Lesley Lawson | |
|---|---|
_(52728638973).jpg) Twiggy in 2023 | |
| Born | Lesley Hornby (1949-09-19)19 September 1949 (age 76) |
| Other names |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | Since 1966 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
| Modelling information | |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
| Hair colour | Blonde |
| Eye colour | Blue |
| Agency | Models 1 |
Dame Lesley Lawson (néeHornby; born 19 September 1949), widely known by the nicknameTwiggy, is an English model, actress, and singer. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenage model during the "swinging sixties" in London.
Twiggy was initially known for her thin build and the androgynous appearance considered to result from her big eyes, long eyelashes, and short hair.[1][2] She was named "The Face of 1966" by theDaily Express[3] and voted British Woman of the Year.[4] By 1967, she had modelled in France, Japan, and the US, and had appeared on the covers ofVogue andThe Tatler; her fame had spread worldwide.[4]
After modelling, Twiggy had a successful career as a screen, stage, and television actress. Her role inThe Boy Friend (1971) earned her twoGolden Globe Awards. In 1983, she made herBroadway debut in the musicalMy One and Only, for which she received aTony nomination forBest Actress in a Musical. She later hosted her own series,Twiggy's People, in which she interviewed celebrities, and appeared as a judge on the reality showAmerica's Next Top Model. Her 1998 autobiographyTwiggy in Black and White entered the best-seller lists.[3] From 2005 onwards, she modelled forMarks and Spencer, appearing in television advertisements and print media. Twiggy has been credited for the company's successful revival at that time.
Lesley Hornby was born on 19 September 1949 and raised inNeasden (originally inMiddlesex, now a suburb of north-westLondon).[5] She was the third daughter of Nellie Lydia (née Reeman), a factory worker for a printing firm, and William Norman Hornby, a carpenter and joiner from Lancashire.[6] Their first daughter, Shirley, had been born 15 years earlier; their second, Vivien, had been born 7 years earlier.[citation needed] According to Twiggy, her maternal grandfather was Jewish.[7] However, her mother's genealogy, which was examined on the seriesWho Do You Think You Are? in 2014, does not contain Jewish ancestry.[8]
Twiggy's mother taught her to sew from an early age. She used this skill to make her own clothing.[9] She attended theBrondesbury and Kilburn High School.
Twiggy is one of the first international supermodels and a fashion icon of the 1960s.[10] Her greatest influence isJean Shrimpton,[11][12] whom Twiggy considers to be the world's first supermodel.[12] She has said she based her "look" onPattie Boyd.[13] Twiggy herself has been described as the successor to Shrimpton.[1][14][15][16]
In January 1966, aged 16, she had her hair coloured and cut short in London atLeonard of Mayfair,[17] owned by celebrity hairdresser Leonard.[18] The hair stylist was looking for models on whom to try out his new crop haircut and he styled her hair in preparation for a few test head shots.[19] A professional photographerBarry Lategan took several photos for Leonard, which the hairdresser hung in his salon. Deirdre McSharry, a fashion journalist from theDaily Express, saw the images and asked to meet the young girl.[20]
McSharry arranged to have more photos taken. A few weeks later, the publication featured an article and images of Hornby, declaring her "The Face of '66".[10][21] In it, the copy read: "The Cockney kid with a face to launch a thousand shapes... and she's only 16".[22]
Hornby's career quickly took off.[21] She was short for a model at 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m), weighed six point fivestone (41 kg; 91 lb) and had a 31–23–32 (79–58–81 cm) figure, "with a new kind of streamlined, androgynous sex appeal".[23][24] Her hairdresser boyfriend, Nigel Davies, became her manager, changed his name toJustin de Villeneuve, and persuaded her to change her name to Twiggy (from "Twigs", her childhood nickname).[25] De Villeneuve credits himself for Twiggy's discovery and her modelling success, and his version of events is often quoted in other biographies. In her 1998 bookTwiggy In Black and White, she says that she met Justin through his brother, when she worked as a Saturday girl at a hairdressers in London. This is where she began to see the models in the magazines, but never thought she could do something like that. Jean Shrimpton was her idol, so she grew her hair long to look like her, before having to have it cut off for her headshots byBarry Lategan.[19][26] Ten years her senior, De Villeneuve managed her lucrative career for seven years, overseeing her finances and enterprises during her heyday as a model.
