Janice Doreen Dickinson (born February 16, 1955)[2] is an American model, television personality, and businesswoman. Initially notable as a model, Dickinson has been disputably described by herself as the first supermodel. (Lisa Fonssagrives is widely considered to have been the world's first supermodel, with a career that began in the 1930s.)[3] One of the most successful models of the 1970s and 1980s, she also served as a judge on four cycles of the reality series America's Next Top Model (2003–2006). Dickinson opened a modeling agency in 2005 which was documented on the reality series The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency (2006–2008).
Dickinson has released three autobiographical books: No Lifeguard on Duty (2002), Everything About Me Is Fake… And I'm Perfect (2004), and Check Please! Dating, Mating, and Extricating (2006).
Early life
Dickinson was born in Brooklyn, New York,[4] the second daughter to Jennie Marie (née Pietrzykowski) and Samuel Ray Dickinson.[5] Her mother was of Polish descent and her father was of Irish descent.[5]
She was raised in Hollywood, Florida with her elder sister, Alexis, who became a real estate agent, and her younger sister, Debbie, who also became a model.[6][7]
Dickinson has been open about the emotional and physical abuse she suffered as a child and teenager,[3][6][8] and how her father used to sexually abuse one of her sisters. Her childhood with her "rageoholic pedophile" of a father, Dickinson stated, "Because I wouldn't give in and let him have sex with me, I was verbally and physically abused on a daily basis. I was told that I looked like a boy and wouldn't amount to anything."[8]
Modeling career
In the early 1970s, Dickinson moved to New York City to pursue work as a model after winning a national competition called "Miss High Fashion Model."[7][9] At a time when blue-eyed blondes dominated the fashion scene,[10] Dickinson was turned down several times by modeling agents, including Eileen Ford, who informed Dickinson she was "much too ethnic. You'll never work."[9]
She was discovered by the fashion photographer Jacques Silberstein when his girlfriend, actress Lorraine Bracco, mentioned she liked Dickinson's look.[11][12]Wilhelmina Cooper became Dickinson's first agent. Her modeling pursuits led her to Paris, France, where her "exotic looks" secured her reputation within the European fashion industry.[9]
She returned to New York City in 1978, and spent the next several years working steadily, earning $2,000 per day, nearly four times the standard rate.[9] Dickinson eventually signed with Ford Models to land a major ad campaign for a new JVC camera.[13] Dickinson, who had not forgotten Ford's initial rejection, was intent on revenge.[13] She soon orchastrated some twenty Ford models to defect to John Casablancas's upstart Elite Model Management.[14]
Dickinson looked for ways to sustain her relevance within the fashion industry as she aged, becoming a fashion photographer. In 2008, she launched her own jewelry line on HSN.[16]
In 2009, Dickinson recorded a song entitled "Crazy", which was written and produced by Craig Taylor.[17]
While Dickinson claims to have coined the term supermodel in 1979, and to be the first "supermodel",[18][19] the word already was known in the 1940s. The writer Judith Cass used the term in 1942 in her Chicago Tribune article "Super Models are Signed for Fashion Show".[20] In 1943, author Clyde Matthew Dessner used the term in his book So You Want to Be a Model![21]
The April 23, 1971, issue of The Hour headlined one of its articles "Supermodels Reveal Their Beauty Secrets", including an advertisement with the caption "Supermodel Cheryl Tiegs". The article also says, "The fashion/beauty world is dotted with Supermodels" and "Cybill Shepherd a Supermodel who may turn into a Superstar."[25]Jean Shrimpton was described as a supermodel by Time in 1971,[26] as were Margaux Hemingway by Vogue on September 1, 1975,[27]Beverly Johnson by Jet in 1977,[28] and Naomi Sims in the 1978 book Total Beauty Catalog by K.T. Maclay.[29]
In 2003, Dickinson returned to media attention with her position as a judge on the reality television series America's Next Top Model. She was hired after producer Tyra Banks read No Lifeguard On Duty and realized that Dickinson could offer the contestants advice on the perils of the fashion industry. As a panelist, Dickinson became known for her wit and incisive, brutally honest critiques.[43]
Dickinson frequently quarreled with her fellow judges, particularly Kimora Lee Simmons and Nolé Marin.[44] A recurring source of tension between Dickinson and Banks was mainly concerning plus-size models.[45]
After four cycles, Banks fired Dickinson, replacing her with Twiggy. Dickinson was hurt by the decision. "I was just telling the truth and I was saving these girls from going out there and being told that they're too short, too fat, their skin's not good enough," she said. "I was to America's Next Top Model what Simon Cowell is to American Idol."[46] Despite this, Dickinson made guest appearances on the following three cycles: As the photographer for a photo challenge in cycle 5, in a mentor role in cycle 6, and as the interviewee for an interview challenge in cycle 7. In 2005, Dickinson was a cast member on The Surreal Life during its fifth season. She was confronted by castmate Omarosa Manigault during a publicity photo shoot while Dickinson was posing with a prop knife. After being physically separated by Bronson Pinchot the two continued to feud throughout the series.[6][47][48]
In 2006, Dickinson starred in her own reality show, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, for the Oxygen cable-television channel. The program, which ran for four seasons, documented Dickinson launching a new career as a modeling agent. She appeared with British model Abigail Clancy in Beauty & The Best, a reality series detailing Clancy's attempt to break into the American modeling market. The show debuted in the United Kingdom on Living on May 14, 2007, and premiered in the U.S. on Oxygen on February 19, 2008.[49]
In November 2007, Dickinson became one of the celebrities taking part in the British reality television show I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here!. She set the record for most Bushtucker trials, competing ten times in a row. In the finale of the series, it was announced that Dickinson had gained second place in the competition, with Christopher Biggins coming first.[citation needed]
Dickinson was also a contestant for season two of the American version of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! which began airing in June 2009.[50] She was eliminated from the show on June 18, 2009.
