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Walter Clarence Thornton

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Walter Clarence Thornton
A 1926 portrait of Walter Thornton, by noted celebrity photographer, Irving Chidnoff
Born(1903-04-03)April 3, 1903
Pike County, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMay 14, 1990(1990-05-14) (aged 87)
Long Beach, California, U.S.
Resting placeRiverside National Cemetery
OccupationModeling Agent
Years active1926–1970
Spouses
Judy Dolan
​
​
(m. 1934; div. 1955)​
Candelaria Navarro
​
(m. 1960)​
Children7

Walter Clarence Thornton (April 3, 1903 – May 14, 1990) was an American model and modeling agent who founded the Walter Thornton Model Agency in 1930 and went on to worldwide fame with his World War II-era "Walter Thornton Pin-Up Girls." Thornton rose to success from being an unsheltered orphan and a bricklayer.[1] Thornton was twice a judge of the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, NJ (1933[2] and 1935[3]). His company represented both male and female models, as well as a separate agency for child models. Many of his models achieved Hollywood fame and success. He retired from the agency in 1958 and spent the rest of his life in Ajijic, Mexico.[4]

Early life

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Orphaned when he was young, Thornton enlisted in the Army to fight in World War I at the age of 14.[4] Thornton was given an honorary discharge for "ineligibility."[5] He later became a bricklayer.[6]

In 1925, illustrator Georgia Warren spotted Walter Thornton on a park bench in New York City. She suggested he become a model. He did just that,[7] signing on with The John Robert Powers Agency[8] not long after (on whose roster he remained until 1931).[6] He was known in the tight-knit artists' community of Greenwich Village in the late 1920s as "The Profile". He went on to pose for most of the leading artists, illustrators and photographers of the first half of the 20th century, including J.C. Leyendecker, Norman Rockwell, Alfred Cheney Johnston, Neysa McMein, Percy Edward Anderson,[9][10] John La Gatta, Bradshaw Crandall, McClelland Barclay, C.D. Williams, Saul Tepper, Arthur William Brown, James Montgomery Flagg and Howard Chandler Christy. Thornton mass-marketed plaster copies of his own head.

Modeling agency

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The Minneapolis Tribune article referred to Thornton's face as one of the most well-known in America, due to his ubiquitous presence in 1920s advertisements.[6] In 1928, Thornton created a small "head factory" (Walter Thornton & Co.) in a brownstone building near Grand Central Station, where he hand-crafted and sold plaster copies of his own head until 1931. Thornton's agent, John Robert Powers, offered the plaster heads to artists and sculptors to work from instead of the model. Reportedly, over 1,500 of the replications of Thornton's own head had been sold by 1930.[6][11]

Thornton expanded that business to become the nation's first full service modeling agency in 1929. His agency was one of the first tenants of the newly-opened Chrysler Building.[12] The Walter Thornton Modeling Agency came to be considered one of "The Big Three", the largest modeling agencies in the United States, from roughly 1930-1950, along with its competitors, John Robert Powers and Harry Conover.[13] The Walter Thornton Model Agency became a prominent presence in the world of beauty in these earliest days of photographic modeling. Thornton standardized the business model of the model business, which continues to present day modeling agencies, with the agent receiving a flat 10% fee of a model's earnings. His agency was an intermediary liaison between model and client. The agency handled everything from wardrobe to booking the models' gigs, to offering lessons on deportment, grooming and grace.

In his syndicated column, Dale Carnegie wrote: "Why has Walter Thornton succeeded? Chiefly because he originated a new idea; something no one had thought of before. And stuck to it till he put it over. Simple."[14]

Models represented

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The Walter Thornton Agency represented many models who went on to careers in Hollywood. Some of his models included Grace Kelly, [15] Lauren Bacall,[16] Arlene Dahl,[17] Peggy Ann Garner,[18] Dorothy Dell,[19] Lizabeth Scott,[20] Boots Mallory,[19] Dolores Donlon,[13] Anita Colby (model known as "The Face"),[21] Starr and Tucker Faithfull[19] Walda Winchell, a.k.a. "Toni Eden" (columnist Walter Winchell's troubled daughter),[22] Cathy Downs,[23] Diana Lynn,[24] Dorothy McGuire,[25] Grace Bradley,[19] Hazel Brooks,[26] Jean Muir[19] and others. The Thornton Agency also had a male model division, representing later Hollywood luminaries, including actors Joseph Cotten,[27] Alan Curtis, Brian Donlevy,[28] Bob Hutton[27] and Robert Kent among them.

