Babette March or simply Babette, who is now known by the name Babette Beatty, was the first Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated. It features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. In addition, the issue is a media nexus that in 2005 carried in advertising....

 cover model

Cover Model

"Cover Model" is a pop song by Sabrina. It was released in 1992 as Sabrina's second non-album single. The song was produced by DJ Mori. Unlike Sabrina's previous singles "Yeah Yeah" and the Jo Squillo-collaboration "Siamo Donne", both of which had been performed on TV numerous times, "Cover Model"...

. She was on the swimsuit issue cover of the January 20, 1964 issue.

Prior to modelling, she worked as a hairdresser

Hairdresser

Hairdresser is a term referring to anyone whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques...

 in Toronto. She met her husband Don Russell, a fashion photographer, in Kitchener, Ontario

Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

 he convinced her to try modeling. She started modelling in early 1962, beginning with a shoot for Weekend Magazine. By 1963 she was working for leading fashion magazines. She moved to a Park Avenue

Park Avenue (Manhattan)

Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....

 New York City apartment and eventually, they both settled in New York City.

According to a Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

retrospective and other corroborating sources, in her prime, she was the "highest-paid model of her day" while working for Ford Models

Ford Models

The Ford Modeling Agency, or as it is known today Ford Models, is a modeling agency in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen and the late Gerard W. Ford.-Company:...

. In the mid-1960s, she was earning 85,000 a year. Eileen Ford

Eileen Ford

Eileen Ford is a model agency executive and co-founder, in 1946, with her late husband Gerard William "Jerry" Ford, of Ford Models, one of the earliest and internationally best known modelling agencies in the world.-Early life:...

 describes March as the first elite photographic model that she recalls with gapped teeth. She was known for living the high life and for partying with the likes of Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger

Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....

 and Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol

Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...

.

In 1976, she retired from modelling, then moved to a 54 acre (0.21853044 km²) farm outside Montreal where she raised pedigreed cattle, 40 sheep, 80 chickens and ducks, three horses, 14 dogs and 18 cats. She then married Dale Beatty, an architect, and settled in , where she and her husband opened a bakery, restaurant, and art gallery. She has become a highly regarded chef, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Public Broadcasting is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of Oregon as well as southern Washington. With its headquarters and television studios in Portland, OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over...

. Her renovation, restoration and rejuvenation of the landmark bed & breakfast, art centre, bakery and restaurant was featured on a 30 minute Home & Garden Television channel show. Her art work has been featured on the label of a line of wines.

According to Sports Illustrated, she was born in Berlin and raised in Brazil, Germany and Canada. According to her own web site, she was born in Berlin in 1941, moved to Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 1949, traveled from 1959 to 1961, lived in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 from 1961 to 1979, lived in Montreal 1979 to 1986, resided in and Naples, Italy from 1986 to 1992 after which she moved to Halfway.