- Gail was discovered on a plane by a fashion photographer and a stylist
- She fronted such magazines as Vogue, Mademoiselle and Essence
- Then in 1999 she broke into TV reporting with CBS’ new Early Show
Pioneering model Gail O’Neill has died at the age of 61 after a glittering career that spanned both fashion and TV journalism.
Her longtime agent Stephanie Grill broke the news to WWD, adding that she did not immediately know the cause of death.
Born and raised in comfortable Westchester County, New York, Gail entered the corporate world after college with a marketing job at Xerox.
While there, however, she was discovered on a plane by the married couple Chuck and Martha Baker, a photographer and stylist.
She embarked on a top-flight run as a model, fronting brands from Diet Coke to Avon and magazines like Essence and Mademoiselle – as well as posing in the famous 2008 ‘Black Issue’ of Vogue Italia under its legendary editor Franca Sozzani.
As a child, Gail never entertained dreams of being a model, and in fact regarded her ‘tall, skinny frame’ as ‘some kind of cosmic joke…with me the punchline.’
She reflected to the American Museum Of Natural History: ‘Beauty, or a lack of it, was not something I ever thought about as a young child.’
Gail mused: ‘In fact, I think children are far more adept at perceiving true beauty, because they haven’t been corrupted by outside forces. Likewise, the older we get, and the more we buy into mass media’s definition of beauty, the more likely we are to find fault with ourselves and others.’
Her life changed, however, when she got on a work flight for Xerox and was discovered by Chuck and Martha Baker.
Her information was passed along to Frances Grill, the mother of Stephanie Grill, who became Gail’s agent for years until her death.
Frances Grill was the founder and capo of Click Model, which served as the launchpad for Gail’s life as a top model in the 1980s.
The crème de la crème of the fashion glossies, from Glamour and Elle to various Vogues in various countries, splashed images of Gail across the cover.
During her heyday in the business, she posed for some of the most celebrated names in fashion photography, including Patrick Demarchelier, Annie Liebovitz, Steven Meisel and even Ansel Elgort’s father Arthur.
She also modeled world-famous American designers including Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Perry Ellis, Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors.
Gai, along with Naomi Campbell, was an early part of the Black Girls Coalition, and advocacy group for black models founded by Iman and Bethann Hardison.
‘She did it all and at a time when it was difficult to get Black girls on anything,’ Stephanie Grill said. ‘Clients would badger me with calls [laughs], hoping for a cancellation. I would tell them: “No, you have to get someone else.”‘
Stephanie added: ‘People just loved her. They would re-book her and re-book her. She was a major beauty with this beautiful personality — so authentic and kind. And she really had so much integrity. She would have had five or six jobs a day, if she could. She had so many options. Everybody wanted to work with Gail O’Neill.’
However, her agent noted, being a model ‘was just a job for her,’ and in conversation she would usually rather discuss other topics.
‘You don’t meet a lot of Gail O’Neills,’ Stephanie affectionately said. ‘She always popping in to say “hi” and doing things for other people.’
She scored a particular career coup in 1994 when she modeled an American flag bikini while frolicking in the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
A half-decade later, however, she decided to exit the fashion industry and made a move into the world of broadcast journalism.
After a stint at the new Early Show at CBS, she worked for such nationally known news organizations as CNN and HGTV.
She decamped to Atlanta at the dawn of the new millennium and lived the rest of her life there, working as an editor-at-large at ArtsATL.
‘This is such a huge loss,’ Arts ATL executive editor Scott Freeman told BET. ‘Gail was a great journalist who cared about her craft, and the people she wrote about.’
He added: ‘She was a strong ambassador for us in addition to her stellar journalism. She was also a dear friend.’
Scott fondly remembered: ‘Sometimes it felt like she held the city of Atlanta in the palm of her hand; whenever we went to an event together, everyone seemed to know her and wanted to be around her. Gail was special: Humble, vivacious, caring. Simply one of the most incredible people I’ve ever known.’