Thornton's first discovery was a 19-year-old woman named Edythe Marrenner, who was nicknamed "The Brooklyn Bombshell" during her brief New York modeling career. She was chosen by Thornton to represent "Walter Thornton Beauty" for a 1937 feature article in The Saturday Evening Post.[29] Marrenner was spotted in the article by Hollywood director, George Cukor, who brought her to Hollywood under short-term contract to Selznick Studios. The Thornton Agency sued her for breach of contract. They settled out of court in 1939, in Thornton's favor, reportedly for $20,000. In Hollywood, she changed her name to Susan Hayward.[30]

At varying points in his career, Thornton had his own radio show,[31] his own self-named weekly television show (The Walter Thornton Show, CBS, 1946)[32][33][34] and his own nationally-syndicated monthly magazine column ("At the Court of The Merchant of Venus," 1939-41).[35]

In April 1948, Thornton opened a chain of modeling schools (also known in as "charm schools") in Toronto. By 1962, he had three agencies operating in Canada and he had planned to open an additional nine more.[36] By 1968 he had modeling schools in Toronto, Hamilton, St. Catherines, London, Welland, Niagara Falls, Belleville, Brampton, Oshawa and Barrie, among other cities.[37] He sold his interest in the companies in 1980.

At the peak of his popularity and success, Thornton and his agency created the concept of "The Pin-Up Girl" during the 1940s, working in tandem with the U.S. government to provide these morale boosters for overseas G.I.s.[38] The Thornton Agency trademarked the term "Walter Thornton Pin-Up Girls." The popularity of The Walter Thornton Pin-Up Girls led to multiple charting singles, including "Get a Pin-Up Girl!"[39] by Don Wolf; "Pin-Up Polka" by Al Gamse and Irving Fields;[40] and "The Walter Thornton Rhumba" also by Gamse and Fields.[40]

In February 1946, Thornton and associates opened "The Pin-Up Room" in Manhattan, the walls of which were decorated with larger-than-life-sized pin-up photographs.[41]

Thornton ran a stock photo publication of children, as well as representing his own child models under the name "Just Kids Models."[42]

[edit]

A series of legal issues and negative publicity started in 1954, which culminated in Thornton's retirement from his modeling agency. Thornton was charged with grand larceny, petit larceny and conspiracy, among other charges, on January 26, 1954, in relation to a purported "child model racket," with Thornton's "Just Kids" catalogues.[43][44] Thornton was quoted as saying in Time Magazine that the District Attorney who was prosecuting him, T. Vincent Quinn, didn't have a case and furthermore was just manufacturing a smoke screen, to cover for his own legal problems.[45] Federal District Attorney Quinn had a federal indictment of his own hanging over his head at the time Quinn pressed for the prosecution of Thornton. Quinn and his D.A. crew spared no expense in manufacturing evidence, to prove that Walter Thornton was a dishonest businessman, one who had "mulcted" (strong-armed) "...hundreds of parents out of $35 fees," relating to the parents' payments to have their children's photos listed in the "Just Kids" catalogues. The case was dismissed on June 3, 1954, by Judge Peter T. Farrell of Queens County Court in Long Island City, NY.[46] All charges against Thornton were dismissed before the four-week-long case was even sent to the jury. "There is absolutely no basis to these charges," Judge Farrell pronounced.

