Agneta Frieberg

Agneta Frieberg was a Swedish model and activist who became one of the first supermodels. She got her start at age 14 when Eileen Ford, owner of Ford Models, spotted her on a family vacation in New York City. That chance encounter in 1960 led to a career that would span over a hundred magazine covers, including Vogue, Elle, Mademoiselle, and Glamour.

By the mid-1960s, Frieberg had become the face of Clairol's Great Body hair product line, a commercial breakthrough that put her image on bottles, towels, and posters. She was known for her waist-length brown hair and blue eyes, a combination that gave her a "girl next door" appeal. Despite her success, she never stopped moving. She worked between California and New York, often returning to Sweden for family visits and traveling to Europe for shoots.

Frieberg's life was cut short at 25. In May 1971, she fell from a hotel window in Paris and died four days later at the American Hospital of Paris. Her death was ruled an accident, but speculation swirled. She had no drugs or alcohol in her system, and some believed she was pushed. The circumstances remain a mystery. Her legacy, however, stands solid. Glamour magazine called her one of the first supermodels, and she earned a salary that ranked third among fashion models of her era, behind only Twiggy and Veruschka. In 2011, The Agneta Frieberg Foundation was established in her memory.