Peggy Moffitt, Actor and Model for Famous Topless Bathing Suit Photo, Dies at 86
variety.comPat Saperstein Deputy Editor Peggy Moffitt, the actor and model who became a 1960s mod icon wearing designer Rudi Gernreich’s famous topless bathing suit design and other bold designs of the era, died Saturday in Beverly Hills.
She was 86. Her son, Christopher Claxton, told the New York Times she died of complications of dementia. Moffitt’s husband, renowned photographer William Claxton, shot the photo that became a sensation for its daring design of a bathing suit held up only by slender straps, with no top portion.
The 1964 photo, first published in Look and then a more explicit version in Women’s Wear Daily, was banned in some countries even though her arms were covering her breasts in some of the poses.
The actor and model was working at a trendy Beverly Hills boutique when Gernreich asked her to pose, though she specified she would never wear it in public.
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