# Lauren Hutton
**Lauren Hutton** (birth name Mary Laurence Hutton; born 1943 in [Charleston, South Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/charleston-south-carolina)) is an American model and actress who became one of the defining fashion faces of the 1970s and later pushed the modeling industry to accept older women on camera.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001381/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1943, Charleston, South Carolina, as Mary Laurence Hutton[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) • [3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-302/biographie/) |
| Signature modeling achievement | 1973 Revlon contract, the largest in the modeling industry to that point, worth $250,000 a year for 20 days' work; she worked with Revlon in this capacity for ten years[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) |
| Vogue covers | A record number of American Vogue covers, reported as 25, 26, or 27 depending on the source[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legends-a-model-life/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) • [5](https://www.vogue.com/article/lauren-hutton-interview) |
| Best-known films | *American Gigolo* (1980) with Richard Gere, *The Gambler* (1974) with James Caan, *Once Bitten* (1985) with Jim Carrey[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001381/) |
| Trademark | A gap between her front teeth, which agencies initially rejected and she declined to fix[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legends-a-model-life/) |
| Later career | Talk show *Lauren Hutton and...* (1995–96); campaigns for Bottega Veneta and Calvin Klein in her seventies; *I Feel Pretty* (2018)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) • [6](https://time.com/4746202/lauren-hutton-calvin-klein-2017-underwear-campaign/) |
## Early life
Hutton was born to Lawrence and Minnie Hutton, who divorced shortly after Lawrence returned from London and World War II; she never met her father, who died in 1955 at age 36 while working as a reporter.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) She graduated from Chamberlain High School in [Tampa, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/tampa-florida), in 1961, briefly attended the [University of South Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-south-florida), and graduated with a bachelor of arts from Newcomb College, a coordinate school with [Tulane University](https://www.edgepedia.org/tulane-university), in 1964.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton)
She arrived in New York in 1964, at a time when fashion models were largely statuesque European women. The city's top agencies initially rejected her: at five feet seven inches she was an inch shorter than their minimum, and she had a gap between her front teeth.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legends-a-model-life/) When Eileen Ford signed her, Hutton promised to save her money to have her nose fixed and teeth capped, a promise she had no intention of keeping; she molded soft wax to fill the gap for early shoots.[5](https://www.vogue.com/article/lauren-hutton-interview)
## Modeling career
**Breakthrough.** Hutton first appeared on the cover of Vogue in November 1966.[7](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-adventures-of-lauren-hutton-the-original-supermodel/?intcid=CNI-00-10aaa3a) Her first notable advertisement, for Chanel, was photographed by [Richard Avedon](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-avedon) in 1968.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) Her gap-toothed smile and what was dubbed her "believable beauty" charmed Vogue editor [Diana Vreeland](https://www.edgepedia.org/diana-vreeland) and then the public, and she became the record-holder for cover appearances on American Vogue.[8](https://www.voguescandinavia.com/articles/lauren-hutton-gant) Sources give the total as 25, 26, or 27 American covers; Vogue Italia has stated she posed for 40 Vogue covers across all editions, more than anyone else.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legends-a-model-life/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) • [5](https://www.vogue.com/article/lauren-hutton-interview) • [9](https://www.vogue.it/moda/news/2017/10/05/interview-lauren-hutton-vogue-italia-ottobre-2017)
**The Revlon contract.** In 1973 Hutton signed a contract with Revlon that was the largest in the modeling industry to that point, worth $250,000 a year for 20 days' work, and she worked with Revlon in this capacity for ten years.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) [CBS News](https://www.edgepedia.org/cbs-news) describes it as the industry's first million-dollar modeling contract, and Hutton herself recalled that Avedon advised making it exclusive and that she earned a million dollars over three years.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legends-a-model-life/) • [10](https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/lauren-hutton-interview-model-on-fashion-and-dating) She is also credited with changing the economics of modeling: CBS reports she took a day's pay for a model, typically $300, up to $25,000.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legends-a-model-life/) The Untitled Magazine credits her with inventing the beauty campaign as the first model to sign an exclusive contract.[11](https://untitled-magazine.com/the-adventures-of-the-legendary-lauren-hutton-exclusive-interview/)
Revlon ended the relationship when she was 41, ten years after it began, a period she described as a difficult one as she turned 40.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legends-a-model-life/) After a semi-successful starring role in *American Gigolo*, her modeling career took a slide in the 1980s, and it was resuscitated in 1989 with photos in catalogs for Barneys and J. Crew.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001381/)
