Happy Friday! I hope that the New Year has treated you well in spite of, well, everything.
I recently came out with my newest title, Large Print Connecticut Word Searches. While the Nutmeg State has had many fascinating people call it home, Dutch-American model Wilhelmina Cooper (nee Behmenburg) has to be among the most interesting.
Wilhelmina's family emigrated to Chicago in the 1950s, and her dark-haired beauty was soon discovered. After a career as one of the most successful models in the 1950s and 60s, Wilhelmina married Bruce Cooper, former executive producer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. In 1967, they founded Wilhelmina Models, one of the premiere talent agencies.
Wilhelmina and Bruce lived in Greenwich. Bruce was an alcoholic who took his rage out on his wife, leaving her battered and bruised. The couple's daughter, Melissa, believed that her mother chose to kill herself with cigarettes rather than face her problems. In 1980, Wilhelmina died of lung cancer in Greenwich Hospital at the age of 40.
Wilhelmina is remembered as a mentor and mother figure to younger models. She was portrayed by Faye Dunaway in Gia, the film about another tragic model who died way too young.
