Dickinson, Janice 1955-

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DICKINSON, Janice 1955-

PERSONAL: Born February 15, 1955; daughter of Michael Birnbaum and Savannah Dickinson; married Simon Fields (a producer; divorced); married Albert Gerston (divorced); children: Nathan, Savannah.

ADDRESSES: Office—9972 West Wanda Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210.

CAREER: Model and photographer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Kid's Sake, Woman of the Year, 1988.

WRITINGS:

No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel (memoir), ReganBooks (New York, NY), 2002.

Everything about Me Is Fake—I'm Perfect, Regan-Books (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Janice Dickinson coined the term that describes her—supermodel. She was the first woman to break the so-called blonde barrier, which previously had excluded dark and more ethnic-looking beauties from the modelling business. Dickinson also became a photographer early on, learning the secrets of shooting images from the notable photographers who captured her on film. Among these were Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and Horst P. Horst. In her memoir No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel, Dickinson reveals what it was like to be a seventeen year old longing for a career in modeling and what life was like after she achieved it.

Dickinson got her start when Wilhelmina, a former model who runs the agency bearing her name, agreed to represent her. Dickinson traveled to Europe, where she first appeared on the cover of the French edition of Vogue and then on the covers of several other magazines. She was in demand all the way to Asia and appeared in publications circulating in China, Thailand, and Japan. When the model of the moment returned to New York with an impressive portfolio, it was to meet the same industry people who had previously rejected her. She represented designers like Gianni Versace and Calvin Klein, to whom she claims she first suggested selling underwear, and brands that included Virginia Slims, Max Factor, and Hush Puppies. She appeared on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Elle, Vogue, and other fashion magazines and had a two-year relationship with photographer Michael Reinhardt, who influenced her rise to success. Soon her circle of friends included other models such as Iman, Christy Brinkley, and Gia Carangi, the last whose 1984 death was much publicized. Dickinson was a denizen of the famed 1970s Manhattan disco Studio 54, along with celebrities like artist Andy Warhol and writer Truman Capote. She writes of her affairs with Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, and Liam Neeson.

Dickinson married producer Simon Fields. They had a son, but the marriage didn't last. She watched the top modeling jobs now going to younger women who were being paid astronomical sums. Dickinson had developed addictions to drugs and alcohol but improved with the arrival of her daughter and with her marriage to her second husband, Albert Gerston. He, however, also had a drug problem, and while under the influence, he drove their car over a cliff. The accident left Dickinson so injured that she spent four months in a hospital, following which she returned to alcohol as a way to avoid the pain. Dickinson divorced Gerston and returned to Los Angeles to raise her children and rekindle her interest in photography. She achieved sobriety in 2000 and gives much of the credit for her recovery to Tony Peck, son of actor Gregory Peck, who helped her find a program near her home.

No Lifeguard on Duty recounts more than just Dickinson's life as a model. It recalls the abuse she suffered from her father, which she says was a factor in her addictions. Dickinson's basement flooded in 1997, destroying much of her record as a model and a photographer, approximately twenty years' worth of work, but she picked up and began again. She continued to receive assignments, wrote her book, and began to plan for another, filled with the details that didn't make it into the first volume.

Jessica Kerwin wrote in Women's Wear Daily that although the memoir provides the romantic details of the model's life, "what keeps the book from becoming tawdry is Dickinson's sense of humor. She applies a healthy dose to both her conquests and disasters alike."

A Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that Dickinson is "honest enough to acknowledge the stimulating aspects of success and glamour, explaining why they lure insecure personalities and imprison them past the point of no return."