Isabelle Caro Rosenbohm (12 September 1982 – 18 November 2010) was a French

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

and

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

from

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, who became well known after appearing in a controversial advertising campaign "No Anorexia" which showed Caro with vertebrae and facial bones showing under her skin in a picture by photographer

Oliviero Toscani Oliviero Toscani (28 February 1942 – 13 January 2025) was an Italian photographer, best-known worldwide for designing controversial advertising campaigns for Italian brand Benetton from 1982 to 2000. Early life and career Toscani was born ...

Biography

Caro had severe

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

from the age of 13. Her anorexia was caused by what she called a "troubled childhood".

I had a very complicated childhood, very difficult, very painful. My mother's big phobia was that I would grow. She spent her time measuring my height. She wouldn't let me go outside because she'd heard that fresh air makes children grow, and that's why I was kept at home. It was completely traumatic.

When she appeared on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

's '' The Insider'', it was revealed that at the worst of her

eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...

, she weighed only at a height of ; while at the time of filming her weight was . She appeared on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's '' Supersize vs Superskinny'' which aired on 11 March 2008 in the UK, in which she spoke to journalist

Anna Richardson Anna Clare Richardson (born 27 September 1970) is an English television presenter, writer and journalist. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including '' Supersize vs Superskinny'' (2008–2009), '' The Sex Education Show ...

about her anorexia. Caro was hospitalized for the first time when she was 20. In 2006, she slipped into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

, having hit her lowest-recorded weight, . Caro was interviewed in the second episode of the TV documentary series, '' The Price of Beauty'', in which

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Johnson (née Simpson; born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' ...

and her two best friends, Ken Pavés and CaCee Cobb, traveled the world to explore the meaning of true beauty. Simpson investigated the problem of how some female fashion models have become obsessed with being skinny. Caro talked about how she became anorexic and warned other girls about anorexia. Simpson was moved to say "What you are doing right now makes you more beautiful and I hope women all over the world hear about the story and it is important to know that how skinny you are does not make you beautiful." It aired on 22 March 2010 in the US and on 21 August in Japan. Caro also appeared on

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney Enter ...

's ''

Taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

'': Beauty. The show was filmed two months prior to her death.

Death

Caro died on 18 November 2010 in

, after spending about two weeks in hospital with acute

respiratory disease Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, ...

. The cause of her death is unknown, although it was probably as a result of immunodeficiency due to anorexia. Caro's acting instructor, Daniele Dubreuil-Prevot, told the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

news agency that Caro had died "after returning to France" from a job in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, and that "she had been sick for a very long time" (in reference to her anorexia). Her family only reported Caro's death to the media a month afterward, on 29 December 2010. Caro died in Paris and is buried in the

Cimetière du Montparnasse Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,000 graves, and approximately 1 ...

. On 18 January 2011, it was reported that Caro's mother, Marie, had committed suicide during the previous week.

References

External links

Her personal blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caro, Isabelle 1982 births 2010 deaths French television actresses French female models People from Yvelines Actresses from Île-de-France Neurological disease deaths in France Deaths from anorexia nervosa Cours Florent alumni

Biography

Death

See also

References

External links