Beverly Johnson

Born the first of two children to Gloria Johnson, a surgical technician, Johnson was raised in a middle-class family in Buffalo, New York. During her youth, Johnson was a champion swimmer and aspired to be a lawyer. Johnson attended Bennett High School, graduating in 1969. After high school, Johnson studied criminal justice at Northeastern University on a full academic scholarship. ==Career==

While in college, Johnson tried modeling She went on to appear on more than 500 magazine covers, including the August 1974 issue of Vogue, becoming the magazine's first African-American cover model for the US edition, after Donyale Luna's 1966 British Vogue cover. Johnson appeared on the cover of Vogue again in June 1975 for their "American Woman" issue, and by then had also become a runway model for the designer Halston. By 1977, she had appeared on the covers of about 25 magazines, including 14 for Glamour, and was the first Black woman to appear solo on the cover of Elle. and True Beauty: Secrets of Radiant Beauty for Women of Every Age and Color. Johnson's acting career consists of roles in the films Ashanti (1979), The Meteor Man (1993), ''Def Jam's How to Be a Player (1997), and Crossroads (2002). She has appeared in guest spots on 7 television series, including Martin (TV series), Law & Order, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, The Parent 'Hood and the Super Bowl episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun (1998). She served for two seasons as a celebrity judge on the TV Land series She's Got the Look'', a reality series, where women aged over 35 compete for a modeling contract and magazine spread. At the start of the series in 2008, Johnson shared that she and other models had suffered from anorexia and bulimia during her career. She had a brief singing career, releasing one album in 1979 on Buddah Records. Johnson has been a longtime hair and beauty influencer. In 1987 Johnson and her daughter participated in AIDS Awareness Campaign advertisements. In 2024, Johnson embarked on a one-woman off-Broadway show, Beverly Johnson: In Vogue. It was characterized as an "intimate, live biography with Johnson taking the stage to share her personal dispatches in the ever-shifting, but never dull, fashion and entertainment industries." ==Memoir and accusation against Bill Cosby==

In late 2014, she wrote an article for Vanity Fair in which she accused Bill Cosby of drugging her in a meeting at his Manhattan residence in the 1980s, although the incident did not result in a sexual assault. Johnson said that Cosby spiked a cup of cappuccino with an unknown drug. As she felt her "body go completely limp," she realized what was happening. Johnson said she then screamed and cursed at him several times before Cosby got angry and dragged her outside and hailed a cab for her. Johnson decided to tell her story in hopes that "by going public" she would "encourage anyone [who] has been sexually victimized to speak out." Her memoir, The Face That Changed It All, which discusses the Cosby incident, was released on August 25, 2015. Subsequently, Cosby started a defamation lawsuit against Johnson, stating that she was lying about the drugging incident and contending that Johnson's story, first told in the Vanity Fair article, had been repeated in numerous interviews. The lawsuit sought unspecified damages and an injunction to prevent Johnson from repeating her claims and to require her to remove them from her memoir. Cosby dropped the lawsuit on February 19, 2016, allegedly to devote more time to his criminal case. ==Personal life==

Johnson has been married thrice. Her first marriage was to real estate agent Billy Potter in 1971, later divorcing in 1974. On May 8, 1977, Johnson, then aged 25, married 40-year-old businessman and music producer Danny Sims. She gave birth to their daughter, Anansa Sims on December 27, 1978, in New York City. She filed a restraining order against Noth, accusing him of physical, verbal and racial abuse. On January 13, 2023, Johnson married her longtime partner, Brian Maillian, a successful financier, Chairman and CEO of Whitestone Global Partners LLC. She was inducted as an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority on July 13, 2025. ==Filmography==

Film Television ==Discography==

Albums • ''Don't Lose The Feeling'' (1979) Singles • "Don't Lose The Feeling" (1979) • "Don't Run for a Cover" (1979) ==See also==