Lauren Hutton: From Southern Roots to Enduring Icon
Lauren Hutton, born Mary Laurence Hutton on November 17, 1943, is an American model and actress whose career has spanned decades, defying conventional expectations and solidifying her status as a true icon. Raised in the southern United States, she embarked on a journey that led her to the forefront of the fashion and entertainment industries.
Early Life and Influences
Hutton's early life was marked by familial transitions. Born in the South, she spent her formative years in Tampa, Florida, after her mother divorced her father in 1945 and relocated there. Hutton never knew her father, who died June 24, 1956, from a heart attack at age 37. He was working as a Farm Editor for The Cotton Trade Journal, living in Shelby, Tennessee with his second wife, Mary Elizabeth (Everette) Hutton. He is buried at Oxford Memorial Cemetery, in Oxford, Mississippi. The absence of her father profoundly impacted her, as she reflected in 1996: "Never meeting my father was the most painful thing in my life. I look just like him and I'm named for him, but all I have are these two books of his letters and drawings from the war."
Modeling Career: Breaking Barriers
In the mid-1960s, Hutton returned to New York by herself, changed her name to "Lauren Hutton" and embarked on a career as a model. Hutton's career truly took off in the 1970s. In 1973, Hutton signed a contract with Revlon cosmetics, worth US$250,000 a year for 20 days' work (equivalent to $1,770,000 in 2024), a professional relationship that lasted for 10 years. At the time, it was the biggest contract in the history of the modeling industry. Hutton's initial contract with Revlon involved representation of the Ultima II brand.
Hutton's success wasn't just about aesthetics; it was about challenging norms. In 1988, she appeared in a campaign for Barneys New York, and in 1993, performed as a runway model for designer Calvin Klein, to which the New York Times responded by publishing an article stating that Hutton was "just as good as the current flock of fledglings." She embraced her individuality, including her signature gap-toothed smile, which initially posed a challenge but ultimately became a defining feature.
Enduring Presence: Later Career Highlights
Hutton's career continued to evolve, proving her staying power and adaptability. In 1997, Hutton became a brand ambassador and appeared in multiple advertising campaigns for the Australian department store David Jones.
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Her willingness to embrace new opportunities and collaborate with diverse brands solidified her status as a timeless figure in the industry. In October 2005, Hutton was interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America program in relation to the future release of an edition of Big magazine that was entirely dedicated to Hutton's career and included eight pages of nude photos. I want them [women] not to be ashamed of who they are when they're in bed. Society has told us to be ashamed … In 2008, Hutton accepted an offer from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to appear in the lookbook for their clothing line The Row, and explained in 2010: "I saw the clothes, and they were wonderful, real simple, minimalist designs… Ash had a place on the beach, so we did it at her place… And they would dance on the deck, and I would do what they were doing. Alongside celebrity models such as Iman and Paulina Porizkova, Hutton was one of the panel members in a roundtable discussion for the "Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion" gala, an annual event organized by the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute. Held in May 2009, the discussion occurred at New York's Minetta Tavern. A third-party licensing brand of the Jim Henson Company, Henson Independent Properties (HIP), entered into an agreement with Hutton in November 2010 to act as the global licensing agent for her merchandising program. Targeted at women over 40 years of age, the brand launched products such as eyewear, handbags, and luggage, and home décor, globally in 2012. In 2011, Hutton walked the runway for Tom Ford's spring 2012 collection, and was selected as the house model for the Alexis Bittar jewelry brand. Designer Alexis Bittar, a recipient of the CFDA Accessory Designer of the Year award, personally selected Hutton after choosing Joan Collins for the previous year. Hutton stated that Bittar's jewelry is "like art and still doesn't look like anything I have ever seen." Her photos for the campaign were shot by Jack Pierson. Hutton then appeared alongside people such as actress Shuya Chang and Annie Lennox's daughter Tali Lennox in the spring 2011 ad campaign for the Club Monaco retail brand.
Acting Career: From Sports Drama to Stealth Marketing
Hutton's talents extended beyond modeling, leading her to a successful acting career. She made her film debut in the sports drama Paper Lion in 1968, opposite Alan Alda. She also starred in John Carpenter's TV movie Someone's Watching Me! (1978) and played the female lead in American Gigolo (1980). She went on to appear in Lassiter (1984), Once Bitten (1985), a modest hit, and Guilty as Charged (1992). In 1984, Hutton joined the cast of the short-lived primetime soap drama, Paper Dolls, which co-starred Lloyd Bridges and Morgan Fairchild. In 1986, she co-starred in the lavish TV miniseries Sins, which starred Joan Collins, and also starred opposite Stacy Keach in The Return of Mike Hammer TV movie. Hutton appeared in her first feature film in two decades with the 2009 release of The Joneses, in which she starred alongside David Duchovny and Demi Moore. I thought it was an extraordinary script, and a great idea, this stealth marketing. My character had worked with Demi [Moore] when Demi was an 18-year-old, having her sitting on bar stools at expensive bars and ordering certain champagnes and certain cigarettes. And now she has little pods of these families all over the country, and she's got them in rented houses for a year at a whack to heist all the neighbors. And certainly to some degree, we do seem to be involved in that, don't we? All these people who do double jobs of acting were on red carpets wearing diamonds and $20,000 dresses, and that's a full-time job.
Personal Life: Relationships and Adventures
Hutton's personal life has been as eventful as her career. I didn't have a father, and I wanted to be a child with a protector. I'd never seen a shrink, and there was a psychological situation that clearly needed to be addressed. But, you know, I wanted to see the world and how people lived and think about who are we, how are we, why is the world? Hutton met Luca Babini on a film set in 1991 and he said of the relationship's development in 1996: "I was coming out of a divorce, and she became like a sister to me. Then I fell in love with her. In October 2000, Hutton joined a motorbike group, which included actors Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne and Jeremy Irons, to celebrate "The Art of the Motorcycle" exhibit at the Hermitage-Guggenheim museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. Prior to the journey, Hutton informed the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "I love the feeling of being a naked egg atop that throbbing steel. You feel vulnerable-but so alive." En route, while going over 100 miles (160 km) per hour, Hutton crashed near Hoover Dam, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada, and suffered multiple leg fractures, a fractured arm, broken ribs and sternum, and a punctured lung. Hopper later recalled from before the start of the ride: "She had on a little helmet, sort of tied under her chin. It was cute. In July 2013, Hutton revealed that she was in the process of writing her memoir, which may be titled Smile, and also explained the value of traveling and exploration in her life thus far: "whenever I came back from Africa or the Antarctic, head swelling with the beauty of it all, I found I was loving life again.
Advocacy and Recognition
Beyond her professional achievements, Hutton has been recognized for her advocacy and conservation efforts. Hutton was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2007 as a conservationist and scuba advocate. She started scuba diving in the 1960s, and has dived worldwide. She used her status as a celebrity to promote marine conservation, particularly of sharks, and supports the Shark Research Institute.
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