Born 1931 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, American model Nancy Berg ran away from home there in 1947 and moved to Detroit to become a model. By 1960, she was earning $40,000 per year.
Nancy Berg in the 1950s
Berg was on the front cover of Vogue four times, starting in 1953, and was Esquire’s “Lady Fair” for May of 1956. She was also the star and sole performer for a 1955 New York television program entitled Count Sheep with Nancy Berg which aired five nights a week from 1:00 to 1:05 in the morning.
“The nightgown-clad Miss Berg would appear, get into bed, perform a bit of business, such as read from Romeo and Juliet or eat grapes off a toy Ferris wheel, and then, in extreme close-up, whisper a good night to the camera and pretend to go to sleep as animated sheep jumped over a fence. Her manager stated, ‘A lot of people watch it. God knows why.’”
In 1962, Berg toured with Bob Cummings in a production of Tunnel of Love. She died in 2022, at the age of 90, in New York. Take a look at these glamorous photos to see portraits of young Nancy Berg in the 1950s.
Nancy Berg in beautiful aqua sheath with flowing back panel of Celanese acetate satin by Gothe, Vogue, November 15, 1953
Nancy Berg in blue velvet embroidered ball gown by Leslie Morris, photo by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, October 1953
Nancy Berg in flowered sweater by Geist & Geist, photo by Erwin Blumenfeld, Vogue, March 1953
Nancy Berg in red jersey dinner dress with white mink scarf tucked neatly inside by Larry Aldrich, Vogue, October 1953
Nancy Berg is wearing silk taffeta dress by Traina-Norell, photo by Erwin Blumenfeld used as Vogue cover, May 1953
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