Jolie Jones (57)
It's a fact that models routinely begin their careers as teenagers. But 12? Before model-cum-actress Brooke Shields hit it big as a tween in the 1980s with her controversial Calvin Klein ads, there was Jolie Jones. Her gorgeous face became sought after by dozens of magazines and fashion houses — all at the tender age of 12. Discovered at a party in New York that she attended with her music mogul father Quincy Jones, the young girl quickly leaped at the chance to model.
Jones says she hit her peak in the late '60s. “When I was 14, it started to really pick up. By 15, I was working all the time.” One of her favourite jobs was a photography shoot called Anatomy of a Model, shot with big cats, including a male lion. “It was a long job, a day or two. But it was so exciting because all [the models'] menstrual cycles had to be co-ordinated because you can't work with wild cats a week before or a week after your period. There's one week a month that you can work with them,” she explains. “And I got to work with a tiger, a cheetah and a lion.”
Now 57 and the mother of two grown sons, Jones describes the aging process as interesting. “I'm really into that aging thing and trying to be graceful about it.” For her, that means consistently exercising and eating right, avoiding things like alcohol, sugar and white flour. Still, she admits, “When you're used to feeling like you look perfect all the time without any work, then it's an adjustment when you get older.”
Another adjustment came in the form of her sensitivity to EMF (electromagnetic frequencies) and RF (radio frequencies) — meaning she has trouble being around cellphones and electronic devices. The crew was asked to shut down their mobiles while she was onset so she could concentrate.
“I am extremely sensitive to radio frequencies from cellphones and wireless networks,” she explains, citing high levels of heavy metals in her system caused by eating too much tuna. She says in its early stages, the condition made her feel in a heavy fog. “Like a heavy, thick cloud entered my brain from the temples and being totally disoriented,” she explains. “It was painful in fact. My joints would tingle and ache. Also, at times, I would get palpitations in my chest and I was very drained.” She points out that even when phones are on silent or vibrate, they are still emitting RF waves; in areas with poor reception, the devices blast RF waves, trying even harder to find a signal. She is in the process of writing a book on her condition and says, “Most brain surgeons when pressed will admit that the rise of tumours in young people is a direct result of phones up against the ear.” She is convinced that these frequencies with which we are bombarded will be discovered to be as dangerous to our health as asbestos and cigarette smoke was years ago.
To combat her condition and to allow her spiritual side to flourish, Jones lives in Vermont alongside her dogs and horses. Jones also uses medical grade essential oils and is in the process of developing a skincare line called Joie de Jolie. This simpler lifestyle makes her trips to Los Angeles a bit jarring. “I came here from eight months in Vermont, being with my horses every day. We're supposed to be living around trees and nature,” she says. “That universal life force is what makes us happy and clear and calm and healthy and adjusted.” Shirt, Lafayette 148, $225
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