Twiggy was soon seen in all the leading fashion magazines, commanding fees of£80 an hour, bringing out her own line of clothes called "Twiggy Dresses" in 1967,[27] and taking the fashion world by storm.[28] "I hated what I looked like," she said once, "so I thought everyone had gone stark raving mad."[21] Twiggy's look centred on three qualities: her stick-thin figure, a boyishly short haircut and strikingly dark eyelashes.[29] Her signature look was achieved in part by applying three layers of false eyelashes.[30]
One month after theDaily Express article, Twiggy posed for her first shoot forVogue. Since then she has appeared on the cover of Vogue (and numerous international editions) 14 times.[31]
Twiggy arrived inNew York in March 1967 atKennedy Airport, an event covered by the press.[32]The New Yorker,Life andNewsweek reported on the Twiggy "phenomenon" in 1967, with theNew Yorker devoting nearly 100 pages to the subject.[19][33] That year she became an international sensation, modelling inFrance,Japan andAmerica,[4] and landing the cover of ParisVogue in May, the cover of USVogue three times, in April, July and November, and the cover of BritishVogue in October.[29] In 1967, an editorial on page 63 of the edition of 15 March ofVogue described her as an "extravaganza that makes the look of the sixties". Twiggy was, according to feminist critic Linda Delibero, "the most visible commodity Britain produced that year, and [America] generously complied with the hype, scarfing up skinny little Twiggy pens, Twiggy lunch boxes, Twiggy lashes, an assortment of Twiggy-endorsed cosmetics".[34]
TheMetropolitan Museum of Art's 2009 catalogue for its exhibitionTheModel as Muse: Embodying Fashion stated:
Twiggy's adolescent physique was the perfect frame for the androgynous styles that began to emerge in the 1960s. The trend was manifested in a number of templates: sweet A-line dresses with collars and neckties, suits and dresses that took their details from military uniforms, or, in the case ofYves Saint Laurent, an explicit transposition of the male tuxedo to women. Simultaneously, under the rubric of "unisex", designs that were minimalistic, including Nehru suits and space-agey jumpsuits, were proposed by designers such asPierre Cardin andAndre Courreges, and, most famously in the United States, byRudi Gernreich.[35]
Twiggy has been photographed by such noted photographers asCecil Beaton,Richard Avedon,Melvin Sokolsky,Ronald Traeger,Bert Stern,Norman Parkinson,Annie Leibovitz andSteven Meisel.[28]
Twiggy and the magazines featuring her image polarised critics from the start. Her boyishly thin image was, and still is, criticised for allegedly promoting an "unhealthy" body ideal for women.[36][23] "Twiggy came along at a time when teen-age spending power was never greater," said Su Dalgleish, fashion correspondent for theDaily Mail. "With that underdeveloped, boyish figure, she is an idol to the 14- and 15-year-old kids. She makes virtue of all the terrible things of gawky, miserable adolescence."[37] At the height of her fame, Mark Cohen, president ofLeeds Women's shop, had an even harsher view: "Her legs remind me of two painted worms." Yet Twiggy had her supporters.Diana Vreeland ofVogue stated, "She's no flash in the pan. She is the mini-girl in the mini-era. She's delicious looking."[37] In recent years, Twiggy has spoken out against the trend of waif-thin models, explaining that her own thin weight as a teenager was natural: "I was very skinny, but that was just my natural build. I always ate sensibly – being thin was in my genes."[38]
On 10 December 1969, despite being 20 years old, Twiggy was selected as the subject for one of the first editions produced byThames Television of the television seriesThis Is Your Life.[citation needed]
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After four years of modelling, Twiggy retired in 1970, stating, "You can't be a clothes hanger for your entire life!"[39] She has stated several times that she is only really remembered for her modelling career although it was "only a short part of my life". She began to develop a film interest through her weekly visits toKen Russell's house; they would watch old films together, which featuredGreta Garbo,Clark Gable, and other Hollywood actors and actresses. This began to give Twiggy a new outlook on the way she dressed and the way she wore her hair; she began wearing a beret, longer skirts, and flowers as the hippie look was beginning to take over London. Ken and Twiggy worked on a film together, calledThe Boy Friend (1971), after watching a performance of the original musical, staged by Ken's mother's amateur dramatics group.[citation needed]
Twiggy then embarked on an acting and singing career, starring in a variety of roles on stage and screen, and recording albums. In 1971 she made her film debut as an extra, dressed as a male courtier, inKen Russell'sThe Devils. The same year, she performed her first leading role as Polly Browne in Russell's adaptation ofSandy Wilson's pastiche of 1920s hit musicals,The Boy Friend (1971). This marked her initial collaboration withTommy Tune and won her twoGolden Globe Awards in 1972 (New Star of the Year – Actress andBest Actress in a Musical or Comedy).
