Gia Carangi
Gia Marie Carangi (January 29, 1960 – November 18, 1986) was an American fashion model during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was featured on the cover of fashion magazines, including four international editions of Vogue and multiple issues of Cosmopolitan between 1979 and 1982. During these years, she also appeared in advertising campaigns for fashion houses, including Armani, Christian Dior, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent. Carangi is considered to be the first supermodel, although that title has also been applied to others.
After she became addicted to heroin, Carangi's modeling career rapidly declined. She later contracted HIV and died of AIDS-related complications at the age of 26; she is thought to be one of the first famous women to die of the disease. Carangi's life was dramatized in the television film Gia, starring Angelina Jolie, which debuted on HBO in 1998.
Life and career
1960–77: Early life
Carangi was born in Philadelphia, the third and youngest child of Joseph Carangi, a restaurant owner, and Kathleen Carangi (née Adams), a homemaker. She had two older brothers. Her father was Italian, and her mother was of Irish and Welsh ancestry. Joseph and Kathleen had an unstable, violent marriage, ultimately leading Kathleen to abandon the family when Carangi was eleven years old. Those who knew her blamed her "fractured childhood" for the instability and drug dependence that plagued her adult life. She was described as "needy and manipulative" by relatives who recalled her as spoiled and shy as a child and a "mommy's girl" who did not receive the motherly attention that she desired.
