Twilight of a Star

By R.J. Revavtis

The story of LuLu Fontaine.

she was a girl who escaped from a small town in the hills of rural Pennsylvania, and found her way to the bright lights of the big city.

she was a girl who parlayed a look and an attitude into a career that thrust her to the top of the often cut-throat world of modeling. It was her image that graced innumberable magazine covers and captured her one of the industry's first million dollar modeling contracts.

she was a girl who lived her life in the fast lane, moving from the runways of Milan to the grand mansions of the Hamptons to the night clubs of New York.

she was a girl who proved herself to be every man's fantasy and every woman's envy.

she was a girl who's star was extinguished way too early, when she faced her violent end at the hands of a vicious killer.

Until now what happened that night has remained shrouded in mystery. For more than twenty years the secrets have been compounded by the lies, and the truth has been carefully hidden.

But the truth always comes out in the end.

Doesn't it?

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 19, 2001
• ISBN: 9781469706696

R.J. Revavtis

R.J. Revaitis lives in New Jersey with his wife and two dogs. He is the author of several screenplays and is currently working on his next project.

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All Rights Reserved © 2001 by R.J. Revaitis

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ISBN: 0-595-16981-3

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

-MATT CARLSON-

-ELAINE WARD-

-JOSH STYLES-

-FELICIA SMITH-

-MATT CARLSON-

-MICHAEL LAZARUS-

-JOSH STYLES-

-FELICIA SMITH-

-ELAINE WARD-

-FELICIA SMITH-

-JULIAN PASTERNAK-

-ELAINE WARD-

-JOSH STYLES-

-MATT CARLSON-

-ELAINE WARD-

-JOSH STYLES-

-MATT CARLSON-

-FELICIA SMITH-

-MATT CARLSON-

-FELICIA SMITH-

-JOSH STYLES-

-FELICIA SMITH-

-MATT CARLSON-

-GRACE ROSS-

-MATT CARLSON-

To my wife, Ann.. .for always believing.

INTRODUCTION

LuLu Fontaine was far from being your typical high fashion model. She wasn’t supposed to be one of those beauties that explode upon the scene only to burn themselves out after a few years. LuLu should have gone the distance. She was a super model. Known simply by her stunning looks and her one word name, she was a forerunner to the likes of Cindy, Tyra, and Naomi. All of those familiar faces that you see gracing our magazine covers today.

It was 1978 and hers was the face that epitomized the times. Set against a backdrop of hedonism and decadence that made Manhattan a modern day Gomorrah the story of LuLu seemed to be more of fiction than of fact. From her very first ad campaign she had burst upon the scene with an awesome ferocity. Hurricane LuLu. That’s what she should have been called, because she was a force of nature. As wild as she was unpredictable, she blew in from out of no where, taking everyone by complete surprise. Some would claim that she was like a devastating storm that had leveled a quick path of havoc and destruction across their lives. Even today there were people who claimed to still feel the harmful effects leftover from hurricane LuLu.

But for everyone that hated her, there were those that truly adored LuLu. Apart from the millions of fans that worshipped her image she was

an icon to fashion photographers, rock stars, and the idle rich. They considered her to be one of their own, and included her in all of their nightly games. From the runways of high fashion to the dark, surreal world of Studio 54, LuLu’s face and name defined the period that was the late 1970’s.

But like most hurricanes she wasn’t to be on the scene for too long. After wreaking chaos on a number of lives she was to dissipate back into the nothingness from which she had come. Labor Day weekend 1978: it was in the early morning hours that a police patrol had found her body in Central Park. LuLu had been viciously stabbed in the chest and stomach a reported twenty-two times, and then tossed into a drainage ditch like a piece of ordinary household trash.

At first it had been believed that the motive for the crime was robbery. But that theory was quickly scrubbed, since her purse was found close to the scene with a fairly large amount of cash still inside. Ideas then shifted to rape, but those too were cast aside since there weren’t any signs of sexual assault. In the end the brutal crime was left unsolved, and LuLu’s killer was never caught. Even to this day, more than twenty years later, the heinous act has become a piece of modern day lore, with people guessing at the murderer’s identity and motive like it was a real life game of CLUE.

In death the memory of LuLu had become permanently etched amongst the glamour and glitter of the late 1970’s.

-MATT CARLSON-

I have to admit that I was ecstatic when my editor first assigned this plum of story to me. I was more than eager to begin my task of searching out the truth surrounding her death. When I first heard the news during our Monday morning staff meeting I could barely hide the smile on my face. I couldn’t believe that I was actually being paid to write an article on LuLu.

When I was a teenager, I was no different than any other boy mesmerized by the provocative ads that she was known for. At one point I had even kept them hidden in the back of my closet along with my few copies of PLAYBOY and HUSTLER. And late at night, when I knew my parents were fast asleep I would take them out for some nocturnal reading.

