Glitz, glamour, money and fame, all that is what modeling means for millions of young girls worldwide, who believe that this profession would change, their lives forever. In the 21st century, thanks to globalization their success stories echoes around the world, inspiring many others to dream their own dreams. But do these stories always end in a happy ending?
This is a true story of a beautiful lady, who lived in the early 20th century and is considered by many as America’s first supermodel. She was one of the first women, to have her statues erected in a major American city during her own lifetime. Name, fame, money- she had everything before fate decided that she should spend a major part of her life, like a crazy patient in a mental asylum. This is her true story.
Audrey Marie Munson was born on 8th June 1891, in Rochester, New York, USA. Her parents – Edgar Munson and Katherine Mahaney, divorced when Audrey Munson was just 8 years old. The details of her childhood are not known except for a prediction of her life, made by a gypsy – Elza when Audrey Munson was just 5 years old.
The predictions described were a very accurate forecast of things to come later in life for Audrey Munson. The gypsy forecast described that Audrey would have fame & love of many, but love would never reach its fruitful conclusion in her life. She would spend thousands of dollars wastefully, but at her time of need, she won’t have any money. As hard to believe these predictions were, they would actually come true later in her life.
Audrey Munson had always aspired for a career in show business and hoping to become a chorus girl or an actress, she along with her mother moved to New York City when she was just 17 years old. Fate was favorable for her in the beginning as she caught the eyes of photographer Felix Benedict Herzog, while window shopping on the fifth avenue. He immediately invited her to model for him in his studio located in the Lincoln Arcade building.
The meeting with Felix Benedict Herzog would signal the beginning of a new life for Audrey Munson, as the photographer introduced her to his friends, in the art world. Soon she was modeling for many photographers, painters, and sculptors as she became more & more popular among the artists. Her time as – America’s first supermodel, had finally come.
It was Isidore Konti her first sculptor, who convinced Audrey Munson to pose nude for him. He convinced Audrey Munson, that his interest (& interest of all sculptors in their model) was purely professional and she had nothing to worry about. Somehow not just Audrey Munson but also her mother was convinced. Audrey Munson quickly became a very sought-after model of all those artists and sculptors, because of her symmetrical & beautiful face, tall and well-proportioned figure. For every famous artist of the time, she became the ultimate model, testimonial of which can be seen up to this day in various statues across numerous cities of the United States.
It was Konti’s marble statue – Three Graces, which was unveiled in Grand Ballroom of Hotel Astor, New York City on 1909, that is considered as Audrey Munson’s first public appearance as a statue. Over the next decade, as she modeled for top American sculptors, her figure started adorning many public buildings & important landmarks. She even got the nickname of Miss Manhattan for this reason.
Perhaps her crowning glory moment came when in 1915 when she became the most favored model for Panama Pacific International Exposition, which was held in San Francisco, California, USA. This large international exhibition was for celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal, and needless to say, was a very important affair. In this exposition more than half of the sculptures displayed were modeled and based on Audrey Munson. Soon Audrey Munson had received another nickname -“The Panama Pacific Girl”.
Movies were beginning to make its mark in the world and it was but natural, that beautiful and famous people would prove to be valuable assets to the newly formed film industry. It was the era of silent films and Audrey Munson’s newfound celebrity status, landed her a role in the 1915 silent film - Inspiration. The story of the movie was somewhat similar to Munson’s real life.
The plot of this story was based on a sculptor, who was searching for an ideal model, who would inspire him. In the movie too, she played the role of a sculptor’s model. Maybe the first ominous sign that things were not going in the right direction, was that she did only the part of the role, where a nude model was needed. A lookalike did the acting scenes. The movie was a success in the box office and Audrey Munson did another three silent films.
In spite of initial encouraging beginning, her movie career never really took off and she returned to New York on December 1916, to her previous life. She also started socializing in what was then the high society of the time. Many rich and resourceful men of the time, (reportedly around seven or more) fell in love with her, but Audrey Munson never reciprocated anybody’s emotion and rather remained cold to all the proposals.
In 1917, Audrey Munson’s name was linked to a scion of one of the richest families of America and the most eligible bachelor of the country – Hermann Oelrichs Jr. Although the details of the matter remain unknown, things took a bizarre turn when in 1919 Audrey Munson, sent a letter to the govt authorities (US State Department) accusing Oelrichs of being a member of a pro-German group, who were responsible for destroying her career in the film industry. Needless to say, making baseless accusations against a respectable member of the society was not a bright move.
Tragedy befell her again when in 1919 she was living in a boarding house (along with her mother) in Manhattan owned by Dr. Walter Wilkins. Unknown to Munson, Dr. Walter Wilkins had fallen in love with her and in order to marry her, murdered his own wife on February 27 of the same year. Obviously, Audrey Munson was in no way to be blamed, but she left the city along with her mother fearing a scandal.
However, escaping did not help the situation in any way and a nationwide manhunt was launched for them. When apprehended, Munson claimed that she was totally innocent and it was a one-sided love affair. Dr. Walter Wilkins was tried in court and sentenced to the electric chair, however he committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell. His death did not help Audrey Munson in any way as her image was badly tarnished.
However, her association with bad luck continued as in 1921 she starred in a movie – “Heedless Moths”, which was reportedly based on her life. Agent & producer – Allan Rock reportedly paid her $27,000 check for the movie, a claim she said was not accurate and filed a lawsuit against him. Her dealings were getting controversial with each passing day
Her bad luck continued as she was arrested on 3rd October 1921 in St. Louis, for her appearance in the movie – Innocence. Although both she and her manager were finally acquitted, the controversies had taken their toll as Audrey Munson’s life would soon spiral out of her control.
The series of controversies ensured that nobody wanted any more dealings with her, either on a personal level or in a professional one. She was not getting any more work assignments or marriage proposals. Her mother was forced to sell utensils door to door, for the sustenance of herself and her daughter. On May 27, 1922, Audrey Munson could take it no longer and tried to commit suicide by swallowing a solution of mercury, but she survived.
Although she survived her condition deteriorated. On 8th June 1931, Audrey’s mother petitioned a judge to put her daughter into a mental asylum. She was thereafter sent to a psychiatric facility for treatment of depression and schizophrenia. Her stay in St. Lawrence State Hospital for the Insane in Ogdensburg (St. Lawrence County, New York, United States) would be very long, where she would go on to stay for the next 65 years of her life, till her death at the age of 104 on 20th February 1996.
In her entire stay in the mental asylum, Munson never had any visitor, except once by a half-niece, when Munson was already 93 years old. Even after her death, she was buried without a headstone in New Haven Cemetery, New Haven, New York. It was only after 20 years of her death, in 2016 that a simple tombstone was added by her family.
It was a strange twist of fate that a beautiful woman like Audrey Marie Munson, who was once inspiration behind 3/5th of all statues in the famous – Panama Pacific Exposition and also earned the nickname of Miss Manhattan, would end up so miserably. Millions of people may walk around statues modeled on Audrey Munson every day, without even knowing the name of America's First Supermodel.
Although her beauty was made eternal by innumerable artists whose work were inspired and modeled on her, her suffering also left an indelible mark on the story of her life, giving an example of how brutal a fall from heights of glory can be. Her life is an example of how close infamy is to glory & how close failure is to success. It reminds us to be humble and be very careful at the top, because you can never tell, how close you are to rock bottom. As John Allen Paulose once said, “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security”.