Gita Hall (6 September 1933 – 13 August 2016) was a Swedish-American model and actress who was the second wife of actor

Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to: *Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor *Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia *Barry Sullivan (lawyer) Barry Sullivan is ...

and a member of the

jet set In journalism, jet set is a term for an international social group of wealthy people who travel the world to participate in social activities unavailable to ordinary people. The term, which replaced "café society", came from the lifestyle of tra ...

in the 1950s and 1960s.

Early years

Hall was born Birgitta Wetterhall in

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. The daughter of a doctor and lawyer, turned pharmacist during World War 2, Hall spoke seven languages. She worked as a model to pay tuition for her studies at a dramatic school in Sweden. She had minor roles in three Swedish movies in 1951–1952 and won the Miss Stockholm beauty pageant in 1953. In the mid-1950s, she became a model in New York. She appeared on dozens of magazine covers and scored a contract with

Revlon Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it still remains. Revlon was founded by brother ...

. Broadway columnist and radio personality

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and ...

"discovered" her and got her into Hollywood movies. (An International News Service story published 26 February 1958, says that Hall "landed in the movies by way of producer Clarence Greene, whom she met at a party in New York.")

Film

Hall's American film debut came in

Don Siegel Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer. Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...

's '' The Gun Runners'', an adaptation of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

's ''

To Have and Have Not ''To Have and Have Not'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1937 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The book follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain out of Key West, Florida. ''To Have and Have Not'' was Hemingway's second novel set in th ...

''. She appeared with Sullivan in the 1958 movie ''

Wolf Larsen Seawolf, Sea wolf or Sea Wolves may refer to: Animals * Sea wolf, a wolf subspecies found in the Vancouver coastal islands * Seawolf (fish), a marine fish also known as wolffish or sea wolf * A nickname of the killer whale * South American sea ...

''. In 2013, Hall settled a lawsuit she filed against

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

, the production company behind the TV series ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

'' for using an image of her gleaned from a 1960s

ad in the show's opening title credits sequence. The image was taken from a

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Vogue'' and ''Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and danc ...

photograph; the producers had secured permission from Revlon, but not from Hall.

Personal life

Hall married Leslie Jackson in August 1954. After they divorced, she married Sullivan in 1958; they divorced in 1961. Hall was the mother of Sullivan's daughter Birgitta ‘Patricia’ Christina. Known as Patsy, Gita’s daughter by Sullivan, followed in her footsteps and became a top model and cover girl as well, starting when she was 12. Hall later married Mitchell May III, an insurance broker and had two more daughters, Tracie and Samantha with May. He died in 2000. In 2003, Gita moved from Manhattan to Century City, California to go back to acting. Hall had a short lived reality show called ‘ Old Skool’ co-starring with actress Terry Moore. The show found an audience in Europe but only had a year run. Bunim Murray was the producer and distributor. Hall also appeared in on line commercials and had small parts in several network television shows. Hall was dressed to the nines in designer clothing and matched her dress for the day to fine jewelry she collected. Her daughters say, ‘Mom was the Swedish Joan Collins, she was very fancy and also quick to laugh. She was fabulous.’

Death

Hall died of liver failure in

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. She was survived by three daughters, nine grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Filmography

*'' The Gun Runners'' (1958) - Eva *''

'' (1958) - Kristina

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Gita 1933 births 2016 deaths Swedish emigrants to the United States Swedish expatriates in the United States Swedish film actresses American film actresses Actresses from Stockholm Swedish female models American female models People from Studio City, Los Angeles 21st-century American women