Thornton spent the next four years pursuing legal action against the news outlets that had run the most defamatory headlines and articles about him. He filed a lawsuit for $3,000,000 in damages against the Hearst Corporation and others on May 21, 1955, claiming he had been libeled.[47] His "trial by tabloid," however, had its desired effect: Thornton's name and reputation were destroyed after the month-long flurry of fictional, front-page headlines. Thornton either sold or closed all his New York business interests. The retractions and follow-up news that Thornton had been exonerated were printed, away from the front pages that had printed the news about his indictment and arrest in headlines.[citation needed]

Personal life

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House built and lived in by Walter Clarence Thornton in Ajijic, Mexico

Thornton married one of his models, Judy Dolan, in 1934 and had one daughter, Daryl, with her.[48] They divorced in 1955 and Walter expatriated to Mexico in 1958.

In Ajijic, Mexico, Thornton remarried, to Guadalajara-native Candelaria Navarro. They had six children together: Walter Jr., Roberta Virginia, Adriana Anabel, Nancy Louella, Richard Orlando and Ethel Ivette.[4] He built a lavish, castle-like home, decorated with intricate mosaic tiling, where he raised his children and lived until his health diminished.[49] He died of a stroke in 1990.[4]

Legacy

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Thornton, in spite of his successful career, is most famous today for being the subject of two now-iconic images of Thornton, purportedly selling his 1929 Chrysler Imperial 75 Roadster out of desperation after The Wall Street Stock Market Crash of 1929. There is a large, white, what appears to be cardboard sign on the vehicle that reads "$100 WILL BUY THIS CAR. MUST HAVE CASH. LOST ALL ON THE STOCK MARKET".[50] The Bankrupt Investor image has become emblematic of the 1929 Stock Market Crash.

