Born 1915 in Marylebone, London, English-born American actress and model Meg Mundy emigrated to the United States with her family at the age of six in 1921. In 1940, modeling agency founder Harry Conover cited Mundy as one of the 10 top models (“those who lure the highest salaries”). A newspaper article two years later reported that Mundy was “said to be Manhattan’s highest paid model.”
Meg Mundy as a model in the 1940s
Mundy debuted as a concert singer at Carnegie Hall in 1942. In 1948, she starred in The Respectful Prostitute, she also played Mary McLeod, the lead female role, in the Broadway production of Detective Story; the role was later played by Eleanor Parker in the film.
Her film credits included roles in Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), Oliver’s Story (1978), The Bell Jar (1979), and as the mother of Mary Tyler Moore’s character in Ordinary People (1980), which won the Academy Award as Best Picture Of The Year. She appeared in the 1983 Walter Matthau-Robin Williams film The Survivors, the 1987 films Fatal Attraction and Someone to Watch Over Me, and in two episodes of Law & Order in the 1990s.
Mundy died in 2016 at the age of 101. Take a look at these stunning photos to see portraits of young Meg Mundy as a model in the 1940s.
Meg Mundy in Cartier jewels, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, October 15, 1940
Meg Mundy in red wool slack suit emblazoned with eagle figure, with white shirt and white turban, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue 1940
Meg Mundy in a 22-carat gold-washed kid trench coat by Mainbocher, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, September 15, 1940
Meg Mundy in a yellow wool suit, accessorized with brown sealskin hat and muff, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue 1941
Meg Mundy in chartreuse felt hat with roses and hummingbirds, purple gloves, and purple veil and ribbons, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue 1941
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