## Acting career
Hutton made her film debut in *Paper Lion* (1968), a sports drama starring [Alan Alda](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-alda), in which she played the only major female character.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001381/) Through the 1970s and early 1980s she appeared in numerous films and television movies while continuing to model, including *Little Fauss and Big Halsy* (1970) with [Robert Redford](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-redford), *The Gambler* (1974) with [James Caan](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-caan), and *Viva Knievel!* (1978).[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) Her television debut came in the TV movie *A Time for Love* (1973).[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton)
Her most famous role is Michelle Stratton in [Paul Schrader](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-schrader)'s *American Gigolo* (1980), opposite [Richard Gere](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-gere).[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) In 1985 she starred as a vampiric countess seducing a young [Jim Carrey](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-carrey), in one of his earliest film roles, in *Once Bitten*.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) On television she played recurring character Colette Ferrier on the short-lived soap opera *Paper Dolls* (ABC, 1984).[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) In 1995 she began a new job as talk show host with *Lauren Hutton and...*, which ran through 1996.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001381/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton)
## Later career
Hutton returned to television with a two-part appearance in *Nip/Tuck* (FX, 2003–10) in 2007 and played Lily LeClaire, a matriarch and makeup company head, in the [Amy Schumer](https://www.edgepedia.org/amy-schumer) film *I Feel Pretty* (2018).[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton)
**Modeling into her seventies and beyond.** Hutton continued to model extensively through her seventies. At 73 she became the face of [Bottega Veneta](https://www.edgepedia.org/bottega-veneta)'s Spring/Summer 2017 campaign, which marked the brand's 50th anniversary, after walking the runway alongside Gigi Hadid in a September 2016 show that was heralded as her comeback.[12](https://time.com/4624072/lauren-hutton-73-bottega-veneta-ad/) The same year, at 73, she joined Calvin Klein's Spring 2017 underwear campaign, cast and directed by Sofia Coppola.[6](https://time.com/4746202/lauren-hutton-calvin-klein-2017-underwear-campaign/) She has been the face of the skincare brand StriVectin since 2019.[5](https://www.vogue.com/article/lauren-hutton-interview) In 2026 she starred in Gant's spring/summer campaign, shot on a Manhattan rooftop, and said she was filming a movie in Budapest with Anne Hathaway playing her daughter.[8](https://www.voguescandinavia.com/articles/lauren-hutton-gant)
At 61 she posed nude for the first time for *Big* magazine, saying she wanted to combat the shame women are made to feel; the magazine had dedicated its entire Fall 2005 issue, "Lauren Hutton: The Beautiful Persists," to her life and career.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton) • [13](https://www.krsmalta.com/Members/PROD%20NOTES/I%20FEEL%20PRETTY%20Production%20Notes%20Final%20Final%20at%20April%2016.pdf)
## References
1. [Lauren Hutton Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lauren_hutton)
2. [Lauren Hutton (I), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001381/)
3. [Lauren Hutton : Sa biographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-302/biographie/)
4. [Legends: A Model Life, CBS News (2002)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/legends-a-model-life/)
5. [Lauren Hutton on How She Takes Care of Her Skin at 77, Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/lauren-hutton-interview)
6. [Lauren Hutton Is the New Star of Calvin Klein's Latest Underwear Campaign, Time](https://time.com/4746202/lauren-hutton-calvin-klein-2017-underwear-campaign/)
7. [The adventures of Lauren Hutton, the original supermodel, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-adventures-of-lauren-hutton-the-original-supermodel/?intcid=CNI-00-10aaa3a)
8. [Lauren Hutton on New York, nature, and the style lesson she swears by, Vogue Scandinavia](https://www.voguescandinavia.com/articles/lauren-hutton-gant)
9. [Intervista a Lauren Hutton, Vogue Italia](https://www.vogue.it/moda/news/2017/10/05/interview-lauren-hutton-vogue-italia-ottobre-2017)
10. [Lauren Hutton: The Truth About Fashion, British Vogue](https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/lauren-hutton-interview-model-on-fashion-and-dating)
11. [The Adventures of the Legendary Lauren Hutton, The Untitled Magazine](https://untitled-magazine.com/the-adventures-of-the-legendary-lauren-hutton-exclusive-interview/)
12. [Lauren Hutton Is the New Face of Bottega Veneta at 73, Time](https://time.com/4624072/lauren-hutton-73-bottega-veneta-ad/)
13. [I Feel Pretty Production Notes](https://www.krsmalta.com/Members/PROD%20NOTES/I%20FEEL%20PRETTY%20Production%20Notes%20Final%20Final%20at%20April%2016.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames He to H*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license