40 Stunning Photos of Meg Mundy as a Model in the 1940s

Born 1915 in Marylebone, London, English-born American actress and model Meg Mundy emigrated to the United States with her family at the age of six in 1921. In 1940, modeling agency founder Harry Conover cited Mundy as one of the 10 top models (“those who lure the highest salaries”). A newspaper article two years later reported that Mundy was “said to be Manhattan’s highest paid model.”

Meg Mundy as a model in the 1940s

Mundy debuted as a concert singer at Carnegie Hall in 1942. In 1948, she starred in The Respectful Prostitute, she also played Mary McLeod, the lead female role, in the Broadway production of Detective Story; the role was later played by Eleanor Parker in the film.

Her film credits included roles in Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), Oliver’s Story (1978), The Bell Jar (1979), and as the mother of Mary Tyler Moore’s character in Ordinary People (1980), which won the Academy Award as Best Picture Of The Year. She appeared in the 1983 Walter Matthau-Robin Williams film The Survivors, the 1987 films Fatal Attraction and Someone to Watch Over Me, and in two episodes of Law & Order in the 1990s.

Mundy died in 2016 at the age of 101. Take a look at these stunning photos to see portraits of young Meg Mundy as a model in the 1940s.

Meg Mundy in Cartier jewels, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, October 15, 1940

Meg Mundy in red wool slack suit emblazoned with eagle figure, with white shirt and white turban, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue 1940

Meg Mundy in a 22-carat gold-washed kid trench coat by Mainbocher, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, September 15, 1940

Meg Mundy in a yellow wool suit, accessorized with brown sealskin hat and muff, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue 1941

Meg Mundy in chartreuse felt hat with roses and hummingbirds, purple gloves, and purple veil and ribbons, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue 1941

Meg Mundy wearing green velveteen suit with baum-marten hat and muff, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue 1941

Meg Mundy in wool jersey two-toned dress from Young-Times worn under a red Forstmann wool coat lined in leopard-stenciled rabbit fur, photo by John Rawlings, 1942

Meg Mundy in white summer suit with yellow terrier print cravat, photo by Constantine Joffé, Vogue 1944

Meg Mundy in red and white striped shirtwaist dress of rayon crêpe by William Bass, photo by Constantin Joffé, Vogue 1945

Meg Mundy in a gray Russian broadtail coat and matching beret made to order at Henri Bendel, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, August 1, 1946

Meg Mundy in beautifully tailored suit by Philip Mangone, photo by Toni Frissell, Vogue, march 15, 1946

Meg Mundy in gown by Hattie Carnegie, photo by Toni Frissell at George Washington's Mount Vernon, 1946

Meg Mundy in Miron's worsted suit of pink-on-black stripes or beige-on-brown at Russeks, Harper's Bazaar, February 1946

Meg Mundy in navy-blue dress interlaced with polka-dot sash by Pattullo, photo by Toni Frissell, Harper's Bazaar, March 1946

Meg Mundy in silk crêpe dress by Rose Barrack, Harper's Bazaar, October 1946

Meg Mundy in a city-black waffle-piqué coat-dress by Mildred Orrick, straw harlequin-shaped hat, white calf bag by Bienen-Davis, all at Bergdorf Goodman, photo by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, April 15, 1947

Meg Mundy in a dress and jacket printed with "Dali's Desert Rocks' from a Vogue Pattern Design S-4780, photo by Richard Rutledge, Vogue, April 1, 1947

Meg Mundy in beautiful slipper-satin gown by Nettie Rosenstein, photo by Toni Frissell, Vogue, October 15, 1947

Meg Mundy in beautifully proportioned princess coat with turn-back cuffs and flat pockets in cocoa brown Melton wool from Simplicity Pattern 2136, hat by Lilly Daché, photo by Genevieve Naylor, Harper's Bazaar, September 1947

Meg Mundy in beige linen suit-dress, photo by Constantin Joffé at the Hugo Gallery, New York City, Vogue, April 15, 1947

Meg Mundy in black Onandaga faille dress by Rose Barrack, Vogue, February 15, 1947

Meg Mundy in black wool jersey dress with white edging at cuffs and collar, photo by Horst, Vogue, February 15, 1947

Meg Mundy in black wool suit with a curved jacket that bells out above a rippling skirt by Hattie Carnegie at the Lindner Coy, Harper's Bazaar, September 1947

Meg Mundy in brass-buttoned box jacket, slim skirt, photo by Kay Bell, Vogue, March 1, 1947

Meg Mundy in Forstmann wool suit by Monte Sano, photo by Irving Penn, Vogue, March 1, 1947

Meg Mundy in late-day suit by Rose Barrack, hat by John Frederics, Vogue, September 15, 1947

Meg Mundy in lovely lace and net dress in ballerina-length by Ben Reig, photo by Toni Frissell, Harper's Bazaar, October 1947

Meg Mundy in luxurious long-hair silver fox fur designed by Sophie of Saks Fifth Avenue, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, May 1, 1947

Meg Mundy in off-shoulder black taffeta cocktail dress by Ceil Chapman at Bergdorf Goodman, Vogue, January 1, 1947

Meg Mundy in pale putty-beige, worsted twill suit by Rauch for Carolyn Modes, a natural pale straw sailor by Sally Victor, jewelry by John Rubel, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, March 1, 1947

Meg Mundy in satin belted silk dress in a stripe-and-rose pattern at Bergdorf Goodman, photo by Serge Balkin, Vogue, March 15, 1947

Meg Mundy in silver satin evening dress that bares the shoulders in a fichu of folds by Jack Herzog, photo by Genevieve Naylor, Harper's Bazaar, November 1947

Meg Mundy in two-toned Hockanum flannel suit, the darker skirt is flared, by Roxspun, citron yellow gloves and hat by Lilly Daché, lapel coins by Shapiro, photo by Richard Avedon, Harper's Bazaar, September 1947

Meg Mundy is wearing a tan straw hat with little brim curling upwards and heavy windings of brown velvet by Mme. Pauline, photo by Constantin Joffé, Vogue, March 1, 1947

Meg Mundy is wearing an orange and slate blue silk shantung blouse and skirt by Claire McCardell, photo by Horst P. Horst, 1947

Meg Mundy is wearing grey muted plaid wool suit with teal blue hat, photo by Serge Balkin, 1947

Meg Mundy wearing white wool coat with leopard fur hood, photo by Peter Stackpole, October 1947

Meg Mundy in black dotted silk dress entirely covered with sequins, with full pleated skirt tied at the waist in large black bow, by Rose Barrack, Harper's Bazaar, February 1948

Meg Mundy in long evening dress and jacket of off-white cotton checked in gold Lurex by Mainbocher, photo by Kay Bell, Harper's Bazaar, May 1948

Meg Mundy in ruby red cashmere cardigan cut at the waist with ruby and green tie silk dress beneath by Mainbocher, flexible jeweled starfish by Jean Schlumberger, photo by Kay Bell, Harper's Bazaar, May 1948