In 2009, Dickinson was a guest judge on the Finnish version of the Top Model franchise. She created controversy after the claimed effects of accidentally mixing a sleeping aid with champagne caused her to fall down a flight of stairs and burst out at the models. Dickinson was taken to a hospital where she was told she had no visible injuries. She later apologized to the models during the show's airing.[51]
In August 2015, Dickinson was a housemate on the sixteenth season of the British reality show, Celebrity Big Brother. She became the seventh celebrity to be evicted from the house, just two days before the final.[55]
In 2020, Dickinson appeared on season 24 of The Bachelor.
In 2023, she appeared on I'm a Celebrity... South Africa, which acted as an all-star series for the UK version of the show, but had to withdraw from the show on day 11 after she suffered a head injury, which required her being taken to hospital.[56] Despite this, she still finished in 10th place out of 15 contestants.
TikTok career
Dickinson sparked on TikTok in 2023, when she would react to models walks and rate them. She currently has over 740k+ followers on TikTok. Janice has reacted to many supermodels walks like, Naomi Campbell, Shalom Harlow, Carmen Kass, Gisele Bündchen, Vlada Roslyakova and many more.[57] Janice gives her advice to future models who want to approach the industry.[58]
Personal life
Dickinson has been married four times. Her former husbands are Ron Levy,[6][59] Simon Fields,[6] and Alan B. Gersten,[6] also known as Albert Gersten.[4] She has a son, Nathan, and a daughter, Savannah.[6] Dickinson was having an affair with Sylvester Stallone when Savannah was born in 1994, and it was reported that Stallone was the father.[60] Their relationship ended when DNA tests proved he was not the father.[61] In her books and in interviews, she has discussed her numerous sexual relationships with male and female celebrities.[62] In 2012, she announced she was engaged to Dr. Robert Gerner ("Rocky"),[63] a psychiatrist[64] whom she married in December 2016.[65]
In November 2014, Dickinson joined a number of women accusing comedian Bill Cosby of rape, alleging that Cosby raped her in 1982. Dickinson said that she tried to write about this in her 2002 autobiography, but Cosby and his lawyers pressured her and her lawyers to remove the details.[66]
In March 2016, it was revealed that Dickinson had been diagnosed with breast cancer.[67]
Books
Dickinson released a memoir detailing her "wild days" as a supermodel. Titled No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel (2002), the book was effective in introducing her to a new generation.[7] Her 2004 follow-up memoir was Everything About Me Is Fake… And I'm Perfect,[7][68] in which she describes her life in modeling; her experience with plastic surgery; and her battles with anorexia, bulimia, and alcoholism.[68] Her next memoir, Check Please! Dating, Mating, and Extricating (2006), discusses the men in her life, and prescribes her rules for dating.[69]
Bibliography
Dickinson, Janice (2002). No Lifeguard on Duty – The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel. New York City: ReganBooks; ISBN978-0-06-000946-5
^As per Dickinson in Hashish, Amira (March 1, 2011). "Introducing the new Janice Dickinson – what America's top model did". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Yes, I turned 56 on February 16.NNDB at Janice Dickinson profile gives February 15, 1955, noting, "Although Dickinson has maintained in several interviews and her autobiography No Lifeguard on Duty that she was born in 1955, other sources give it as 1953 or 1954. Most details from her life support 1955. Her birthday is also given variously as February 15 and February 17." Among those giving February 17, 1953, is Fashion Model Directory. The New York Birth Index shows a birth date of February 15, 1955. (subscription required).
^ abcdefgh"Janice Dickinson". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved October 28, 2011. She has two teenaged children, a son, Nathan, and a daughter, Savannah.
^She related on E! True Hollywood Story that her manager, concerned that at the peak of her modeling career she was working too much, told her, "You are not Superman." Dickinson said she replied, "I am not Superman, I am a supermodel."
