Donyale was a pioneer supermodel. Born Peggy Ann Freeman in Detroit, she gained popularity in Europe during the late 1960s. Generally cited as “the first Black supermodel,” Luna was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of the British edition of Vogue, in March 1966. She was popular among the global avant-garde set, and worked with such luminaries as Warhol, Dali and Fellini.
As her husband points out in a new documentary, she loved drugs, especially hash and LSD, and it was the drug habit that did her in at age 33, when she turned her affection to heroin and OD’d.
The 2023 documentary is called Donyale Luna, Supermodel. It features some representative examples of her nude modeling efforts.
And it also features two sexy clips from her brief film career.
First, there is her brief butt exposure in the legendary 1968 stinker Skidoo. Groucho Marx made his last credited film appearance as a top-level gangster named God in this flick, and Donyale had a bit part as the would-be Mrs. God, Groucho’s mistress. (Per IMDb, Groucho made some uncredited cameos after this film.)
Second, there is her topless exposure in 1972’s Salome, a film about which I know nothing. IMDb calls it “a psychedelic re-telling of the biblical story.” As the Church Lady might say, “Well, isn’t that special? And who could have inspired that? Oh, I don’t know. Could it be … SATAN?”
