Renauld White, an occasional actor who became only the second Black model to appear on the cover of GQ magazine in 1979, died on June 26. He was 80 years old. His friend and fashion designer Jeffrey Banks tells Women’s Wear Daily that White was in hospice care at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital at the time of his death. His cause of death was not immediately known. “It is with tremendous sadness that I report that my dearest friend and work colleague, Renauld White, left us yesterday,” Banks wrote on Instagram on June 27. “Modeling for me from the very start of my career, RENAULD was always the perfect gentleman and a great ambassador for my brand. When first introduced to my Mother she claimed instantly that he was my ‘older brother.’ I only wished that was so.”
Starting modeling in the 1960s, White was known for championing more diversity in fashion. He walked the runway for Bill Blass in 1969 and went on to appear in shows by Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Donna Karan. He also worked for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Versace, Armani, and Cerutti. White came out of retirement in 2023 to model for a Dolce & Gabana campaign, shot by Steven Meisel. The model recalled in a 2011 interview (via WWD) calling on Wilhelmina agents to hire more people of color, saying, “I wanted to bring about change. I really confronted the establishment about why there were not more Black male images. At first, I thought I was going to get thrown in jail and beaten up because of my approach. But then they realized that they were wrong and that they were behind society and behind the times, and that they had to listen to me.”
Though known primarily for his modeling, White also dabbled in acting, transitioning his good looks to daytime TV with a brief stint in 1986-87 on The Guiding Light as William Reynolds. White also appeared in the 2014 TV movie Gun Hill and the 2017 movie Central Park.
