Super Models are Signed for Fashion Show".^[20] Later in 1943, Clyde Matthew Dessner used the term in his modeling book.^[21] The term was popular throughout the 1960s to 1970s. In 1968, an article in Glamour described Twiggy, Cheryl Tiegs, Wilhelmina, Veruschka, Jean Shrimpton and fifteen other top models as "supermodels".^[22] Jean Shrimpton was also described as a supermodel by Time in 1971,^[23] as were Beverly Johnson by Jet in 1977,^[24] and Naomi Sims in the 1978 book Total Beauty Catalog by K.T. Maclay.^[25]

Dorian Leigh has been retroactively recognized as being one of the 20th Century's first supermodels,^[26][27] and whose career began and ended before Dickinson was born. Gia Carangi has also been called the first supermodel,^[28][29] as well as Lisa Fonssagrives.^[30]

Television

In 2003 Dickinson returned to popular consciousness with her stint as a judge on the reality series America's Next Top Model. She was hired after producer Tyra Banks read No Lifeguard On Duty and realized that Dickinson could offer the contestants advice on the perils of the fashion industry. As a panelist, Dickinson became known for her wit and incisive, brutally honest critiques.^[31] Dickinson frequently quarreled with her fellow judges, particularly Kimora Lee Simmons and Nolé Marin. ^[32] A recurring source of tension between Dickinson and Banks was the former's dubiety concerning plus-size models.^[33] After four cycles, Banks fired Dickinson, replacing her with Twiggy. Dickinson was hurt by the decision. "I was just telling the truth and I was saving these girls from going out there and being told that they're too short, too fat, their skin's not good enough," she said. "I was to America's Next Top Model what Simon Cowell is to American Idol."^[34]

In 2005, Dickinson was a regular on The Surreal Life for its fifth season. She was confronted by castmate Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth during a publicity photoshoot while Dickinson was posing with a prop knife. After being physically separated by Bronson Pinchot the two continued to feud throughout the series.^[1][35][36]

In 2006 Dickinson starred in her own reality show, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, for Oxygen. The program, which ran for four seasons, documented Dickinson launching a new career as a modeling agent. Despite high ratings in key demographics^[specify] a fifth season was not ordered.

She appeared with English model Abigail Clancey in Abbey & Janice: Beauty & The Best, a reality series detailing Clancey's attempt to break into the American modeling market. The show debuted in Britain on May 14, 2007 and premiered in the United States on the Oxygen television network on February 19, 2008.

In November 2007, Dickinson became one of the celebrities taking part in the UK reality TV show I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here!. Dickinson set the world record for most Bushtucker trials, competing ten times in a row.^[37] In the finale of the series, it was announced that Dickinson had gained second place in the competition, with Christopher Biggins coming first.

Dickinson was also a contestant for series two of the American version of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! which began airing in June 2009.^[38] She was eliminated from the show on June 18, 2009.

In 2009, Dickinson was a guest judge on the Finnish version of the Top Model franchise. She created controversy after the claimed effects of accidentally mixing a sleeping aid with champagne caused her to fall down a flight of stairs and burst out at the models. Dickinson was then taken to a hospital where she was told she had no visible injuries. She later then apologized to the models during the show's airing.^[39]

Other guest appearances include "Still Charmed and Kicking", one episode of Charmed where Paige disguised herself as Dickinson in order to fool both her sisters and old family friends that people important to her did actually care that she had "died". Her sisters soon found out that "Dickinson" was actually Paige and ordered her to reverse the spell. She made a cameo appearance in Darren Hayes's music video "On the Verge of Something Wonderful".

Personal life

Dickinson has been married three times. Her former husbands are Ron Levy, Simon Fields (1987 – 1993), and Albert B. Gerston (February 1995 – 1996; also recorded as Alan B. Gersten). With Fields she had a son, Nathan Fields.^[1] She has a daughter, Savannah Dickinson, by former boyfriend, Michael Birnbaum.^[1] Dickinson thought that Sylvester Stallone was Savannah's father. A paternity test proved that the biological father was not Stallone, but Birnbaum.^[1] In her books and in interviews, she has also discussed her numerous sexual relationships with male and female celebrities.^[40] Her past lovers include Warren Beatty,^[1] Sylvester Stallone, Jack Nicholson,^[1][41] Liam Neeson,^[1][41] Sir Mick Jagger,^[41] Ronnie Wood,^[3] Kelly LeBrock,^[42] Prince Albert II,^[7] Roman Polanski,^[43] Dolph Lundgren,^[3] Grace Jones,^[3] Bruce Willis,^[7] Frank Zappa,^[7] John Cusack,^[7] David O'Hara,^[37] and Jon Lovitz.^[44]

During an episode of the reality show The Surreal Life, Dickinson revealed in-depth information about the emotional abuse she endured as a child and teenager. She stated to her cast mates, "My father was a pedophile. He was a dark, angry guy. Being forced to have a pedophile for a father is probably the most horrible thing that can happen to a child, bar none."^[8] She said, "I survived a monster... 16 years I was forced to keep the secret... If I ever exposed my pedophile father, I would've been murdered. So you know what he did instead? He beat me on a daily basis."^[8] In an interview, Dickinson told British magazine Now, "When he was on the way to the hospital, I tossed his medication out of the car window and didn't tell the doctors. Maybe I wanted to kill the abuser?"^[9]

Age

Dickinson's date of birth is variously stated as February 15, 17, or 28 in 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955,^[1] or 1960. Municipal records from Los Angeles California, and Hollywood, Florida give the date as February 15. In Dickinson's autobiography No Lifeguard on Duty, she wrote, "When I was just eighteen months old, in 1957, the family moved from Brooklyn to Florida."^[45] She also graduated in 1973 from South Broward High School, making 1955 her more likely year of birth.^[45]

In the first episode of I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here! on November 12, 2007, Dickinson stated her age as 53.^[46] This corresponds with the 1955 date of birth given in this article. 1954 would be more accurate, but her age at time of high school graduation is as yet unknown. In the eighth episode of the same series, she said, "I waited until I was 32 to get married."^[47] In 1987, she married Simon Fields, which would again place her birth date at 1955.

As an author

In 2002, Dickinson released a tell-all book detailing her "wild days" as a supermodel. Titled No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World’s First Supermodel, the autobiography was effective in introducing Dickinson to a whole new generation.^[6][48]

Dickinson's follow-up to No Lifeguard on Duty was the 2004 book Everything About Me is Fake… And I’m Perfect.^[6][49] In this book she describes her life in modeling, her experience with plastic surgery, and her battles with anorexia, bulimia and alcoholism.^[49]

Dickinson's next book was Check Please! Dating, Mating and Extricating and is purported to show a lighter and more tender side of Dickinson. In the book, Dickinson discusses the men in her life, and prescribes her rules for dating.^[50]

References

External links

• Janice Dickinson's Blog and Official Site
• Janice Dickinson's UK website
• Janice Dickinson Talks Trash About Celebs
• Janice Dickinson at the Internet Movie Database
• Janice Dickinson at Fashion Model Directory
• Janice Dickinson's community on LJ
• Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency at MySpace
• Janice Dickinson interview
• AOL Books interview on the book Check, Please: Dating, Mating, and Extricating (2006)