MEET THE INTERNATIONAL COVER GIRL & FORMER ROCK & ROLL WIFE WHO ALSO RAN FOR THE HILLS
In my tenure here on the mountain I’ve made friends with some very special people. Like me, many of my friends on “The Hill” found that life in the big city simply wears ya down after awhile. As I pointed out in a previous post here, many high profile people, with very interesting backgrounds, have found a haven here in these hills. Among them is my sweet friend Nancy Hunter Corbett. So today I’d like you to meet the international Cover Girl & former rock & roll wife who also ran for the hills.
Nancy found her haven here in Lake Arrowhead more than 20 years ago when she married her ER doctor, hockey-playing-husband, Steve. Steve did his residency at the bottom of the hill, at Loma Linda Medical School. Lake Arrowhead, just 30 minutes up the hill, not only offered a great escape from the pressures of saving lives for a living, it also had an ice rink where Steve could play hockey. So, Lake Arrowhead was a natural fit for the couple, and became a great place for them to raise their two sons. But before her escape to Lake Arrowhead, my friend Nancy led an amazing life. She recently spent a day with me, and very generously agreed to share with us all a bit of her intriguing life story. She also agreed to teach us how to make beautiful Christmas wreaths with greenery that we cut from my property.
But before she tells us how to make beautiful wreaths, I thought you’d be interested to hear about her life as a Covergirl and former wife of John Oates, one half of the famed Rock & Roll duo, Hall & Oates. You see, before Nancy foraged for greenery in Lake Arrowhead…
she posed in greenery for top fashion magazines.
And before Nancy climbed walls at my house to cut pine cones off of cypress trees…
Nancy was climbing the ladder of success in the fashion industry.
And before Nancy was walking her dog Macintosh on our snowy mountainside…
she was walking the fashion runways of Paris and Milan.
Now Nancy wears hats and warm jackets to work…
But there once was a day when she wore very little to work, posing for suntan lotion ads in fashion magazines.
Today, Nancy lives on a small ranch in Lake Arrowhead with her husband, youngest son, 2 horses and her dog Macintosh. She grows apples and brews her own hard apple cider. She also runs a busy catering business called Arrowhead Farms Catering…
and when she wants a break from life on the mountain, she does it on a boat she and her husband keep in Dana Point.
So, as I’ve said, hidden in these hills are some fascinating folks. Here’s what my fascinating friend Nancy had to say about her life before Lake Arrowhead……
CELIA: Nancy, how does a small-town girl from Paynesville, Minnesota end up as the wife of a Rock & Roll legend and become a fashion icon?
NANCY: Back in the late 1970’s I was a student at the University of Minnesota. I worked at a printing company and modeled part time to help pay my tuition. I was also a huge fan of Hall & Oates, who were very popular at the time. They performed a concert in the Twin Cities, where I attended college. John Oates noticed me in the crowd and we met after the concert. He lived in New York at the time, but kept coming back to Minneapolis to visit me. I loved school, but at the same time I was finding success as a model. So, at the age of 19, my best girlfriend and I left school and moved to New York City. I was quickly signed by FORD Modeling agency and began a decade-long modeling career that took me to photo shoots all over the world. I also began a decade-long relationship with John Oates.
CELIA: Five years after your move to New York City you married John Oates. Tell me about your life as the wife of a rock legend.
NANCY: John and I lived in Greenwich Village, where we bought an apartment I adored. Looking back, I wish I still had that funky flat. And, between my busy modeling career and John’s non-stop concert gigs, we lived an exciting and amazing life. I was in love, I was seeing the world, and I was meeting extraordinary people. Life was good.
CELIA: You were living every young girl’s dream. Tell me about your career as a fashion model.
NANCY: As a FORD model, I did a lot of high-profile work for high-profile designers such as Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Mary McFadden and Michael Kors, who was just entering the fashion scene at the time. I worked with some of the most famous supermodels of the 80’s, such as Iman, Kim Alexis and Esmé. Although I did runway work in New York, Paris and Milan, my career was mostly in print; editorial, catalog and advertising. I worked a lot for Vogue and Elle magazines, whose location shoots took me to Switzerland in the summer for winter coat shoots, and places like Kenya and Jordan in the winter for swimsuit shoots. When I wasn’t modeling, I traveled the world with John, seeing Europe, Africa, Asia and all of the United States. It was a dream existence for a long while. On the arm of John Oates, the seas would part as we flew the Concord and private jets to exotic locals.
CELIA: You say you’ve always been a country girl at heart. So, when you weren’t traveling the world, how did you slow down?
NANCY: John and I both preferred life in the countryside. So, we bought a Connecticut farm house that was built in 1875. It had an old tobacco barn that was converted into a great-room with an indoor pool and a 40-foot Kentucky Bluestone fireplace. It was our escape. At the time, my best friend was Daryl Hall’s wife Sara, namesake of their hit song Sara Smiles. Daryl and Sara bought a home nearby, and our two rock-star husbands began to make music in a studio they built nearby. It was a great time in my life, and although my marriage to John ended in divorce, I wouldn’t change a thing about my life.
CELIA: So, what eventually happened to end your relationship with John?
NANCY: You can only carry on this existence for so long without it simply wearing you down. And it wasn’t always easy living in the shadows of John Oates. I decided I wanted to switch gears a bit, so I started to study acting with a wonderful acting coach in New York City. This lead me to Hollywood, where I embarked on a busy new career as an actress. I did a couple of movies, but found my niche in commercials. At the time, my relationship with John was becoming complicated, so we separated and I moved to Los Angeles, where I shared a house with a girlfriend. That girlfriend introduced me to her brother Steve, who at the time was in medical school. We fell in love, got married, and moved into Steve’s Lake Arrowhead home. I had made enough money by then and, frankly, I was very tired of wearing makeup, so I ended my career to embark on a whole new life in the slow lane. And, I have never looked back.
I am very grateful to Nancy for sharing her story with us. Stay tuned for my next post where Nancy will give us a DIY Tutorial on Christmas Wreath Making. If you’re not inclined to make your own, Nancy sells her beautiful wreaths. She is also a brilliant chef and is available to cater your Christmas Party or other events.
Nancy also makes Hard Cider from apples grown on her ranch. Read all about it by clicking here.
So there you have it: MEET THE INTERNATIONAL COVER GIRL & FORMER ROCK & ROLL WIFE WHO ALSO RAN FOR THE HILLS
Want to know more about Nancy? Read these blog posts:
- LEARN TO MAKE YOUR OWN HOLIDAY WREATH – DIY TUTORIAL WITH COVERGIRL NANCY HUNTER CORBETT
- THE MAKING OF HARD APPLE CIDER
All opinions expressed in this post are my own. With the exception of Nancy’s modeling photos, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission.
Photo Credits
Nancy in the grass – David McCabe Photographer, Glamour Magazine
Cover of ELLE – Jean-Francois Jonvelle, Photographer
Cover of Vogue – Fabrizio Ferri, Photographer
Suntan Lotion Ad – Sarah Moon, Photographer
