Wilhelmina Cooper (May 1, 1939 – March 1, 1980) was a model who began with Ford Models and, at the peak of her success, founded her own agency, Wilhelmina Models, in New York City in 1967.
Born Wilhelmina Behmenburg in Culemborg, the Netherlands, she was known professionally simply as "Wilhelmina," or "Willy" to intimates. She moved with her family to Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1954. She became one of the most famous models of the 1950s and 1960s...
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Wilhelmina Cooper (May 1, 1939 – March 1, 1980) was a model who began with Ford Models and, at the peak of her success, founded her own agency, Wilhelmina Models, in New York City in 1967.
Born Wilhelmina Behmenburg in Culemborg, the Netherlands, she was known professionally simply as "Wilhelmina," or "Willy" to intimates. She moved with her family to Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1954. She became one of the most famous models of the 1950s and 1960s. During her career as a model she was on the cover of 255 magazines.
According to her obituary in TIME magazine:
During her cover-girl days, Wilhelmina boasted that she was "one of the few high-fashion models built like a woman." So she was. With her 5 ft. 11 in., 38-24-36 frame, doe eyes, delicate cheekbones and mane of high-piled dark hair, she epitomized the classical, aristocratic look that she helped to make the style standard of the 1950s and '60s...
In 1965 she married Bruce Cooper, former executive producer of The Tonight Show...
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