AGED 17, a terrified Twiggy was bundled into the back of a car by her bodyguard when the police could not hold back a surging New York crowd.
It was 1967 and just a year since the working class teenager from North West London had been discovered.
Twiggy was discovered in 1966 and changed the fashion industry with her waif look[/caption]
A new documentary lifts the lid on Twiggy’s extraordinary life[/caption]
Post-modelling, Twiggy in 1971 film The Boy Friend[/caption]
With US fans desperate to see the world’s most famous model, her arrival ended the fashion industry’s obsession with upper-class hourglass figures and heralded the waif look.
But by the age of 22, Twiggy had quit a business that can be cruel.
A new documentary about the 75-year-old dame reveals how she was boycotted by elite photographers, mocked by actor Woody Allen, blamed for girls’ eating disorders and suspected her boyfriend- manager was cheating.
Twiggy also tells how the troubled US music producer Phil Spector pulled a gun on her, and recalls her first husband’s alcoholism.
Modelling is only part of her story, because she won two Golden Globes as an actress, sang at London’s Royal Albert Hall and had her own TV show.
She says: “What happened to me, you couldn’t plan in a million years. I was surprised . . . it certainly wasn’t a grand ambition.”
Directed by actress Sadie Frost, the documentary, titled Twiggy, is in cinemas now.
It takes us back to the Swinging Sixties, when anything seemed possible.
Born in Neasden, north west London, she did not have an easy start because her mother Nellie suffered from bipolar disorder.
She reveals: “For months she’d be fine. And then she’d get very depressed and go away for a couple of weeks.”
Her dreams of being a model seemed to be dashed when a UK magazine editor told her: “You’re too small and too slim”.
But another fashion writer was looking for something different.
A photo of the then-16-year-old, nicknamed Twiggy by friends, with her big blue eyes and cropped hair on the wall of a London hair salon caught her eye.
Within three weeks of the first photo of the 5ft 6in youngster being published, she was the most booked model in the country.
Guiding her career was her East London boyfriend Nigel Davies, who was ten years her senior and had changed his name to Justin de Villeneuve.
They started dating when she was only 15 and Twiggy tells the film: “It wasn’t politically correct, but I suppose it was a different time.”
Models didn’t have make-up artists let alone managers back then, but Justin insisted on joining Twiggy on all her jobs.
She was given the star treatment by mags such as Vogue, and that riled many photographers, with David Bailey and Terence Donovan refusing to work with her.
It was a big world, though.
In the US, chart stars Sonny and Cher organised a party for the fresh-faced model, while she hung out with Clint Eastwood.
Twiggy’s boyfriend who guided her early career, Justin de Villeneuve[/caption]
Twiggy in 1986 when she starred in Club Paradise[/caption]
But not everyone was so kind.
Twiggy was blamed for girls developing anorexia, even though she was naturally slim, and in a 1967 interview Woody Allen repeatedly teased the then-17-year-old by asking who her favourite philosopher was.
When she turned the tables, asking: “Who’s yours?”, he mumbled: “Oh, your Greeks, your Germans”.
Meanwhile, Justin milked her by creating clothing lines and Twiggy dolls.
He reportedly bought 23 cars in a year, including an Aston Martin, a Lamborghini and a Ferrari.
Twiggy got tired of Justin and modelling.
She says: “I wasn’t really in love . . . and I think he was philandering.
“I wasn’t happy so I broke it off.”
She turned to acting, being cast as the lead by director Ken Russell in his 1971 musical The Boy Friend.
‘I WAS HYSTERICAL’
The film company had wanted someone else, but Twiggy proved herself by winning two Golden Globes — for most promising newcomer and for best actress in a musical-comedy.
Acting led her to her first husband Michael Witney, who was her co-star in a 1974 movie titled W.
They married in 1977, after which his drink problem became apparent.
She says: “It’s a terrible illness.”
He helped protect Twiggy when she visited legendary music producer Phil Spector in his LA mansion, and put two cigarettes in his mouth, before turning and pulling out a gun.
She recalls: “Michael grabbed me.
“We ran and then we heard one gunshot.
“I was hysterical.”
It was a lucky escape because in 2003, Spector shot dead actress Lana Clarkson at his home.
Twiggy would split from Michael over his drinking.
He died from a heart attack in 1983.
A year later, the model fell for another actor, Leigh Lawson, now 79, and they married in 1988.
They are still together 38 years later.
But Twiggy’s career has endured longer, with her still a sought-after model.
- Twiggy (12A) is in cinemas now.
Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.
