Renuald White -- a soap opera star who broke down barriers for Black people in modeling -- has died ...
according to one of his longtime friends. Fashion designer Jeffrey Banks revealed the news to Women's Wear Daily -- a popular fashion magazine -- Friday sharing that White died last week while under hospice care in Manhattan. He did not provide a cause of death.
White rose to prominence via modeling in the 1970s ...
becoming just the second Black model to appear on the cover of GQ in 1979 -- two years after Urs Althaus . He modeled for some of the biggest designers and publications over the years ..
. including working with Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Bill Blass while appearing on the cover of Playboy in 1982. White made the jump to acting in 1986 .
.. appearing in several episodes of "Guiding Light" as William Reynolds.
He made several other appearances in TV and movies over the years -- most recently starring in the 2017 horror movie "Central Park." Banks remembers Renauld in an Instagram post as "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." White's funeral will be held next month in Newark, New Jersey ..
. his hometown. He was 80.
RIP.