She broke off with Justin de Villeneuve, who had been overseeing her business affairs since 1966, and released him from his duties as her manager, claiming in later years that "her career had more to do with that famous picture of her with those funny painted eyelashes, which appeared in theDaily Express under the headline 'The Face of '66'" than with his promotional efforts.[26]
Also in 1971, Twiggy released the single "Zoo de Zoo Zong", written by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway and credited to Twiggy and Friends. In 1974, she made her West End stage debut inCinderella; made a second feature, the thrillerW (co-starring with her future husbandMichael Witney); and hosted her own British television seriesTwiggs (later renamedTwiggy).[citation needed]
In 1973, she appeared withDavid Bowie on the cover of his seventh album,Pin Ups. which entered the UK chart on 3 November 1973 and stayed there for 21 weeks, peaking at No. 1. She was also name-checked ("She'd sigh like Twig the wonder kid") in Bowie's song "Drive-In Saturday" for hisAladdin Sane album.[40]
In October 1975, she sang at the live performance ofRoger Glover'sThe Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast album at theRoyal Albert Hall in London. The concert was filmed and produced by Tony Klinger and released to cinemas in 1976. In November 1976, she made an appearance onThe Muppet Show, in which she sang theBeatles song, "In My Life".[41] In 1976, she signed toMercury Records and released the albumsTwiggy andPlease Get My Name Right, that contained both pop and country tunes.Twiggy sold very well, peaking on the UK charts at No. 33, and gave Twiggy a silver disc for good sales. The album contains Twiggy's top-20 hit single, "Here I Go Again". "Please Get My Name Right" made it to No. 35 in 1977. The single, "A Woman in Love", failed to chart for Twiggy in 1977 but was a hit for theThree Degrees in 1979. Twiggy also sang some of the songs in the first volume ofCaptain Beaky and His Band in 1977.
In 1978, the television distribution arm ofAmerican International Pictures, in an effort to gain additional syndication value in the US to theLWT rock music seriesSupersonic, repackaged the musical performances with Twiggy replacing Mike Mansfield's introductions. The new series, titledTwiggy's Jukebox, ran in most of the major television markets in the US during the 1978–79 TV season. Coincidentally, Twiggy had performed "Here I Go Again" and "Vanilla Olay" onSupersonic in September 1976, and these performances were included in the refurbished programme. After the initial season, Twiggy left the series, and American International Television continuedJukebox withBritt Ekland as host, using standard music videos rather than clips fromSupersonic. Twiggy appeared in "There Goes the Bride" withTom Smothers in 1979.[citation needed]
In 1980, Twiggy made a cameo appearance inThe Blues Brothers. She starred as Eliza Doolittle in 1981, oppositeRobert Powell, in theYorkshire TV production ofPygmalion. In 1983, she made her Broadway debut in the musicalMy One and Only, starring and co-staged byTommy Tune, for which she earned aTony nomination. She played oppositeRobin Williams in the 1986 comedyClub Paradise. In 1987, she played a vaudeville performer in the British television specialThe Little Match Girl, and in 1988, she appeared in a supporting role inMadame Sousatzka opposite her second husband, Leigh Lawson. In 1989, she was cast asHannah Chaplin, mother to Charles, in the British television movieYoung Charlie Chaplin, aired in the United States on PBS'WonderWorks.
