Debbie Moore

Debbie Moore was born and raised in Urmston, near Manchester, the daughter of Hazel, a clerk, and Ron Moore, a plumber. She has one brother.

Aged 14 she suffered from whooping cough, which kept her out of school for several months, and after her recovery she joined a local commercial college. She returned to commercial college to complete her studies. In the opening line of her book, When a Woman Means Business, she wrote, "I have lost count of the number of times I've been asked how someone like me who left school at fifteen without an O' level to my name, and no business background, could start up and develop a successful business".

At age 15 she won a competition in Honey magazine's search for a model. The competition entry was made on her behalf by her college friends. The first prize was a modelling course at the Sheelah Wilson Model Agency, a cover shoot with Honey, and a visit to the USA which was organised by the magazine. She also did early shoots with British Vogue. The award was presented by Jane Reed of Honey, who later became Managing Editor of Today in the UK.

After the end of her first marriage in 1968, she moved to London to work with agencies Laraine Ashton, and JCJ for TV commercials. Notable campaigns included Revlon, and a billboard in Times Square in New York plus Silvikrin shampoo, Rolo, Timex, and The Guardian. She was a favourite model of the photographer John Swannell, who featured her in a series of images with the American model Lindy Christensen, photographed in 1978.

She married the photographer David Grant in March 1966 but they divorced two years later in March 1968. The couple were a fixture on the northern social scene, and they were the focus of a Granada TV documentary, Model Couple, which documented their creative life and included footage of Debbie and David at their respective work.

Moore married accountant Norris Masters (d. 1988) in June 1976, and they had a daughter, Lara, who suffered two spinal haemorrhages during her teenage years, leaving her paralysed. Lara is a champion for disabled rights in the UK and a writer for Marie Claire and Disability now magazine.