Stars Brutal marriage with Mickey Rourke and anorexia: how supermodel Carrie Otis lost her beauty and career

From the highest to the lowest, as is often the case, it was within reach.

In her youth, Carrie was a rebel. She was only 16 years old when she ran away from home. However, there was something to run away from. The future star of catwalks and fashion magazines was born into a dysfunctional family, her parents were alcoholics. Carrie wanted to escape from the oppressive atmosphere, but as they say, she got out of the fire and into the frying pan – she came into contact with the villain in San Francisco. They began to live together, but Carrie’s chosen one did not differ in refined manners and gentlemanly habits – he was a typical rapist.

In general, the former hopeless life dragged Otis again, and who knows how her life would have developed if one day she did not meet a scout from the Look Model agency. She soon signed a contract with the legendary Elite Model Management. Now a completely different world was waiting for her – Paris was waiting for her.

In the late 1980s, Carrie became one of the most in-demand and visible models. In 1986, she appeared on the cover of French Elle for the first time, and in 1988 she posed for Vogue together with Linda Evangelista (shooting, however, was hardly easy for Otis – more on that below). And there were countless advertising contracts – Otis was the face of Guess and Calvin Klein campaigns, walked the catwalk for Max Mara, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and other famous brands.

But the brighter the spotlights shone, the deeper Carrie sank into the darkness. At 18, she had a drug addiction. A year earlier, she faced harassment from Elite agency CEO Gerald Marie. The scandal surrounding the man’s name would flare up much later in the #metoo era, but for now Otis was left alone with her fear and shame.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that Marie was already in a relationship with Linda Evangelista, whom he soon married.

“I was constantly comparing myself to her and I was so ashamed of what happened when she was out of town and had absolutely no idea what she was doing. I was a minor – a victim of abuse – and yet I blamed myself completely for everything Marie did to me.”Otis later recalled.

Carrie simply did not see a way out of the situation – she depended on her perpetrator for everything.

“Marie had power over every aspect of my life: she provided a roof over my head, bought me clothes, paid for my subway ticket. I had no money of my own, but my passport remained at the agency. I was completely at the mercy of the aggressor.”— added the model in her memoirs.

In 1989, another fateful event occurred in the life of Otis – she made her film debut. She got the main role in the erotic melodrama Wild Orchid, where her partner was Mickey Rourke.

A romance began between them, which only contributed to the interest in the film (however, rumors that the sex scenes between them were not staged at all also contributed to this).

In 1992, Mickey and Carrie got married, but the perfect marriage did not work out. Soon the actor was arrested for abusing his wife and was even banned from performing at her shows. However, the charges were later dropped. However, the marriage with the movie star almost ended tragically for Otis. Rourke once hid a gun in her bag. Unaware, Carrie threw the bag on the floor – the gun exploded. The bullet passed a few centimeters from the model’s heart and went over her shoulder.

Later, they both remembered that they had met at the most inopportune time. Rourke admitted that he was deeply in love with Otis, but at the time the two were “stitched up”. Carrie noted, “We both had a penchant for drama.”

But life without Otis was going downhill again. The model suffered from anorexia, which eventually ended her career on the catwalk, Otis was also not invited to the cinema for almost 10 years. She began to have serious health problems caused by an eating disorder and addictions. Otis even suffered several heart attacks and repeatedly attempted suicide.

In 2005, Otis married environmental scientist Matthew Sutton, with whom he had two daughters, Jade and Kaia.

The model’s career was put on hold for almost 20 years. After overcoming anorexia, she faced a new problem – she gained weight, so new job offers did not rain on her as if from a corner of plenty. For several years, Otis collaborated with the Marina Rinaldi brand, which offered large sizes, but of course all this could not be compared to its former popularity and demand.

In 2011, Carrie was remembered by publishing an autobiographical book in which she told about everything she had to endure in modeling.

“I feel an obligation to be honest about a lot of things, partly because there are two girls growing up and I really want them to have a voice when they grow up.”said Carrie.

In 2023, at the age of 54, Otis got her first big modeling contract in a long time – she starred in an advertisement for a cosmetics brand.

However, Carrie is clearly not thinking about restarting her career. The life of a wife and mother is now more important and interesting for her. In addition, Otis founded the Bare Mama Project, which works with modeling agencies to ensure that young models get the help and protection they need in the industry. Having gone through her own difficult path, Carrie clearly does not want to be repeated.

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