Dayle Haddon: Model, actress dies in suspected carbon monoxide leak in Pennsylvania home

Dayle Haddon, a trailblazing model and actress, passed away at 76 from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. Known for her anti-aging campaigns and activism, Haddon left a lasting legacy in the beauty industry.

In Short

• Dayle Haddon, former model, died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
• She was found dead in her home in Pennsylvania.
• Haddon was known for her work with Vogue, Elle, and films.

NEW HOPE: Dayle Haddon, an actor, activist and trailblazing former “Sports Illustrated” model who pushed back against age discrimination by reentering the industry as a widow, has died in a Pennsylvania home from what authorities believe was carbon monoxide poisoning.

Authorities in Bucks County found Haddon, 76, dead in a second-floor bedroom Friday morning after emergency dispatchers were notified about a person unconscious at the Solebury Township home. A 76-year-old man police later identified as Walter J. Blucas of Erie was hospitalized in critical condition.

Responders detected a high level of carbon monoxide in the property and township police said Saturday that investigators determined that “a faulty flue and exhaust pipe on a gas heating system caused the carbon monoxide leak.” Two medics were taken to a hospital for carbon monoxide exposure and a police officer was treated at the scene.

As a model, Haddon appeared on the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle and Esquire in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the 1973 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She also appeared in about two dozen films from the 1970s to 1990s, according to IMDb.com, including 1994’s “Bullets Over Broadway,” starring John Cusack.

Haddon left modeling after giving birth to her daughter, Ryan, in the mid-1970s, but then had to reenter the workforce after her husband’s 1991 death. This time she found the modeling industry far less friendly: “They said to me, ‘At 38, you’re not viable,’” Haddon told The New York Times in 2003.

Working a menial job at an advertising agency, Haddon began reaching out to cosmetic companies, telling them there was a growing market to sell beauty products to aging baby boomers. She eventually landed a contract with Clairol, followed by Estée Lauder and then L’Oreal, for which she promoted the company’s anti-aging products for more than a decade. She also hosted beauty segments for CBS’s “The Early Show.”