Walter Clarence Thornton | |
|---|---|
 A 1926 portrait of Walter Thornton, by noted celebrity photographer, Irving Chidnoff | |
| Born | April 3, 1903 Pike County, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | May 14, 1990 (aged 87) Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Riverside National Cemetery |
| Occupation | Modeling Agent |
| Years active | 1926–1970 |
| Spouses | Judy Dolan
(m. 1934; div. 1955)Candelaria Navarro (m. 1960) |
| Children | 7 |
Walter Clarence Thornton (April 3, 1903 – May 14, 1990) was an American model and modeling agent who founded the Walter Thornton Model Agency in 1930 and went on to worldwide fame with his World War II-era "Walter Thornton Pin-Up Girls." Thornton rose to success from being an unsheltered orphan and a bricklayer.[1] Thornton was twice a judge of the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, NJ (1933[2] and 1935[3]). His company represented both male and female models, as well as a separate agency for child models. Many of his models achieved Hollywood fame and success. He retired from the agency in 1958 and spent the rest of his life in Ajijic, Mexico.[4]
- ^ Dale Carnegie, From Editorial Page, The Pittsburgh Press, December 26, 1940
- ^ "Miss America 1933 Judges". missamerica1933.com. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
- ^ Miss Amerika (1935), retrieved 2021-11-22
- ^ "Walter Thornton, Agent for Models, Dies of Stroke at 88", The New York Times, May 16, 1990