Donyale Luna
August 31st, 1945 to May 17th, 1979
August 31st, 1945 to May 17th, 1979
Miss Donyale Luna was America's very first African American Model and cover girl.
A quirky, contradictory, exotic and weird beauty, Donyale certainly turned heads in her time.
A quirky, contradictory, exotic and weird beauty, Donyale certainly turned heads in her time.
Her life started usually, and continued on that path untill her untimely death in Rome.
She was born to the name Peggy Ann Freeman, and grew up in Detroit.
At the age of 18, her mother killed her father whom had reportedly been abusive.
Not long after this Peggy was discovered by photographer David McCabe to pursue her modelling career.
As her fame progressed after becoming the first African American model to appear on Vogue in 1996,
Peggy became Donyale.
Despite what her birth certificate stated Donyale insisted that her biological father had the last name Luna and that her mother had Ingenious-Mexican and Afro-Egyptian lineage.
This obsession with Racial Identity continued throughout her career, with her claiming a mixed race of;
Indigenous-Mexican, Egyptian, Irish, Indonesian and African.
By the time Donyale Luna was 20 she appeared frequently in Harper's Bazaar, Paris Match, Britians Queen, and The British, French or American Editions of Vogue.
She was born to the name Peggy Ann Freeman, and grew up in Detroit.
At the age of 18, her mother killed her father whom had reportedly been abusive.
Not long after this Peggy was discovered by photographer David McCabe to pursue her modelling career.
As her fame progressed after becoming the first African American model to appear on Vogue in 1996,
Peggy became Donyale.
Despite what her birth certificate stated Donyale insisted that her biological father had the last name Luna and that her mother had Ingenious-Mexican and Afro-Egyptian lineage.
This obsession with Racial Identity continued throughout her career, with her claiming a mixed race of;
Indigenous-Mexican, Egyptian, Irish, Indonesian and African.
By the time Donyale Luna was 20 she appeared frequently in Harper's Bazaar, Paris Match, Britians Queen, and The British, French or American Editions of Vogue.
Donyale also appeared in a number of films, mostly produced by her close friend Andy Warhol.
These Included;
Screen Test: Donyale Luna (1964)
These Included;
Screen Test: Donyale Luna (1964)
Camp: (1965)
Donyale Luna- a 33minute film in which she plays snow white.
Another memorable film she stared in In Federico Fellini's Fellini Satyricon (1970), she portrayed the witch Oenothea, "who," according to one commentator, "in a trade-off with a wizard long ago ended up with fire between her legs. And it's real fire too, because Fellini shows us a scene in which a long line of foolish-looking peasants wait with unlit torches at Oenothea's bed. When their time comes, each devoutly places his torch between her legs to her sex, and, Poof!"
Donyale Luna- a 33minute film in which she plays snow white.
Another memorable film she stared in In Federico Fellini's Fellini Satyricon (1970), she portrayed the witch Oenothea, "who," according to one commentator, "in a trade-off with a wizard long ago ended up with fire between her legs. And it's real fire too, because Fellini shows us a scene in which a long line of foolish-looking peasants wait with unlit torches at Oenothea's bed. When their time comes, each devoutly places his torch between her legs to her sex, and, Poof!"
In the late 1960s, in an interview, Luna expressed her fondness for LSD: "I think it's great. I learned that I like to live, I like to make love, I really do love somebody, I love flowers, I love the sky, I like bright colors, I like animals. [LSD] also showed me unhappy things -- that I was stubborn, selfish, unreasonable, mean, that I hurt other people."
It was this love of LSD which drove Donyale Luna to her death in a clinic in Rome durnng 1979.
Exotic, Beautiful, Tallented and Crazy as Hell. I admire miss Donyale Luna.
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