Barbara Mullen, who vaulted from a job in a New York beauty parlor to the pinnacle of the genteel modeling world of the 1950s, despite a beanpole figure and a gaptoothed smile that defied the narrow beauty standards of the day, died on Sept. 12 at her home in Albuquerque. She was 96.
Her death was confirmed by a friend, Lori Katz.
Ms. Mullen was 5 feet 9 inches tall and had a 20-inch waist — a figure that would have fit better with the waif look of the 1990s. Emerging in the postwar 1940s, she was a far cry from the ideal set by voluptuous Hollywood stars like Rita Hayworth.
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