References

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  1. ^ Dale Carnegie, From Editorial Page, The Pittsburgh Press, December 26, 1940
  2. ^ "Miss America 1933 Judges". missamerica1933.com. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  3. ^ Miss Amerika (1935), retrieved 2021-11-22
  4. ^ a b c d "Walter Thornton, Agent for Models, Dies of Stroke at 88", The New York Times, May 16, 1990
  5. ^ Ohio Roster of Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in World War I, 1917-1918 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7895/images/017623-17395?pId=247798
  6. ^ a b c d Paget, Corinne. "Bricklayer Parks Trowel: Emerges as Glorified Youth of Collar Ads". No. Aug 10, 1930. Star Tribune (Minnesota). p. 41.
  7. ^ Lait, Jack (Oct 4, 1931). "Highlights of Broadway From the Circle to the Square". Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico). p. 10.
  8. ^ New York Public Library, Billy Rose Collection; page from Powers'January 1927 "Models and Actors Studio Guide" https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/3053a750-52be-0135-513f-318e59ba1814
  9. ^ Anderson, Percy Edward; full-page, rotogravure ad featuring J.R. Powers model, Walter Thornton, less than two months after the Stock Market Crash, 12/20/29, (art by illustrator Percy Edward Anderson. https://fineartamerica.com/featured/knapp-felt-1920s-usa-mens-hats-the-advertising-archives.html
  10. ^ Full-page, rotogravure ad featuring J.R. Powers model Walter Thornton, four and a half months after the Stock Market Crash, 03/15/30 Saturday Evening Post (art by illustrator Percy Edward Anderson. https://www.atticpaper.com/proddetail.php?prod=1930-knapp-felt-hats-ad-harwood
  11. ^ Swan, Gilbert (Jan 26, 1931). "Yes, Walter Thornton Uses His Head to Good Advantage, for He Has the Most Demanded Cranium of Any Male Model". Star-Gazette. p. 6.
  12. ^ Evans-Smith, Eileen.” Every Girl a Model?”, Ottawa Citizen, Nov 13 1962, p. 25
  13. ^ a b "The Modeling Business", LIFE, Mar 25, 1946
  14. ^ Carnegie extols Walter Thornton in his internationally syndicated column, 12/26/1940. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89749738/walter-thornton-extolled-by-dale-carnegi/
  15. ^ McKnnon, Gina (2012). What Would Grace Do?. Gotham Books. p. 24.
  16. ^ Lauren Bacall (1985-10-12). Lauren Bacall. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-33321-6.
  17. ^ Pieck, Kaaren (October 1950). "Lucky Dahl". Modern Screen Magazine. p. 59.
  18. ^ Photoplay Combined with Movie Mirror 1945-12: Vol 28 Iss 1. MacFadden Publishing Inc. 1945.
  19. ^ a b c d e "Why Our Most Glamorous Models Fade Out After 2 Years". Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota). May 19, 1935. p. 65.
  20. ^ Photoplay Combined with Movie Mirror 1945-12: Vol 28 Iss 1. MacFadden Publishing Inc. 1945.
  21. ^ Gross, Michael (1996). Model: the ugly business of beautiful women. Warner Books. p. 59.
  22. ^ "Decorate With PINUPS Here's a swell idea for dressing up a game room". US Camera Magazine. Feb 1946. p. 13.
  23. ^ "26 Mar 1951, 230 - Daily News at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  24. ^ Glo Ad", LIFE, Mar 29, 1948
  25. ^ "Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois on May 9, 1948 · Page 10". Newspapers.com. 9 May 1948. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  26. ^ "The Free Lance-Star - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  27. ^ a b "The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  28. ^ Donlevy, Brian, from Britannica https://www.britannica.com/biography/Brian-Donlevy
  29. ^ Thornton, Walter (Oct 30, 1937). "The Merchant of Venus". The Saturday Evening Post. p. 20.
  30. ^ "Red: The Tempestuous Life of Susan Hayward" by Robert LaGuardia and Gene Auceri, p.36
  31. ^ "Featured Artist on Weekly Radio Program". The Montclair Times (Montclair, New Jersey). Aug 2, 1940. p. 11.
  32. ^ Unknown Author, [1],The Billboard, August 3, 1946
  33. ^ Unknown Author, [2], The Encyclopedia of Television Shows
  34. ^ Unknown Author, [3], Variety, August 28, 1946
  35. ^ Thornton, Walter (Nov 24, 1940). "At the Court of the Merchant of Venus OVERSEAS BLONDE -and 5'10". El Paso Times. p. 52.
  36. ^ Eileen Evans-Smith, "Person to Person: Every Girl a Model?", Ottawa Citizen, p. 25, November 13, 1962
  37. ^ Unknown Author, "Advertisement for Walter Thornton Modeling School", Ottawa Citizen, p. 22, March 04, 1968
  38. ^ "Anything to Make the Soldier Laddies Happy". New York Post. Dec 19, 1940.
  39. ^ "Jerry Cooper Outstanding Diamond Recording Get a Pin-Up girl" (PDF). World Radio News. April 17, 1948.
  40. ^ a b Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1949-02-26). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  41. ^ Stevenson, L. L. (March 2, 1946). "Lights of new York". The Herald-News (Passaic, New Jersey). p. 11.
  42. ^ "Make your advertising command attention! Over 4000 Walter Thornton Children's pictures to choose from". News Day (Suffolk Edition) (New York). Aug 1, 1949. p. 40.
  43. ^ "Merchant of Venus Head on Fraud Charges", Barrier Miner, January 27, 1954
  44. ^ "Thornton is Free in Model 'Racket'", The New York Times, June 03, 1954
  45. ^ "1000% Publicity", TIME, p. 86, February 8, 1954
  46. ^ "THORNTON IS FREE IN MODEL 'RACKET'". The New York Times. 1954-06-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  47. ^ "Walter Thornton Sues For $3,000,000", Editor & Publisher, May 21, 1955
  48. ^ Betty Clark, "Model Wife Says Anyone Can Keep Spouse Charmed", St. Petersburg Times, Jun 3, 1945
  49. ^ Morris Reichley, "Arabian Nights", El Ojo del Lago
  50. ^ Marks, Julie (2021-10-05). "What Caused the Stock Market Crash of 1929?". history.com.
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