She had an impoverished childhood in the American South in the middle of the 20th Century while being raised by her widowed single mother.This future star was already preparing for a future in the spotlight when she joined clubs that focused on intellectual development at her high school in Tampa, Florida, in the late 1950s and early ’60s.As an adult, she initially tried to use her pulse-quickening beauty to launch a modeling career, but a gap between her two front teeth created resistance from the industry.After years of trying to hide it, the natural gap became her signature look and helped open the door for a new generation of fashion stars who melded ethereal beauty with down-to-earth features.Just a few years into her modeling career, she began appearing on screen and became a popular film star in the 1970s and ’80s, who scored leading roles opposite actors including Richard Gere, Alan Alda, Burt Reynolds, James Caan and Italian superstar Marcello Mastroianni.At 82, she’s still known for her age-defying beauty and her numerous pursuits beyond acting and modeling, including being a motorcycle enthusiast, a diver and a conservationist. Can you guess who this famous star is from her 1961 yearbook photo? She had an impoverished childhood in the South while being raised by her widowed single mother, then went on to become one of the biggest models of the ’70s and ’80s, as well as a film star. Can you guess who this future star is from her 1961 yearbook photo?She’s the era-defining model and actress Lauren Hutton.Hutton helped open the door for other models with her gap-toothed smile, which kept her from getting top modeling jobs at first, but eventually made her an instantly recognizable face.Starting in 1968, she leveraged her success in magazines and advertisements to launch a film career, which included lead roles in Paper Lion that year, followed by major parts in classics including The Gamber (1974), Gator (1976) and American Gigolo (1980).But decades before her successes, Hutton faced a difficult childhood in the Deep South.She was born in 1943 in Charleston, South Carolina, as Mary Laurence Hutton to Minnie and Lawrence Hutton.Her father had grown up in Oxford, Mississippi, living next to the Nobel Prize–winning writer William Faulkner, and he was serving in the Army Air Corps in England in the midst of the Second World War when she was born. But Hutton saw little of her father after the war, as her parents divorced in 1945, and her mother moved her down to Florida before remarrying in 1949.Her father, a journalist who worked as the farm editor for The Cotton Trade Journal, remarried and moved to Tennessee, but Lauren never met him beyond when she was a baby before his untimely death from a heart attack in 1956, when he was just 37. She’s the era-defining model and actress Lauren Hutton Hutton helped open the door for other models with her gap-toothed smile, which kept her from getting top modeling jobs at first, but eventually made her an instantly recognizable face She was born in 1943 in Charleston, South Carolina, as Mary Laurence Hutton to Minnie and Lawrence Hutton Her parents divorced when she was two, and Hutton spoke years later about her regrets that she never met her father, who died in 1956 at just 37 Hutton’s yearbook photos from Tampa’s Chamberlain High School, dating here from 1959 to 1961, confirm that she already looked like the timeless beauty who would be featured on numerous magazines and ad campaigns in decades to follow She also showed an interest in her father’s profession – journalism – as part of the school’s literary magazine staffIn a 1996 interview with Cigar Aficionado, Hutton said that never knowing her father was the ‘most painful’ aspect of her life.’I look just like him, and I’m named for him, but all I have are these two books of his letters and drawings from the war,’ she said. ‘The day of my birth, he wrote and told me about our ancestors, what he thought was important in the world, what books I should read and what he wanted for me.’Hutton’s yearbook photos from Tampa’s Chamberlain High School, dating here from 1959 to 1961, confirm that she already looked like the timeless beauty who would be featured on numerous magazines and ad campaigns in decades to follow.The 5ft7in aspiring star showed off the intellectual curiosity that has been a hallmark of her long career in photos that showed her as a member of the National Forensics League team – a speech and debate club.She also showed an interest in her father’s profession – journalism – as part of the school’s literary magazine staff.Hutton looked engaged and curious in another photo that showed her and other students observing a factory employee rolling cigars.And the future model worked on her future talents in a shot from her school’s 1961 Homecoming festivities, where she was one of the Fair Maidens.Hutton graduated that year, and in the next few years, she jumped all around the US – and the globe – while in thrall to an older man. The 5ft7in aspiring star showed off the intellectual curiosity that has been a hallmark of her long career in photos that showed her as a member of the National Forensics League team – a speech and debate club Hutton looked engaged and curious in another photo that showed her and other students observing a factory employee rolling cigars And the future model worked on her future talents in a shot from her school’s 1961 Homecoming festivities, where she was one of the Fair MaidensImmediately after high school, she enrolled at the University of South