Penelope Tree

English fashion model From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Penelope Tree (born 2 December 1949) is an English fashion model who rose to prominence during the Swinging Sixties in London.[3]

Quick Facts Born, Nationality ...
Penelope Tree
Born (1949-12-02) December 2, 1949 (age 75)[1]
NationalityBritish/American[1]
OccupationFashion model
Years active1960s onwards
Known forSwinging sixties
Notable workThe Rutles (1978 film)
SpouseRicky Fataar
Partner(s)David Bailey
Stuart MacFarlane
Children2
Parents
RelativesJeremy Tree (half-brother)
Frances FitzGerald (half-sister)
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Family

Penelope Tree is the only child of Marietta Peabody Tree, a U.S. socialite and political activist, and Ronald, a British journalist, investor and Conservative MP. She is the half-sister of racehorse trainer Jeremy Tree and author Frances FitzGerald, and she is a niece of former Massachusetts governor Endicott Peabody.

Life and career

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Perspective

Tree's family initially objected to her career as a model,[3] and when she was first photographed at age 13 by Diane Arbus, her father vowed to sue if the pictures were published.[4]

Tree made a striking appearance at the 1966 Black and White Ball thrown by author Truman Capote, wearing a black V-neck tunic with long slashes from the bottom making floating panels, worn over black tights.[5]

The sensation she caused led photographers Cecil Beaton and Richard Avedon to work together to make her a supermodel.[6] She was 16 and her father had relented. David Bailey described Penelope as "an Egyptian Jiminy Cricket".[7]

In 1967, Tree moved into Bailey's flat in London's Primrose Hill neighbourhood.[3] It became a social space for hippies during the "Swinging Sixties" who, Bailey recalled, would be "smoking joints I had paid for and calling me a capitalist pig!" In another famous quote, when John Lennon was asked to encapsulate Tree in three words, he replied, "Hot, Hot, Hot, Smart, Smart, Smart!"[8]

Tree has been extensively compared to The Beatles for inspiring the swinging 60's movement and for galvanizing a generation of young American females.[citation needed] Scars from late-onset acne ended her career[3] in the early 1970s: "I went from being sought-after to being shunned because nobody could bear to talk about the way I looked."[9] In 1972, she was arrested for possession of cocaine.[8][9] In 1974, Bailey and Tree split up and she moved to Sydney. She appeared in the British comedy film The Rutles in 1978.[10]

She was married to South African musician Ricky Fataar (a member of The Flames, The Rutles, and the Beach Boys). She has two children: Paloma Fataar, a graduate of Bard College and a student of Tibetan Buddhism and music; and Michael MacFarlane; by her relationship with Australian Jungian analyst Stuart MacFarlane.

Penelope Tree is a patron of Lotus Outreach, a charity which works in Cambodia in partnership with local grassroots women's organisations to give girls from the very poorest families the wherewithal to go to school.[11]

In 1983, English indiepop band Felt released a song called "Penelope Tree", featuring a picture of her on the cover. [12]

In 2011, Tree appeared as an interviewee for a documentary on the life of fashion editor Diana Vreeland.[citation needed]

In 2017, she was interviewed for a documentary about Beaton called Love, Cecil

References

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