Dorothy Gibson - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

She was born on May 17, 1889 to John A. Brown and Pauline Boesen as Dorothy Winifred Brown in Hoboken, New Jersey. Her father died when she was three years old in 1892 and her mother married John Leonard Gibson. Between 1906 and 1911, she appeared on stage as a singer and dancer in a number of theatre and vaudeville productions, the most important being on Broadway in Charles Frohman's musical The Dairymaids (1907). She was also a regular chorus member in shows produced by the Shubert Brothers at the Hippodrome Theatre.

In 1909, the year before she married George Battier, Jr., Gibson began posing for famous commercial artist Harrison Fisher, becoming one of his favorite models. Her image appeared regularly on posters, postcards, various merchandising products and in book illustrations over the next three years. Fisher also often chose her likeness for the covers of best-selling magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, and the Saturday Evening Post. Gibson was widely publicized during this time as "The Original Harrison Fisher Girl".

Meanwhile, Gibson separated from Battier, though the couple was not divorced until about 1916.

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