Beverly Johnson

Beverly Johnson, born in Buffalo, New York, has built a career in modeling, acting, music, and business. She began by trying modeling during a 1971 college summer break and quickly landed work with Glamour. Johnson appeared on over 500 magazine covers, and in August 1974 she was the first Black woman to pose for the cover of the American edition of Vogue, a breakthrough that encouraged major American designers to hire African-American models. She returned to that magazine in June 1975, walked for Halston, and wrote two beauty books. In film she acted in Ashanti (1979), How to Be a Player (1997), and Crossroads (2002), and her television guest spots included Law & Order and 3rd Rock from the Sun. She also judged She's Got the Look for two seasons, released an album in 1979, and mounted a one-woman off-Broadway show, Beverly Johnson: In Vogue.