Billie Blair

His plan was to name his child William Junior; however, when Blair was born a girl, she was given the shortened version of that name, "Billie".

They eventually moved to Flint, Michigan during the height of the auto industry there.

She credits her fame in the 1970s to Marji Kunz, then fashion editor of the Detroit Free Press.

With Kunz's guidance, she flew to New York in 1973, a trip that was planned to last only three days, but instead turned into 20 years after Blair signed with the Ellen Harth agency and Eileen Ford of the Ford Models agency[1] When landing in New York, Blair had shaved her head completely bald for a jewelry modeling job where she had to resemble an Egyptian.

During her heyday, Blair earned $400 a day and received offers from magazines like Ebony and Mademoiselle.