Eileen Ford

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Eileen and Jerry Ford

Eileen Ford (born March 25, 1922) is a model agency executive and co-founder, in 1946 with her husband Gerard "Jerry" Ford, of Ford Models one of the earliest and internationally best known modelling agencies in the world.

Born Eileen Otte in Great Neck, New York she loved to read, particularly about clothing and travel. Starting as a model herself she soon found that her acumen was for business and recognizing the look that would photograph well: a straight nose, wide-set eyes, and a long neck.

"There are two words in the modelling industry," she says "Bones and body, body and bones". "The beautiful woman is the one who really knows herself–her face, her body, everything–and she makes the most of everything she's got."

Her story has been told in Good Housekeeping and in 1968, Life in November 1970 and Ladies Home Journal in 1971 among many others. She appeared in the 1997 film Scratch the Surface about a teen model turned documentary film-maker, Tara Fitzpatrick's examination of the clothing industry and in Intimate Portrait: Eileen Ford in 1999 and again in Celebrity Profile: Brooke Shields in 2001.

She produced a 2000 TV Series called Search for a Supermodel.

[edit] Publications

EILEEN FORD'S BOOK OF MODEL BEAUTY by Eileen Ford. Published by Trident Press New York 1968
Eileen Ford's a more beautiful you in 21 days by Eileen Ford. Published by Simon and Schuster, New York 1972. ISBN 978-0-671-21191-2