Carré Brennan Otis (born September 28, 1968) is an American
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , .
Models can be divided in ...
and actress.
Early life
Carré Otis was born in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, and raised in
Marin County, California
Marin County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat a ...
, along with her older sister Chrisse and her younger brother Jordan. She attended
Marin Academy in
San Rafael, California
San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...
, and the
John Woolman School in
Nevada City, California
Nevada City is the county seat of Nevada County, California, United States, northeast of Sacramento, California, Sacramento, southwest of Reno, Nevada, Reno and northeast of San Francisco. The population was 3,152 as of the 2020 United States ...
.
[John Monahan]
"Supermodel Carre Otis"
''Better Nutrition'' May 2002, Vol. 64, No. 5, p. 36
Career
Early modeling
Otis ran away from home at 16.
A year later, while living with an abusive boyfriend in San Francisco, Otis was
scouted, by
Look Model Agency and was initially signed to
Elite Model Management
Elite Model Management (MM) is a modeling agency that originated in Paris in 1972.
In 2004, the agencies in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, and Toronto separated and formed Elite Model Management North America. Elite MM is a subsidiary of El ...
in New York by
John Casablancas. She first achieved fame after being sent to
Elite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...
in Paris, when she appeared on the cover of French ''
Elle
Elle may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication
** Elle Style Awards
* Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition
* Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film
* ''Elle: ...
'' in April 1986. Over the next several years, she appeared on covers in the American and foreign editions of ''
Vogue'', ''
Harper's Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...
'', ''
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Internationalism
* World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship
* Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community
* Cosmopolitan ...
'', ''
Allure'', ''
Mirabella'', and ''
Marie Claire
''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages.
The feature editions focus on women aro ...
''. In 1991,
Bruce Weber photographed Carré Otis, in San Francisco, California.
Otis appeared in ads for
Guess
Guessing is the act of drawing a swift conclusion, called a guess, from data directly at hand, which is then held as probable or tentative, while the person making the guess (the guesser) admittedly lacks material for a greater degree of certaint ...
jeans (1988),
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...
jeans (1991), the 1996
Pirelli
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...
calendar, and also posed for the ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' swimsuit edition (2000). Otis is the model on the poster above the character Rusty Griswald's bed in the 1989 film ''
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation''. Otis was also featured in 1990 and 2000 issues of ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' magazine. Otis has walked the runway for
Max Mara
Max Mara (Italian aks 'ma:ra is an Italian fashion business that markets upscale ready-to-wear clothing. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti (7 January 1927 – 12 January 2005). As of October 2024 the company ha ...
,
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, ...
,
Gucci
Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...
,
Ermanno Scervino,
Todd Oldham and
Donna Karan.
Acting
In 1989, Otis made her acting debut in the film ''
Wild Orchid'' opposite future husband
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. ( ; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former professional Boxing, boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading actor, leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. In a Mickey Rourke filmogra ...
.
Stills from the film's climactic sex scene were sold to ''Playboy'', and were the subject of a lawsuit filed by Otis. Otis would later appear in another Rourke film, ''
Exit in Red''.
Later modeling
After the end of her marriage to Rourke, Otis gradually resumed modeling. In 2000, she became one of the oldest models to appear in the ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' swimsuit issue, although Christie Brinkley at 34 and Cheryl Tiegs at 42 were featured prominently in the 25th Anniversary edition of ''Sports Illustrated'', released in 1989. Shortly thereafter, Otis began recovering from
anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin.
Individuals wit ...
. As part of her recovery, she experienced a weight gain that offered her the opportunity to work as a plus-size model, most notably as the face for
Marina Rinaldi and editorials for ''Mode'' Magazine; in 2003, Otis became a spokesperson for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. She also appeared periodically as a correspondent on Channel 4 News in San Francisco.
In August 2003, Otis posed for a
PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president.
Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...
ad campaign promoting vegetarianism and
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
.
In 2005, she represented the Breil jewelry line.
She is on the advisory board of the Model Alliance and an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association.
Works
''Beauty, Disrupted: A Memoir'' (2011) is an autobiographical book by Otis and
Hugo Schwyzer.
[Carré Otis Talks Mickey Rourke And Orgasms In 'Beauty Disrupted']
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
[Andersoncooper.co]
Carré Otis: Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Otis tells the story of her life and modelling career. She details abuses she suffered, including being raped "countless" times as a young girl by
Gérald Marie,
the head of
Elite Model Management
Elite Model Management (MM) is a modeling agency that originated in Paris in 1972.
In 2004, the agencies in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, and Toronto separated and formed Elite Model Management North America. Elite MM is a subsidiary of El ...
s Paris office. During her marriage to actor
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. ( ; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former professional Boxing, boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading actor, leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. In a Mickey Rourke filmogra ...
, she claims he was abusive, and even threatened to kill himself if she didn't marry him.
Personal life
Otis developed three holes in her heart during her modeling career.
[ Otis is a ]vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
.
From June 1992 to December 1998, Otis was married to '' Wild Orchid'' co-star Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. ( ; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former professional Boxing, boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading actor, leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. In a Mickey Rourke filmogra ...
.[ In 1994, Rourke was arrested for spousal abuse.] The charges were later dropped.
In 2005, Otis married chemical engineer Matthew Sutton, they have two children."Carré Otis"
Catwalk Yourself. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otis, Carre
Living people
American female models
American television actresses
American film actresses
American Buddhists
Actresses from San Francisco
Plus-size models
Actors from San Rafael, California
American memoirists
American women memoirists
21st-century American women
1968 births