In 1991, she co-starred in her first American network dramatic television series, the short-lived CBS sitcomPrincesses. Of eight episodes completed, only five aired. (HerPrincesses co-star,Fran Drescher, later spent some time with Twiggy and her family in England while developing Drescher's hit seriesThe Nanny, and modelled the characterMaxwell Sheffield on Twiggy's husband Leigh Lawson.)[42][43]
In 1993, Twiggy appeared alongsideMark Hamill in the short segment "Eye" from the made-for-cable horror anthologyBody Bags. In 1994, Twiggy guest-starred in the first everHeartbeat Christmas special (in series 4), playing Lady Janet Whitley.
In 1997, Twiggy acted in theChichester Festival Theatre revival ofNoël Coward'sBlithe Spirit. A year later, she playedGertrude Lawrence in the biographical stage revueNoel and Gertie at Bay Street Theatre inSag Harbor,Long Island. In 1999, she returned to the New York stage in anoff-Broadway production,If Love Were All, a revised version ofNoel and Gertie, written and directed by Leigh Lawson; what set this edition apart were its tap numbers in period style. She starred as Gertrude Lawrence oppositeHarry Groener's Noël Coward.[citation needed]
In 2001, Twiggy co-hosted the British magazine programmeThis Morning. In 2003, she released another album,Midnight Blue. Seventeen of the CD's 20 tracks had previously unreleased material from 1982 to 1990, including a duet withLeo Sayer, "Save the Last Dance for Me", and a cover of theRolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday". Two of the tracks ("Feel Emotion" and "Diamond") had been issued as singles in the mid-1980s. In 2005, she joined the cast of the television showAmerica's Next Top Model for Cycles 5–9 as one of four judges, and a year later, she appeared on the cover of the "Icons" issue ofSwindle magazine. She also returned to modelling, fronting a major television, press, and billboard campaign forMarks & Spencer, the British department-store chain. Her involvement in the advertising campaign has been credited for Marks and Spencer's successful revival.[44]
In 2006, she portrayed herself as a 19-year-old in the radio playElevenses with Twiggy, forBBC Radio 4'sThe Afternoon Play series. She did not return toAmerica's Next Top Model in its tenth season due to scheduling conflicts.[45] Her replacement was modelPaulina Porizkova.[46] Also in 2007, Sepia Records released a previously shelved album,Heaven in My Eyes ["Discotheque"], that Twiggy recorded in 1979, produced byDonna Summer and Juergen Koppers.[citation needed] She appeared in Marks & Spencer's 2008 Christmas ad campaign alongsideMyleene Klass,Lily Cole, and others.[47]
In the summer of 2009, the beauty products companyOlay debuted its "Definity Eye Cream" campaign depicting Twiggy. Accusations of airbrushing created a stir with the media and public. A website campaign set up by Jo Swinson, the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP, attracted 700 individual complaints.[48]Procter & Gamble admitted to minor retouching and replaced the image. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that the ad gave a "misleading" impression, but that no further action was required because the image had already been withdrawn. Its announcement said:
However, we considered that the post-production re-touching of this ad, specifically in the eye area, could give consumers a misleading impression of the effect the product could achieve. We considered that the combination of references to "younger looking eyes", including the claim "reduces the look of wrinkles and dark circles for brighter, younger looking eyes", and post-production re-touching of Twiggy's image around the eye area, was likely to mislead.[48]
Twiggy remains in the forefront of fashion for women of her age.[49] She was one of the few famous celebrities to avoid being cut from the Marks & Spencer fashion team in 2009–2010, whenDannii Minogue joined her for the spring/summer women's wear campaign.[50][51]
In 2010, she started aHome Shopping Network fashion line called the "Twiggy London" collection.[52]
