Ford Models Founder Eileen Ford Passes Away; Industry Icon With Keen Eye For Talent?

Ford Models founder Eileen Ford passed away Wednesday at the age of 92. She is known as the woman who built a modeling empire that launched the careers of Candice Bergen, Lauren Hutton, Jane Fonda, Kim Basinger, Christy Turlington among others.

In a report from Guelph Mercury, Ford's public relations representative Arielle Baran called Eileen "an industry icon and pioneer. ... We are incredibly proud and grateful for her revolutionary spirit and the values she instilled in Ford Models."

The reputation of Ford Models founder Eileen Ford was that of a perfectionist with a very keen eye for talent. She was known for her steely manner. Professionalism was always her top priority, and would demand the same for her models, putting them on strict diets and firing models who frequented the party scene.

This style of discipline pushed Ford Model Agency to the top, making multi-millionaires of both Ford and her late husband, Jerry. The husband of Ford Models founder Eileen Ford handled the company's business affairs.

"I think our success came from Eileen's energy and her bluntness and, to some extent, her comfort with confrontation," said Jerry Ford at a 1997 interview on USA Today . "A fortune teller once told her if she wasn't an agent, she should be, because all the stars pointed that way. She's always loved to tell people what to do."

Eileen was known for upholding the typical "Ford woman" - tall, thin, usually blonde, with wide-set eyes and a long neck. Whenever there are applicants who didn't meet these characteristics, especially the height requirement, Eileen was known to be straight-forward in telling hopefuls to give up their modeling dreams.

Setting a standard for the modeling industry, the Ford look remained constant throughout the years. Eileen, however, was said to have been disdainful of the "waif" look, which was made popular by model Kate Moss back in the 1990s.

Born Eileen Otte in New York City in 1922, the Ford Models founder grew up in the Long Island suburb of Great Neck, N.Y. She modeled occasionally as a student while taking up a psychology degree in Barnard College. She helped several friends book modelling jobs soon after the graduation, and later on put up the Ford Models agency in 1946 with her husband.