Dayle Haddon, a model and actress who graced many a magazine cover in the 1970s and 1980s and bucked the fashion industry by continuing to model later in life, was found dead at her daughter’s home in Bucks County, Pa., on Friday morning. She was 76.
The cause of her death was believed to be carbon monoxide poisoning, the authorities said. Emergency personnel discovered Ms. Haddon’s body at around 6:30 a.m. in a bedroom on the second floor of the house, and also found a man passed out on the first floor of the home, according a statement from the Solebury Township Police Department.
High levels of carbon monoxide were detected at the property, and three emergency responders were treated for carbon monoxide exposure. A faulty flue and exhaust pipe on a gas heating system is believed to have caused the carbon monoxide leak, the authorities said.
Walter Blucas, 76, the man who had passed out, was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and was in critical condition on Saturday, according to local authorities and Ms. Haddon’s daughter, Ryan Haddon. Mr. Blucas is Ryan Haddon’s father-in-law.
Ms. Haddon’s life is a winding tale of reinvention and creativity, as her daughter recalled in a phone interview on Saturday evening. Her adventure began in Montreal, where she started to train at age 5 in rigorous dance rehearsals.
As a teen, she went on to perform for some of the most esteemed troupes in Canada, including for Les Grands Ballet Canadiens. Ms. Haddon took on modeling to pay for her classes. She found success in the side gig and was named “Miss Montreal” in her late teens.
When she was discovered by the legendary fashion agent Eileen Ford, Ms. Haddon had to make a choice between the stage and the catwalk. She moved to New York and lived in Ms. Ford’s home to begin her modeling career.
Born on May 26, 1948, Dayle Pauline Haddon was a leading female model of the 1960s and through the early 1980s. Her vivid blue eyes, thick black hair, steely demeanor and lips painted red graced the covers of top fashion and beauty magazines such as Vogue Paris, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and Bazaar. In her 30s, she moved to Paris with her husband, Ryan, and their daughter for a short stint and took on acting roles.
But when she turned 38, Ms. Haddon was told, like many women in the fashion industry, that she was too old to model, she told The New York Times in an interview in 2003. Determined to prove the industry wrong, and confident that there was a market among the baby-boomers who wanted to see themselves in fashionable clothes, Ms. Haddon continued to put herself out there.
“I kept modeling,” Ms. Haddon said in the interview. “But in a different way. I became a spokesperson for my age.”
And she made her mark. She signed a long-term deal with L’Oréal Paris and traded in swimsuits for professional clothes, becoming a face for chic brands like Talbots. She continued to appear on the covers of publications like Zoomer Magazine and Total Health Magazine.
“I think this is the time to kick butt and take no prisoners,” she said of her 50s in the interview with The Times.
Although she had defied the odds in carving a substantial modeling career for herself later in life, Ms. Haddon continued her reinvention. She wrote books about aging gracefully and became a UNICEF ambassador. Her passion project became the work she did with her own charity, WomenOne, which focuses on educating young girls and has built a school in Kenya.
“This was not something that she did for glory,” Ryan Haddon, a life coach, said of her mother’s charitable work. “She did it with her whole heart, and she knew every name of every girl.”
In addition to her daughter, Ms. Haddon is survived by her son-in-law, Marc Blucas, an actor; and four grandchildren.
Wearing a black turtleneck and with her eyes behind thick, black glasses, Ms. Haddon, always a fashionista, discussed the importance of educating young girls in a video for Global Affairs Canada in 2018.
“We need inclusive voices in the workplace, in the jobs of the future,” Ms. Haddon said. “We need the female voice. I think educating women and girls is extremely important in keeping that balance.”
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