Dayle Haddon recalled the “connection” she made with other women throughout her life in her final PEOPLE interview.
The model and actress chatted with PEOPLE exclusively at the opening of an Ann Taylor store in New York City on Dec. 3, weeks before she died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at age 76 on Friday, Dec. 27. (Haddon modeled for Ann Taylor and had a long association with the brand.)
Looking back at her life and career — which included being featured on the covers of Vogue, Elle and Cosmopolitan; signing contracts with four major cosmetic companies; authoring multiple books and securing various acting roles — Haddon said, “It took me a very long time to be successful.”
“But you find your own niche if you believe in yourself and you communicate,” she continued. “I’ve always communicated that I was more than what I look like, that I had something else to say.”
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According to Haddon, she thinks that sentiment “seemed to connect to other women, because they wrote me a lot and said, ‘I think you understand me.’ ”
“I think what makes a great model is that she will inhabit herself. So, through whatever physically is photogenic, she will [also] project an authentic feeling and emotion and draw women in,” she continued.
Making a “connection,” Haddon said, was an important part of her life’s work, and part of what she believes ended up making her so successful.
“If I could make a connection through the page to another woman, then I felt I was successful. And I think that translated into selling a lot of product, because I did make that connection, and therefore, they kept hiring me, because it worked,” she explained.
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Haddon also told PEOPLE that she felt her role as a public figure was one that had a deeper meaning.
“My job is to reach inside and send out who I am to women and girls out there,” she said. “That’s been the theme of even my books and everything.”
Highlighting the importance of “inner beauty,” Haddon stated, “There’s nothing more deceiving than somebody that is physically beautiful, but has nothing to say or nothing to deliver.”
“It’s a huge disappointment. It’s a lot of promise, no delivery. … Because, I think, if you are just a body posing, you’re going to be very bored,” she added.
Solebury Township Police arrived at the Bucks County, Penn., home of Haddon’s son-in-law, Hallmark star Marc Blucas, at around 6:30 a.m. local time on Dec. 27, after receiving a 911 call, a representative for the department told PEOPLE.
According to a police report, Haddon was discovered in a second-floor bedroom. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities said in an update that an investigation “indicates a faulty flue and exhaust pipe on a gas heating system caused [a] carbon monoxide leak.”
Police also found a 76-year-old man — who they later confirmed to PEOPLE was Walter Blucas — passed out on the first floor of the home. He was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., where he is receiving treatment.
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