Former Page 3 girl Suzanne Mizzi dies at 43

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 12:59 PM on 25th May 2011

Former Page 3 girl Suzanne Mizzi has died following a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 43.

The mother-of-two passed away at St Joseph's Hospice in Hackney, East London, on Sunday following a year-long fight against the disease.

The Maltese-born blonde was one of the biggest names in glamour modelling in the Eighties and went on to become a catwalk model and the face of Vivienne Westwood.

Pin-up: Suzanne Mizzi, pictured during a glamour modelling shoot in the Eighties, has died aged 43

Her husband and childhood sweetheart Frank Camilleri told The Sun: 'Suzanne was a beautiful person inside and out.

'She was a Page 3 girl, model, celebrity, artist and interior designer. She had an amazing life. We were together for 30 years.'

Her close friend and fellow Page 3 girl Samantha Fox added: 'We became great friends and stayed that way until the end. She was so bubbly and never took her lifestyle for granted.

'She was a natural beauty and my favourite Page 3 girl. But she also had a big heart and was always there for me as a friend when I needed her through the years.'

Childhood sweetheart: Mizzi with her husband Frank Camilleri, who she was with for over 30 years

Childhood sweetheart: Mizzi with her husband Frank Camilleri, who she was with for more than 30 years

Mizzi and and Camilleri had two children together, son Geo, seven, and daughter Sienna, six.

She leapt to fame in 1984 when she made her glamour modelling debut at the age of 17.

At 5ft 4 tall, she won a legion of male fans with her 34-24-34 figure.

Within six months, her popularity rapidly grew and she posed for 26 calendars.

At the age of 21 she signed a £400,000 contract to front her own lingerie range for high street chain Dorothy Perkins.

Working mum: Mizzi at a memorial service for Alexander McQueen at St Paul's Cathedral last September

Working mother: Mizzi at a memorial service for Alexander McQueen at St Paul's Cathedral last September

Mizzi managed to succeed where many Page 3 girls do not and made the crossover into catwalk modelling, quitting topless shoots in 1988.

In the early Nineties, she became the face of Vivienne Westwood and signed for top model agency Storm.

At the height of her fame, an insurance company insured her body for £11million.

After turning her back on modelling, Mizzi attempted a singing career with the group Wildflowers.

Unfortunately her singing career didn't take off - which she blamed on the record company - so she turned to one of her first loves - art.

Moving over: Mizzi managed the switch from glamour to fashion modelling, becoming the face of Vivienne Westwood in the early Nineties

Becoming an artist and interior designer, she sold abstract paintings for up to £10,000.

Reflecting on her Page 3 past in a 2000 interview she said: 'When I think of my Page 3 days it is like seeing another person's life.

'Topless modelling didn't bother me. I thrived on the attention. I'd jet off all over the world and stay in top hotels. I was treated like a movie star.

'Ten years ago, I gave up modelling to be a singer and songwriter. For five years, my savings kept me going. But then the money ran out. Suddenly I was on the dole claiming £77 a week.'