| Sunny Harnett | |
| Birthname: | Annemarie Margot Elfreda Harnett |
| Birth Date: | 1924 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Death Date: | May 1987 (aged 63) |
| Children: | 1 |
Annemarie Margot Elfreda "Sunny" Harnett (1924 - May 1987) was an American model, actress, and casting director.[1] She can be found in fashion magazines throughout the 1950s, including frequently on the cover of Vogue, and was often a model of choice by photographer Edgar de Evia. Harper's Bazaar ranks her as one of the 26 greatest models of all time.[2]
After becoming an assistant to Eileen Ford of Ford Models, she soon quit modeling. Harnett allegedly turned down the chance to represent Naomi Sims, who eventually became the first African-American supermodel, because Ford had "too many" black models already.[3]
At some point, Harnett gained weight and underwent a mastectomy.[4] Due to health concerns, she was later placed in a home for long-term care. According to fellow 1950s Ford model Betsy Pickering, Gerard W. ″Jerry″ Ford, founder of Ford Models, hospitalized Harnett for mental illness.[4] Harnett died from injuries sustained in a fire at the home in May 1987 when she was 63.[4]
She was also an actress and appeared in the film Funny Face (1957). An ash blonde, she was a favorite model of photographer Richard Avedon, who served as a thinly veiled model for Fred Astaire′s character of Dick Avery in Funny Face.[5] Avedon snapped one of the most famous photos of Harnett, in which, clad in an evening gown by Grès, she peers at a roulette wheel in a casino in Le Touquet, France.[6] That iconic August 1954 photograph fetched $35,000 when Christie's auctioned it in October 2012.