Renée Simonsen

Renee Toft Simonsen was born in Aarhus, Denmark in 1965. Her mother was a nurse and her father a student. Her parents divorced when she was 13. In 1981 she caught the attention of the fashion editor Birte Strandgaard, which became the start of her modeling career. The following year she was chosen to represent Denmark at the Supermodel of the World contest, which she won in August 1982. Renée quit high school and moved to New York. During the next six years she was one of the most popular models in the world, dabbled in acting, dated John Taylor of Duran Duran and seemed to live a very glamorous life. But by 1988 she had tired of the fashion world and felt she was losing herself. She took a break from fashion, turned down the chance to audition for the role of a Bond girl, broke up with Taylor and went to a kibbutz in Israel for 3 months along with her sister. In 1989, at the age of 24 and at the height of her popularity, she effectively ended her career as a top model and returned to