American model, born in 1928 and died in 1985. Linda HARPER started in the business later than most of her contemporaries; she was in her early twenties, having been to university and briefly married, when she began to achieve success — a success which Oleg CASSINI, who declared he’d first discovered her, was happy to claim for himself. HARPER enjoyed a strong run, including memorable location shoots in Italy and Ireland with Richard AVEDON. Her heart, though, was in acting, and in 1956 she traded in modelling for theatre. But she had little luck with the productions she chose, and soon returned to the fashion world. And in 1957, she married into a wealthy Philadelphia family, with Dovima as her matron of honour. HARPER continued to model to the end of the decade, before settling down to have children. She became an active figure in society circles, and an avid golfer.