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Model-actress Suzy Parker, one of the most recognizable faces of the 1950s and a forerunner of the supermodel, died in 2003 at the age of 70.

Parker, known in later life as Suzy Parker Dillman, had been married to the actor Bradford Dillman for forty years. Her health had been poor for several years, and throughout her lifetime, she had been fortunate to survive two serious car accidents, the first in which her father died when their vehicle was hit by an oncoming train.

Known for her full, red hair and beautiful bone structure, was the signature face for designer Coco Chanel, photographed by the likes of Richard Avedon and Milton H. Greene. Greene once said Parker helped redefine the word “elegance” in magazines.

Author Eleanor Dwight, in her 2002 biography “Diana Vreeland,” about the famed fashion editor who gave Parker her start, said Parker was “the” model of the 1950s. She was at one time the highest paid model, earning $200 an hour.

“I believe in the gold standard,” Parker told The Washington Post in the early 1960s. “I like solid lumps of things. You can always melt them down.”

In 1957, Parker made her Hollywood debut in the musical “Funny Face,” starring Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. She danced in a number called “Think Pink” that spoofed fashion editors like Vreeland.

Parker’s other film credits include “Kiss Them for Me” (also 1957), opposite Cary Grant, and “Ten North Frederick” (1958) starring Gary Cooper. She also appeared in “The Twilight Zone” and “Tarzan” television series in the 60’s.

The Beatles immortalised her in their song “Suzy Parker,” an unreleased 12 bar rocker that appeared in the film “Let It Be,” although it remains to this day unreleased.