Cordie King, a very popular Chicago-based model, in Jet – where she appeared on a regular basis – July 15, 1954. One of the original EBONY Fashion Fair models, the Mississippi-born King was once engaged to Sammy Davis, Jr. She went on to open a modeling agency and charm school called Cordie King’s Castle which produced graduates such as journalist and author Janet Langhart Cohen. She died at age 80 in 2004.