Eileen Cecile Ford (née Otte; March 25, 1922 – July 9, 2014) was an American modeling agency executive. Along with her husband Gerard "Jerry" Ford, she co-founded Ford Models in 1946, which emerged as one of the earliest and most successful modeling agencies in the mid and late-20th century.
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Early life and education
Eileen Cecile Ottensoser was born in Manhattan, New York City, and raised in suburban Great Neck on Long Island, the only daughter of four children of Loretta Marie (née Laine) and Nathaniel Ottensoser. Nathaniel was an "upmarket Jewish debt collector". Eileen took great pains to hide her Jewish heritage and would keep it a secret from her own children.
She attended Barnard College, where she was a model during the summers of her freshman and sophomore years for Harry Conover's modeling agency, one of the first in the United States. She graduated from Barnard in 1943. She changed her last name to Otte and developed a WASP identity to avoid the Jewish Quota. She had a short-lived marriage with a naval officer, however, marriage ended when he was killed in 1944.
Then, in 1944, she met her future husband, Gerard "Jerry" Ford, at a drugstore near the Columbia University. They eloped, marrying in November 1944 in San Francisco. Shortly thereafter, Jerry, who was in the U.S. Navy, was deployed during World War II.
Career
With her husband Jerry deployed, Ford began her career as a secretary to photographer Elliot Clark, and then as a fashion stylist, copywriter, and fashion reporter for The Tobe Report. A pregnant Eileen then began working as a secretary for several models, taking calls at her father's New York City law office, and charging each model $65 to $75 monthly for administrative support. In March 1947, she gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Jamie.
Ford Models
In March 1946, her husband returned from his deployment, and he joined Eileen in creating a modeling agency. After only a year, Eileen and Jerry sold their car and relocated their agency to a third-floor walkup office on Second Avenue in Manhattan.
Within a year, the modeling agency emerged as one of the most successful agencies in the nation, grossing $250,000. The Fords' first superstar model was Jean Patchett. The Fords had the capital to instill the voucher system, something that other modeling agencies were not affluent enough to offer. Dorian Leigh described Eileen as "one of the hardest working, most persistent persons I have ever known, two qualities which made her my very good friend for years and later, my unanticipated enemy".
After two years, the Fords were competing seriously with the modeling industry's two leading agencies, those of Huntington Hartford and John Robert Powers. Leigh closed her modeling agency when she was pregnant with her third child in 1948. Leigh called Eileen and told them that her 15-years younger sister, Suzy Parker, was making only $25 per hour working as a model for Huntington Hartford. Leigh felt Suzy, although only 16 years old, should be making $40 per hour, and told Ford she would join her two-year-old agency only if they took Parker sight-unseen. Anxious to represent Leigh, they agreed. Expecting a younger version of the raven-haired, blue-eyed, very slender, 5'4" Dorian, the Fords were shocked to see Parker was 5'10" with green eyes, and freckles.
They soon realized, however, that Parker had the possibility of becoming quite a successful model. Soon thereafter, Parker would become the most successful model of the 1950s, helping push the Ford's agency to number one.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the Fords represented top models Mary Jane Russell, Carmen Dell'Orefice, and Dovima.
By 1954, the Fords were extremely successful and were living in a duplex apartment on Park Avenue. To make sure that their models were the most successful, the Fords provided hair dressers, dermatologists, and Eileen dispensed diet advice constantly. She allowed models to live with her to "keep a close eye on them so they'd stay out of trouble and make their early morning appointments". Eleven of Ford's busiest models were featured on the April 1955 issue of McCall's magazine, Parker, Leigh, Jean Patchett, Patsy Shally, Lillian Marcuson, Nan Rees, Leonie Vernet, Georgia Hamilton, Dolores Hawkins, Kathy Dennis, and Mary Jane Russell. Ford pushed for standardized hours and wages. She enforced rules about what models could and could not do, such as revealing "excessive amounts of bosom".
Retirement
In 1995, Katie Ford took over her parents' agency after their retirement. The 50th anniversary of the agency was highlighted in several publications, including the July–August 1996 issue of American Photo magazine and in January–February 1997's Top Model magazine, whose heading was "Ford at 50!". Katie Ford served as chief executive officer for 12 years, from 1995 to 2007.
Ford's story has been told in Good Housekeeping 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 cinematographer, 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 and a profile of Christie Brinkley.
Personal life
Ford's husband, Jerry Ford, died on August 24, 2008, aged 83. He was survived by his wife, four children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Death
Ford died at a hospital in Morristown, New Jersey, from complications of meningioma and osteoporosis, on July 9, 2014. She was 92 years old.
Publications
Eileen Ford's Book of Model Beauty by Eileen Ford. Trident Press: New York, (1968)
Eileen Ford's a more beautiful you in 21 days, Simon and Schuster: New York (1972); ISBN 978-0-671-21191-2