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Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is an American actress, model, author and speaker. Jennifer O'Neill was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the grand-daughter of a Brazilian bank president, and the daughter of a famous Spanish-Irish medical and dental supply import/export businessman, Oscar D' O'Neill and his English wife, Irene Freda, a homemaker. O'Neill and her older brother Michael were raised in New Rochelle, New York and Wilton, Connecticut. When she was 14, the family moved to New York City. On Easter Sunday, 1962, O'Neill attempted suicide because the move would separate her... MORE

Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is an American actress, model, author and speaker. Jennifer O'Neill was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the grand-daughter of a Brazilian bank president, and the daughter of a famous Spanish-Irish medical and dental supply import/export businessman, Oscar D' O'Neill and his English wife, Irene Freda, a homemaker. O'Neill and her older brother Michael were raised in New Rochelle, New York and Wilton, Connecticut. When she was 14, the family moved to New York City. On Easter Sunday, 1962, O'Neill attempted suicide because the move would separate her from her dog Mandy and horse Monty -- "her whole world". That same year, she was discovered by the Ford modeling agency and put under contract. By age 15, she was gracing the cover of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen and other magazines, earning $80,000 a year in 1962 working as a fashion model in New York City and also working in Paris, France and dating older men. She hit the top of her field within a year or two with other magazine covers and commercial advertising. An excellent rider, O'Neill won upwards of 200 ribbons at horse show competitions in her teens. She saved up her modeling fees and LESS