Model Dayle Haddon Dies in Pennsylvania
Dayle Haddon, the only model to have had four major cosmetics contracts, died Friday at the age of 76.
Haddon perished and Walter Blucas, the father of her son-in-law, was hospitalized in critical condition, due to an apparent carbon monoxide leak in Buck’s County, Pa.. They were found in the country home that is owned by Haddon’s former journalist daughter Ryan and her actor husband, Marc Blucas. An investigation into the incident is ongoing with the initial focus being on the installation of a heater, according to Ryan Haddon. Walter Blucas was showing signs of improvement Sunday, she added.
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Officials at the Solebury, Pa., police department did not respond to media requests about the incident, nor did representatives from the Bucks County coroner’s office.
A celebration of Haddon’s life will be held at a later date in New York City, according to her daughter. Through her modeling, altruism and advocacy, Dayle Haddon championed inclusivity, inner beauty, and ageless living. She wanted women to have value at every age and worked “to extend the ideas of beauty, value and worth beyond what our society deems beautiful,” Ryan Haddon said.
Her long term contracts with L’Oreal, Max Factor, Revlon and Estée Lauder were due to an ability to connect with many women by communicating her love, her daughter said. “She told me once that when the camera was on her, she would think of someone lovingly,” Ryan Haddon said.
Born in Baie-D’Urfe, Canada, the model grew up in a home of limited means with three siblings. Their parents, who had initially met during World War II, knew how to make do with little. Their father later worked as an engineer and their mother was a homemaker. After first taking up ballet at the age of five, Haddon went on to dance with the Canadian Ballet Company and the Bolshoi Ballet. As a teenager, she started modeling locally to earn extra money and later competed in beauty pageants including finishing as a “Miss Canada” runner-up one year. After the leading modeling agent Eileen Ford spotted Haddon, the teenager was invited to come to New York City to live with Ford and embark on a modeling career. Unlike some of her fellow budding models, who reveled in the freedom of being in New York City, Haddon was never a rule breaker and focused on her shoots. Her dancer’s poise and agility made her a favorite with several major photographers.
A believer in beauty being how you treat people, Haddon’s longtime association with L’Oréal, included philanthropic efforts. In the past few decades she was known more as a model-turned-activist thanks to her years as a UNICEF ambassador and her education-focused nonprofit Women One. She considered education to be a passport for women and girls.
Haddon also consulted with G7 officials about gender equality and created educational opportunities for girls and women around the world through her nonprofit. In addition to being a wellness consultant for CBS News, she acted in dozens of English, French and Italian films.
In a 2017 interview, Haddon said her definition of beauty had evolved over the years since she began modeling in the 1970s. She said, “The way I looked was not the look at the time — very tall Nordic or Texan blond girl. I was a very small, dark-haired Canadian with little freckles. It just wasn’t an ‘in’ look. There wasn’t a lot of diversity in looks, which there is now and is great.”
Haddon added, “It took me a long time to be successful, which makes you more grateful.”
“Owing everything” to fashion photographer Guy Bourdin, whom she worked with more than anyone, Haddon said, “We didn’t care about the paycheck; we only cared about creating great photos.”
Sarah Moon, Helmut Newton, Cecil Beaton, Jacques Henri Lartigue and Horst were other collaborators. “For me, modeling has a lot of richness, history and depth for relating, being exposed to creativity and a complicity when people work together on something artistic and really great,” she said.
Haddon proved just that earlier this month when attending the Ann Taylor store opening in New York City’s Flatiron District with her daughter. Having appeared in a campaign for the brand more than a decade ago that was shot by Annie Leibovitz, Haddon brought a still to show Ann Taylor executives and reminisced about the shoot. As one of the more seasoned models, who was among the first to get back in front of the camera years after their fame, Haddon was photographed by Leibovitz wearing a pale blue turtleneck, laughing with one hand partially covering one of her eyes. That relaxed and easygoing demeanor and minimalist style was what she presented in interviews, too.