Florida, but she soon moved to New York City with a disc jockey who was 19 years older than her. There, she worked as one of the bunny waitresses at the iconic Playboy Club. The two didn’t stay put for long, and they spent time in Europe and enjoying the sun of the Bahamas, before she relocated to Tulane University affiliate Newcomb College in New Orleans, where she finished her Bachelor’s Degree in 1964.Hutton’s early work as a model was marred by the space between her teeth, which she was urged to find ways to disguise.She admitted to using wax to fill in her teeth in her early days as a model, and photoshoots from the mid-’60s show her with seemingly gapless teeth.But it wasn’t an effective solution, as the wax was easily displaced, and it had a tendency to shoot out of her mouth when she laughed, or she would have the misfortune to swallow it by accident.Aside from a brief appearance as a fake contestant on To Tell The Truth in 1963, Hutton got her start in the film and television industry when she was cast as the female lead opposite Alan Alda in 1968’s Paper Lion.Her modeling career continued to pick up at the same time, and in 1973 she signed a $250,000 per year contract with Revlon, which marked the largest modeling contract ever at the time. After an aborted stint in college in 1961, she moved to NYC and began working as a bunny at the Playboy Club, before traveling the globe for a few years and getting her BA in 1964; seen in 1983 in LA Hutton’s first big movie was 1968’s Paper Lion, which cast her opposite Alan Alda Hutton began to stack up an impressive group of leading men in her films, including Robert Redford (1970’s Little Fauss And Big Halsy; pictured), Marcello Mastroianni (1971’s My Name Is Rocco Papaleo), James Caan (1974’s The Gamble), and Burt Reynolds (1976’s Gator) Hutton, who tried to hide the gap in her teeth with wax before embracing it, signed a $250,000 per year modeling contract with Revlon in 1973, which marked the largest modeling contract ever at the time; seen in 1977Hutton began to stack up an impressive group of leading men in her films, including Robert Redford (1970’s Little Fauss And Big Halsy), Marcello Mastroianni (1971’s My Name Is Rocco Papaleo), James Caan (1974’s The Gamble), and Burt Reynolds (1976’s Gator). In addition to working with major box-office draws, Hutton also showed off her skills while working for critically acclaimed filmmakers, including Alan Rudolph, for whom she appeared in 1976’s Welcome to LA, and Robert Altman, who filmed her in his 1978 ensemble dramedy A Wedding. Hutton’s biggest role to date was in Paul Schrader’s 1980 neo-noir erotic thriller American Gigolo.Richard Gere shot to the top ranks of leading men thanks to the film, which cast him as a male prostitute who strikes up a relationship with a senator’s wife (played by Hutton), before he’s framed for the murder of a wealthy financier’s wife. The film was a hit with critics and audience alike, and its abundant sense of style made it one of the most iconic films of the 1980s.Hutton continued to appear on screen regularly throughout the ’80s and ’90s, but she was cast in fewer top-notch pictures, and gradually she began to work in supporting and guest roles, while appearing more regularly on television.As she began to step back from Hollywood, the model and actress’s other interests became more prominent.Hutton developed an interest in riding motorcycles, which climaxed when she joined a group of stars, including Easy Rider star and director Dennis Hopper, Jeremy Irons and Laurence Fishburne for a ride to the Hermitage–Guggenheim museum in Las Vegas for the opening of the Art of the Motorcycle exhibit in October 2000. Hutton’s biggest role to date was in Paul Schrader’s 1980 neo-noir erotic thriller American Gigolo, which helped make Richard Gere a popular leading man and Hollywood sex symbol Hutton’s Hollywood career slowed down in the ’90s and 2000s, but she continues to appear in films to this day and to land major modeling campaigns; seen in 1977 She also established leaned into her hobbies as a respected scuba diver and a motorcyclist. In 2000, she survived a crash at more than 100mph that left her with mutliple leg fractures, a broken arm, sternum and ribs, and a punctured lung; seen in 2010 in Hollywood Hutton will return to the big screen in her first film in eight years after working with Ron Howard on his upcoming war drama Alone at Dawn, which costars Adam Driver and Anne Hathaway. The shoot wrapped in early 2026, but it’s unclear if the film will be released this year or in 2027; seen in 2016 in NYCDuring the actors’ ride, Hutton suffered a serious crash at over 100 miles per hour near the Arizona–Nevada border and the Hoover Dam. The crash could easily have been fatal, but Hutton survived with serious injuries, including fractures to her arm, sternum, multiple ribs and multiple leg fractures, as well as a punctured lung.Hutton is also an accomplished scuba diver who began diving back in the 1960s. In 2007, she was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame, both for her skill as a diver, as well as for her efforts to promote shark conservation.Hutton is still keeping busy, and she’s expected to return to the big screen in her first film in eight years after working with Ron Howard on his upcoming war drama Alone at Dawn, which costars Adam Driver, Anne Hathaway and Betty Gilpin. Principal photography for the feature was completed earlier in 2026, but it’s unclear whether the finished film will be released later in 2026 or in 2027.