Carolyn Murphy Biography 

American model Carolyn Murphy is one of the most highly paid and highly successful models in the business. She is known for honors such as “Model of the Year” as well as numerous cover shoots from Sports Illustrated to Vogue.

Carolyn Murphy was born August 11, 1975 in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. She grew up primarily in the northwest region of Florida, and she has stated that most of that time was spent in trailer parks. She obtained her initial education from St Mary’s Catholic School.

At just fifteen years old, Murphy was “discovered” by Mary Lou Nash. Nash owned and operated Mary Lou’s Models, and she immediately knew Murphy had the look her agency needed.

While attending Choctawhatchee Senior High school, Murphy began appearing in print ads, which were featured throughout Alabama as well as her home state.

Realizing there was potential to be extremely successful at this career, Murphy moved to Milan at the age of eighteen. Living within this fashion hub, Murphy was just barely getting by. Her breakthrough into the fashion elite came quickly enough, however, although it was actually quite accidental.

Having to dye her hair platinum blonde for a photo shoot, the potent concoction actually damaged her hair so badly that it began falling out. She was forced to get a very short haircut to hide the damage, but luckily for Murphy, it was right as androgyny was all the rage throughout fashion.

Armed with her new shorn locks and her new look, Murphy began booking some of the most coveted fashion gigs such as magazine work for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

After her slew of successful gigs, she was honored in 1998 with the title of “Model of the Year” at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. Other models to receive the honor include Karolina Kurkova, Carmen Kass, Gisele Bundchen, Kate Moss, Karen Elson, Stella Tennant, and others.

Particularly notable fashion spreads for Murphy include a 1999 cover for Vogue, in which she constituted one of the “Models of the Millennium” as well as a 2005 cover shoot for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Others know her for baring it all in 2002 for the Playboy calendar.

Most recently, she took the reins from Elizabeth Hurley and currently serves as the spokeswoman for Estee Lauder.

Outside of modeling, Murphy attempted to jumpstart an acting career in 1999, but she has only appeared in one film. She played Dubbie the Blonde in Liberty Heights, the drama from director Barry Levinson which starred Adrien Brody, Ben Foster, Orlando Jones, and Bebe Neuwirth.

In her personal life, she has been romantically linked to fellow model Mark Vanderloo.

She then married and had a daughter with Jake Schroeder, the owner of a surf shop. Although the happy family posed on a 2000 cover of Vogue as Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain, and Frances Bean Cobain, Murphy and Schroeder divorced just two years later.

She was subsequently linked to Brandon Boyd of Incubus fame, but they reportedly broke up in mid-2005.