Lucy Gordon (22 May 1980 – 20 May 2009) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

actress and model. She became a face of

CoverGirl CoverGirl is an American cosmetics brand founded in Maryland, United States, by the Noxzema Chemical Company. It was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1989 and later acquired by Coty, Inc. in 2016. The Noxell Company advertised this cosmetics li ...

in 1997 before starting an acting career. Her first film was ''

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

'' in 2001 before going on to have small roles in '' Spider-Man 3'', '' Serendipity'' and ''

The Four Feathers ''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in th ...

''. Gordon had played the actress and singer

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She also had a prolific career ...

in the film '' Gainsbourg'', a biopic of singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Before the film was released, she

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

herself in her flat in Paris on 20 May 2009.

Early life

Gordon was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, to Richard and Susan Gordon in 1980; she had a younger sister, Kate. She went to Oxford High School where she passed nine GCSEs in 1997. She moved to Paris after living in New York for several years.

Career

While in the fourth form of Oxford High School she was noticed by a talent-spotter from a modelling agency as she and her mother visited a Clothes Show Live exhibition. She went on to appear as one of the faces of

and soon after she moved into acting. She was signed to Select modelling agency in London and had appeared in the covers of Italian Glamour and Elle. Gordon made her film debut in the 2001 as the character Sarah in ''

''. She appeared alongside

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...

in the 2002 film ''

''. She appeared as the reporter Jennifer Dugan in the 2007 film '' Spider-Man 3''. Gordon played the actress and singer

in a film biopic of singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. The film, entitled '' Serge Gainsbourg, vie héroïque'' was presented at the

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

and was released in early 2010. Gordon's father, Richard Gordon said that she had loved playing her latest role in this film about Gainsbourg. The director

Joann Sfar Joann Sfar (; born 28 August 1971) is a French comics artist, comic book creator, novelist, and film director. Life and career Sfar was born in Nice, the son of Lilou, a pop singer, who died when he was three, and André Sfar, a lawyer well kn ...

and the producers of the film Marc du Pontavice and Didier Lupfer released a statement that the film "owes a lot to the generosity, gentleness and immense talent of Lucy Gordon."

Death

On 20 May 2009, Gordon was found hanging in the Paris flat she shared with cinematographer Jérôme Alméras, just two days short of her 29th birthday. A French police official said she appeared to have committed

suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered ...

. She left two suicide notes, one detailing her last wishes regarding her estate, the other a letter for her parents. She is buried at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

, England.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Lucy Gordon
at the Fashion Model Directory * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Lucy 1980 births 2009 deaths 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Oxfordshire English emigrants to the United States English expatriates in France English female models English film actresses English television actresses People educated at Oxford High School, England Actors from Oxford 2009 suicides Suicides by hanging in France Female suicides