Jennifer O'Neill

Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is a Brazilian-born American actress, model, author, and activist. She is known for her modeling and spokesperson work for CoverGirl cosmetics starting in 1963, and her starring role in the Oscar-winning 1971 film Summer of '42. She also starred in the Howard Hawks western Rio Lobo (1970), and worked in Italian cinema, such as Lucio Fulci's famous giallo horror film Sette note in nero and Luchino Visconti's final film The Innocent (1976). She starred in the cult horror film Scanners (1981), the Rachel Scott biopic I'm Not Ashamed (2016), and the short-lived television series Cover Up (1984–85). Since the 1990s, O'Neill has been a born-again Christian and active in the pro-life movement, and worked as a motivational speaker. O'Neill was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her mother was English and her father was a Brazilian of Portuguese, Spanish and Irish ancestry. She and her older brother Michael were raised in New Rochelle, New York, and Wilton, Connecticut. When she was 14, the family moved to New York City. On Easter Sunday, 1962, O'Neill attempted suicide because the move would separate her from her dog Mandy and horse Monty — "her whole world". That same year, she was discovered by the Ford modeling agency.[citation needed] By age 15, while attending the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan, she was appearing on the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Seventeen, earning $80,000 ($717,000 today) in 1962.: 71