So that was why getting this story came as the closest thing to fulfilling an adolescent fantasy for me.

I felt that it was best to start this story at the end. So I sat myself before a microfiche machine searching the slowly moving images for her obituary. In no time I hit potluck.

FASHION MODEL SLAIN IN PARK

The body of LuLu Fontaine was found early yesterday morning in a Central Park drainage ditch. Authorities

have not yet indicated if robbery was the motive behind the murder.

It was only two years ago that LuLu had burst upon the fashion scene with a provocative ad for Conshenti Furriers. Since that time her face has been associated with a series of equally sexually charged advertisements.

Earlier this year, in an unprecedented move, she was signed to a two million dollar contract to exclusively represent Ross Industries’ Metropolitan Cosmetic Line.

In a statement issued by her friend and agent, Elaine Ward of Elaine Ward Models, this death is a tragedy to the fashion world and that she will be greatly missed.

Funeral arrangements for Ms. Fontaine are still pending.

What a shame.

What a crying shame that not only could such a young life be snuffed out in such a tragic way, but that the only person that could be reached for comment was her agent. It made her life seem so cold. It was almost as if she had never truly lived, but merely existed.

I continued on with my search, reviewing twenty-year old reels of microfiche for clues that would aid me in my task. Occasionally I would find an odd tid bit in a gossip column mentioning her name. LuLu seen in London with rock star Tommy Blue. There was something else about LuLu causing a disturbance at The Four Seasons with a bloody Mary. Yet there was another item indicating that LuLu and her husband were seen leaving a restaurant in a drunken stupor. I continued to find a few more blurbs that all provided similar pieces of information to the supermodel’s life.

Buried deep in the financial section I had managed to uncover a story related to LuLu’s contract with Metropolitan Cosmetics.

In an unprecedented move, cosmetics mogul Adam Ross signed supermodel LuLu to represent a line of cosmetics for his company.

LuLu, whose face is internationally well known, will be paid an astronomical two million dollars for the two year contract.

I had to admit that I was very disappointed by what my initial search had turned up. When researching a magazine article two small newspaper clippings and several pieces of idle gossip certainly didn’t add up to much. But atleast it did provide me with a few names to follow up on, as well as a direction to pursue.

-ELAINE WARD-

I didn’t have too much difficulty in tracking down Elaine Ward, since she was still conducting business from behind the desk of her palatial Manhattan office. I found her to be an extremely elegant, attractive woman, who at pushing sixty years of age, was still considered a giant in the modeling industry.

Before our meeting I had taken the liberty of doing some checking into her background and had managed to discover that she had gotten her start in the business as a runner. You know, run for coffee, run for the phone, run for whatever was necessary. From there she became a booker and then eventually moved on to become an agent. But by 1975 she had enough clout and connections in the industry to strike out on her own, and opened the doors to her own fledgling agency.

However, it wasn’t until after she had added LuLu’s name to her roster that she had become one of the most sought after and reputable modeling agents in the world. Still today the Elaine Ward Agency was busy providing the beautiful faces and bodies that the worlds of fashion and advertising demanded.

When I discovered the ungrateful bitch, she was roller skating in Washington Square Park. She said as she related to me the story of when she had first met LuLu. It was the summer of ‘77 and New York was caught in the middle of a heat wave. It was the hottest summer on record in the last eleven years, and for nine days straight the temperature broke 100 degrees, going as high as an insufferable 104. But despite the unbearable heat and the stifling humidity they proceeded with their photo shoot in Washington Square Park. The photographer was pitching a fit because the sweltering weather was the cause of countless problems. At one point he had been engaged in a screaming match with the make up artist, demanding that she perform some kind of miracle as the group of models dripped in perspiration.

With her temper and patience both running short she stepped away from the situation at hand. It was in those few minutes of isolation that Elaine first caught sight of LuLu skating a short distance away in a pair of cut-off shorts and a tight tube top. Instantly she recognized the potential that the young girl possessed and approached her with business card in hand.

Little did Elaine realize that she was actually about to discover one of the hottest faces of the decade. She went right to work and created magic. With Elaine’s guidance, a new haircut and changing the date on her birth certificate (she was a month or two shy of her eighteenth birthday), LuLu was ready for her very first modeling session.

The client was Conshenti Furriers, and it was at a time that it was still considered very fashionable to be seen wearing fur out in public. The ad concept was fairly simple, and was to show the three models wearing nothing beneath their full-length furs except silk lingerie and high heels. Even though it was planned that the entire idea was supposed to come off as very sensual, it had the opposite effect. The company representative fiercely complained that he had seen this idea so many times before in the past and demanded that he get something more intense.

Elaine remembered the man