A 1976 shoot with Lord Snowdon showing Haddon dining alone with some high-powered European designers in their homes or wherever they preferred to be photographed was one of her favorites. She told WWD, “Some refused. Some were welcoming. Some destroyed the outfit [she was to wear] and had to stay up all night [to work as a result]. Some decided they wanted to eat caviar on the Champs Élysées.”
Haddon said, “[Emanuel] Ungaro said he was too shy and would never bring anyone to his home. He wanted to go to his favorite restaurant. With [Yves] Saint Laurent, I was at his house. [Pierre] Cardin was more emphatic about what he wanted and smart about what he wanted. [Pierre] Balmain did not want to do it but he agreed as long as I did not look at him. I was not allowed to have a glass of wine or eat with him.”
Haddon always maintained a certain poise, with demure features and twinkling blue eyes. “A great model has to bring something of herself, but be in the style of the photographer,” said Haddon, naming Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid (“adorable and a look of our time”) and Christy Turlington as current favorites. Along with philanthropic ties, Kloss and Turlington understand that modeling is a business. They know, ‘How do you extend the longevity? How do you turn it into more than your five minutes of fame?’” she said.
Her definition of beauty also changed. “Beauty in your 20s is a wrinkle-free beauty, with no marks, no experience. It takes time for experience and that’s a different kind of beauty. For me, a lot of beauty is wrapped up in how you treat people, how you feel about yourself and how generous you are. Generous means many things — listening, including or being kind to people. It can also be about giving, doing what you can, or making a positive difference wherever you are with whoever you meet as best you can. That’s real beauty,” Haddon said in 2017. “You can’t desperately hang onto what you looked like or what you were like in your 20s, 30s or 40s. Even though you let go of some gifts, you embrace some new gifts.”
After the death of her husband Glenn Souham, when she was 38, Haddon rebuilt her life and challenged the industry to hire what was then considered a more seasoned model. She and Lauren Hutton were among the few out there pushing things forward at that time, Ryan Haddon said.
WomenOne sprang from a visit to an Angola health clinic where women had walked all night, in some cases carrying children, to get care. As a longtime UNICEF ambassador, Haddon trekked all over Africa and South America, where cholera and other diseases, hunger and poverty are destroying lives. WomenOne specialized in micro donations that could fund such minimal medical equipment as a microscope or two, since some companies or NGOs might deem that too small of a donation for an organization of their size.
In 2017, she was honored by the United Nations Women for Peace Association Awards. That same year Haddon took her empowerment message to Washington, D.C., with the help of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In honor of the “International Day of the Girl,” Haddon joined the leader, his then-wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Canada’s then-Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, and others who have “generous spirits, had a fierce intellect and deep passion for women’s issues” in a roundtable discussion.
She also called on support from the fashion and beauty industries. Haddon told WWD before receiving her award in 2017, “This is an industry that creates things for women and girls. We have to do something for their benefit, not just something they buy,” adding that Apple was supporting her WomenOne initiative. Haddon shared her insights about longevity in her two books, “Ageless Beauty: A Woman’s Guide to Lifelong Beauty and Well-Being,” and “The Five Principles of Ageless Living: A Woman’s Guide to Lifelong Health, Beauty and Well-being.”
Her daughter said, “She was a natural beauty. There was nothing altered, which in this world is very rare. It was just clean living and she was deeply spiritual. All of those things are our maps, and they show on our faces and how we move through the world,” her daughter said.
Predeceased by her parents and husband, Haddon is survived by her sisters Darilyn and Lynda, her brother James and her daughter.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Dec. 28 at 7:50 p.m.
Model and Activist Dayle Hadden Dead at 76: Her Style Through the Years [PHOTOS]
Launch Gallery: Model Dayle Haddon Dead at 76: Her Style Through the Years [PHOTOS]
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