On 21 November 2011, she released an album,Romantically Yours, throughEMI. A collection of pop and easy listening standards spanning several generations, the album features versions of such compositions as "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", "Blue Moon", "My Funny Valentine", "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "They Can't Take That Away from Me", and London anthem "Waterloo Sunset". The album also includes a guest vocal appearance by Twiggy's daughter, Carly Lawson, onNeil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", a guitar solo byBryan Adams, and a version ofRichard Marx's "Right Here Waiting" featuring duet vocals with the American songwriter himself. In 2012, she worked alongside Marks & Spencer's designers to launch an exclusive clothing collection for the M&S Woman range.[53] In 2016, archive images of Twiggy, alongside images of Shrimpton andJane Birkin, were used forTod's Fall/Winter campaign.[54]
On 22 November 2022, actress and filmmakerSadie Frost teamed up with Twiggy to create an interactive virtual documentary about Twiggy's life.[55] On 16 May 2023, the documentary's final scene was produced live atCannes Marché du Film Festival (theCannes Film Festival) 2023, in just 48 hours, using the on-site virtual production stage of film studio, Film Soho. Alongside this, a live virtual experience by metaverse company, Hadean, and live event visualisation solutions provider, disguise, made use ofUnreal Engine to create a photo-realistic recreation of London's Carnaby Street in the 1960s, engaging users with interactive elements based on Twiggy's memories of the time.[56]
Sadie Frost's documentary about Twiggy's life was released in UK and Ireland cinemas on 7 March 2025.[57]
A jukebox musical based on Twiggy's life titledTwiggy The Musical was written and directed byBen Elton and had its world premiere at theMenier Chocolate Factory, London in September 2023 (originally asClose-Up: The Twiggy Musical). It will tour the UK from September 2025.
She was appointed aDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the2019 New Year Honours for services to fashion, to the arts and to charity. Her appointment appeared inThe London Gazette under her married name, Lesley Lawson.[58]
Twiggy married American actorMichael Witney in 1977. Their daughter Carly was born in 1978.[19] They remained married until his death in 1983 from a heart attack.[59]
She metLeigh Lawson in 1984.[3] In 1988, they worked on the filmMadame Sousatzka and married that year inSag Harbor, New York (onLong Island). The couple reside inKensington, London[60] and own a home inSouthwold, Suffolk.[61][62]
On Twiggy's official website, she states she is a supporter ofbreast cancer research,animal welfare, andanti-fur campaigns.[3] She was one of the celebrities, includingTom Hiddleston,Jo Brand,E. L. James,Benedict Cumberbatch, andRachel Riley, to design and sign her own card for the UK-based charityThomas Coram Foundation for Children. The campaign was launched by crafting company Stampin' Up! UK, and the cards were auctioned off oneBay during May 2014.[63][better source needed]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | The Devils | Woman | Uncredited |
| The Boy Friend | Polly | ||
| 1974 | W | Katie Lewis | |
| 1980 | The Blues Brothers | Chic Lady | |
| There Goes the Bride | Polly Perkins | ||
| 1985 | The Doctor and the Devils | Jennie Bailey | |
| 1986 | Club Paradise | Phillipa Lloyd | |
| The Little Match Girl | Josie Roberts | TV movie | |
| 1988 | Madame Sousatzka | Jenny | |
| The Diamond Trap | Det. Sgt. Charlie Lawson | TV movie | |
| Sun Child | Fen Harris | TV movie | |
| 1990 | Istanbul (Keep Your Eyes Open) | Maud | |
| 1993 | Body Bags | Cathy Matthews | |
| 1997 | Something Borrowed, Something Blue | Eve Hamel | TV movie |
| 1998 | Brand New World | Viv | TV movie |
Albums
Singles
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Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
| Preceded by | Host ofThis Morning withColeen Nolan 2001 | Succeeded by |
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