Verushka (model). German model and actress Vera Gottlieb Anna Grefin von Lendorff

Now there are so many popular models that it is impossible to remember all. But only a few dozen years ago, each model was unique and famous throughout the world. And the very first supermodel was Verushka. Who was she and how was her path to success?

Childhood

Vera Gottlieb Anna von Lendorf, that's exactly the name of the best model of the 1960s, was born on May 14, 1939 in East Prussia. Her childhood was held in a family estate in the village of Steinort. Parents aristocrats could not guarantee security and happiness - part of the estate, located next to the Fuhrer headquarters called "Wolf's Lair" was confiscated by Ribbentrop, and ahead were the tragic years of Hitler's rule. Count Heinrich von Lendorf-Steinort, the father of Vera, was a lieutenant in the Wehrmacht reserve. However, he did not share the Nazi ideals and participated in Operation Valkyrie - it was a political conspiracy, the goal of which was the murder of Hitler. Comrades uncovered, Henry was executed. Property von Lendorfov confiscated, and the family was sent to a labor camp. The life of the Faith has changed forever.

Education Verushki

After the war, the future German model Verushka went to school, and then went to the Hamburg School - she planned to study as an artist on the fabrics of textile mills. The educational institution was too strict a situation for which the freedom-loving disposition of a young aristocrat did not fit. Therefore, soon Veruška von Lendorf went to Florence, where she decided to do drawing. Delicate appearance and blond hair were rare in Italy, therefore, after seeing the girl once, many remembered her forever. So it happened with the well-known portraitist and street photographer Hugo Mulass - slender Vera with a shock of wheat hair fascinated him from the first meeting. He immediately invited her to work as a photomodel. Vera decided to try herself in this area. Her first pictures are dated 1960 - then her path to the height of glory began.

First achievements

Photosessions from Italy became the first portfolio, which made Verushka. The model went with him to Paris. But at first her appearance did not provoke enthusiasm among the French agents. German actresses and models were not very popular after recent political events, and the very figure of Vera seemed too lanky and clumsy. For the feminine images, then spread in Paris under the influence of Christian Dior, it did not fit.

American models of the 60s also did not look like Verushka, nevertheless Eileen Ford from the New York agency Ford Models invited the girl to pursue a career overseas. Despite the fact that to buy a ticket for a transatlantic flight, Vera's mother had to sell a family teapot from Saxony, the beginning model decisively went to conquer another country.

Failure and a new image

In 1961 Verushka von Lendorf came to America. But the friendly Eileen from Paris turned out to be quite different in her homeland - in New York she pretended that she first sees a young German woman. All the castings ended in failure, and Vera went back to Europe. She decided not to give up her dream and thought a lot about her image. And thus came into being an alter-ego von Lendorf, a special girl Verushka. The model decided to forget about its past and turn into a mysterious Russian beauty with an unusual name - after two world wars, not talking about Germany was a good decision. Everything has changed: gait, gestures, manner of dressing. Now Verushka dressed in black and wore restrained shoes without a heel. Elegant femininity, which was a fair-haired German actresses, Aryan aristocracy and tragic future with concentration camps were left behind - instead of a young German woman, the Americans appeared an eccentric Russian.

Stunning popularity

The choice of the Russian myth was very successful - the winners of the Second World caused trembling in Americans. I was impressed by the original image that Verushka came up with - the model came without a portfolio, telling the photographer that he wanted to see what he could do, and not show him the work of others. A stunning silhouette with infinitely long legs and an unforgettable face justified such impudence. To Verushka came popularity. Unusual growth identified it among other models, not only literally, but also figuratively. In the 1960s, there was no girl more popular. Soon Vera noticed Diana Vriland, who was then the chief editor of the American magazine "Vogue".

She saw in her a man of a new era and decided to put her photo on the cover. For the young model, a permanent stylist was employed, and the crowd of photographers was so impressive that even Irwin Penn, the best master of the twentieth century, had to wait for Vera for three weeks. As a result, Diana and Verushka managed to achieve unprecedented success. Each cover became a fashionable event, and Vera brightened Vogue with her face eleven times. In this industry, this can be compared to obtaining 11 Oscar statuettes. In addition to "Vogue", Verushka has about eight hundred other covers, which seems to be a real model record.

New Horizons

The famous Verushka, a model that the whole world recognized, could not be limited to anything. She decided to try herself in the cinema. The first work was the tape "Photo enhancement". In it, Verushka got a fairly simple role for her as a photomodel. Despite the fact that the episode with her was five minutes and the phrases were few, the film became her next success. The scenes with Vera became the best erotic shots of the year. She managed to outshine even Twiggy, another popular model of the sixties. In addition to cinematography, Verushka took up art. It was Salvador Dali himself who helped to solve this problem. In 1966 they together arranged surrealistic actions, for example, the artist watered Verushka with shaving foam. The model opened a love for transfiguration and body art. Later, she did a lot of this herself, making stunning photos, on which it is almost impossible to believe that it's all the same Verushka. With the help of body art the model was reincarnated not only in a man or an animal, but also in a plant or stone.

End of career

In the years of popularity, Verushka received up to ten thousand dollars a day. Its success continued until 1975, when the new editor of "Vogue" demanded a change in the image, and the model decided to abandon this industry. Aristocratic Verushka refused to do the actual at that time hair and adjust to new trends. So she disappeared from the covers. However, Vera's rich life has not disappeared anywhere. She was engaged and still continues to be engaged in art, and also acts in film - one of last works became a role in an espionage film "Casino Royal".