Her demand skyrocketed after a series of commercials for Bourbon, a confectioner that makes exquisite individually wrapped cookies and cakes. In the TV spots Harry played a willful executive secretary who casually shrugged off her conservative boss’s shock each time he discovered her doing whimsical things like playing with her makeup, sitting on her desk or even working out with dumbells. The commercials were a hit with housewives and Bourbon renewed Harry’s contract for five years.
Harry has moved from agency to agency almost as often as her family moved when she was a girl, but not always because she wanted to defect. While she was at Folio owner Hiroshi Ayagi merged the agency with Elite and John Casablancas in a bid for a bigger presence and a bigger share of the top models. The merger came off in 1983 with much pomp and circumstance. Ironicall, Harry found herself automatically listed with Elite’s Los Angeles office, the same agency that had turned her down two years earlier. The agency was going through rough times, having suffered bad publicity for poor booking policies.
Again, Harry took control of her fate by calling other agencies. Two wanted to see her that very day — Nina Blanchard and L.A. Models which was then just getting started. Harry went for the security of the better established Nina Blanchard which, in the 70s, had launched Cheryl Tiegs and Christine Ferrare.
Since her Cinderella-story hit with Shiseido in the early 80s, modeling has kept Harry in style. At 21, when most girls are still living at home, Angela Harry bought her own condo in upscale Irvine, near her parents’ Orange County home. By decade’s end she moved up to a house in the exclusive seaside resort town of Laguna Niguel. Decorating her home became a favorite way to unwind. She evidences a distinct preference for the Mediterranean style that is so popular in Southern California. She also enjoys puttering in the yard though, she confesses, she relies heavily on professional gardeners.
Harry loves Orange County, in part because that’s where her family lives. Her brother, five years her junior, is a Bank of America employee. A sister, six years her junior, works at State Farm as an underwriter.
Fortunately, there’s more than enough work in California to keep Harry close to home these days, though she has been heard to gripe about the need to wake up before dawn to drive up to Los Angeles or over the hills to John Wayne Airport for a 75-minute flight up to San Francisco.
Incredibly, Harry claims to suffer occasional insecurities about her looks. There are even days when she feels fat, she claims, despite efforts at sticking to a regimen that includes minimal direct sunlight, no red meat, lots of water and rigorous nightly workouts at a gym near her home.
What does the woman who has everything want for the future? To get married sometime soon and “have two kids, and maybe a dog or a cat”, she says. A good prospect to help make this dream come true was a writer and part-time model whom she met in a Tokyo club. She spent many weekends at his beachfront apartment where they took walks along the oceans.
Yes, she is grateful for her looks and her career, she admits, but there are days when she wants to give up modeling. Her goal is to prepare for that day by working hard, saving up and making sound real estate investments. “I’ll keep modeling as long as people want to take my picture,” she says with the kind of winning modesty that can only come of proven success. By the looks of things, that shouldn’t be a problem for many year to come! Prev
