COVER STORY : A Portfolio of Model Actresses

Cindy Crawford may be the latest supermodel to parlay her success into a film career, but in fact Hollywood has cast cover girls in movies since the 1930s. Here’s a look at supermodels-turned-actresses of the past and present:

JINX FALKENBURG: Born in Barcelona in 1919, the vivacious Falkenburg was raised in Chile. A top model and a cover girl in the U.S., she began her film career as Jinx Falken, playing the leading lady in the 1939 Republic serial “The Lone Ranger Rides Again.” In 1941, she became Jinx Falkenburg and appeared in several feature comedies and musicals, including 1944’s “Cover Girl.” She is now 76 and out of the spotlight.

LAUREN BACALL: The former Betty Joan Perske turned to modeling after attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and appearing in small parts on Broadway. Lanky, slim, with a come-hither look, Bacall, below, was soon gracing the covers of major magazines, including one that caught the attention of director Howard Hawks’ wife. A month later, Bacall had a contract at Warner Bros. and made her film debut in 1944 opposite Humphrey Bogart in “To Have and Have Not.” Dubbed “The Look” by studio publicists, she married Bogart in 1945. Bacall, now 70, has continued working in films and on Broadway.

SUZY PARKER: The statuesque redhead was one of the top fashion models of the ‘50s. Despite starring roles in several high-profile movies, her feature film career never really took flight. Parker played Cary Grant’s love interest in 1957’s “Kiss Them For Me.” After marrying Bradford Dillman in 1963, she disappeared from the scene, opting to play the role of full-time wife and mother.

CAPUCINE: The slim, haute-couture Parisian model arrived in Hollywood in the late ‘50s and made a splash in 1960 with two high-profile films: “Song Without End,” with Dirk Bogarde, and “North to Alaska,” opposite John Wayne. Capucine retired in the early ‘80s and lived reclusively in Lausanne, Switzerland. After suffering from severe depression for several years, Capucine jumped from the window of her penthouse apartment in 1990. She was 57.

LAUREN HUTTON: The gap-toothed model started as a waitress in New Orleans, then moved to New York where she toiled as a Playboy Bunny. During the mid-’60s, she became one of the top fashion and cover girl models. Hutton, at right with Burt Reynolds in 1976’s “Gator,” made an inauspicious film debut in the 1968 comedy “Paper Lion,” but saw better roles in such films as 1974’s “The Gambler” and 1978’s “A Wedding.” Still in demand as a model, Hutton, 51, also is a recurring regular on the new CBS nighttime soap “Central Park West” and is host of a new fall syndicated talk show, “Lauren Hutton and . . . .”

ALI MACGRAW: The Wellesley College graduate worked as an editorial assistant at Harper’s Bazaar and fashion stylist before becoming a top model. When Hollywood took notice, she won acclaim for her first starring role, in 1969’s “Goodbye, Columbus.” She received an Oscar nomination for the enormously popular 1970 tear-jerker “Love Story” (above, with Ryan O’Neal). She starred opposite Steve McQueen, whom she later married, in 1972’s “The Getaway,” and was featured in the 1983 ABC miniseries “The Winds of War.” Now 57, she appears on a cosmetics infomercial.

TWIGGY: Willowy and wafer-thin with close-cropped hair, the former Leslie Hornby took the modeling world by storm in 1967. She also demonstrated a knack for singing, dancing and comedy in her first film, 1971’s “The Boyfriend,” and received a Tony nomination in 1983 for the Broadway hit musical “My One and Only.” Now 45 and married to actor Leigh Lawson (her “Madame Sousatzka” co-star), she goes by the name Twiggy Lawson.

CYBILL SHEPHERD: The blue-eyed blonde won the Memphis Miss Teenage Contest. After her face graced several magazine covers, she made an impression on director Peter Bogdanovich, who cast her in 1971’s acclaimed “The Last Picture Show.” She and Bogdanovich became an off-screen item, but their next two collaborations, 1974’s “Daisy Miller” and 1975’s “At Long Last Love,” were box-office disappointments. She made an impressive comeback in 1985 as Maddie Hayes in the trend-setting ABC series “Moonlighting.” An Emmy nominee for her popular CBS comedy series “Cybill,” Shepherd, 45, has embarked on a cabaret singing career.

ANDIE MACDOWELL: After a successful modeling career, the Southern beauty stumbled in her first film outing, 1984’s “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes,” in which Glenn Close supplied the voice for her character. MacDowell scored high marks, though, with her performance as a sexually repressed housewife in the 1989 hit, “sex, lies, and videotape.” MacDowell, 37, has since starred in several popular films, including 1993’s “Groundhog Day” and 1994’s “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” She’ll soon be seen in “Unstrung Heroes,” directed by Diane Keaton.

RENE RUSSO: A longtime fashion model for the Eileen Ford Agency, Russo made her film debut as Tom Berenger’s girlfriend in the 1989 comedy “Major League.” Over the past few years, Russo, 41, has more than held her own in such action hits as 1992’s “Lethal Weapon 3,” 1993’s “In the Line of Fire” and 1995’s “Outbreak.” She stars in MGM’s upcoming “Get Shorty.”