Content area
Full text
NEW YORK -- Georgette Klinger, the skin care innovator who gained acclaim for her upscale, European facial treatments more than 60 years ago, died Friday morning from natural causes at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, according to her daughter Kathryn Belton. Klinger was 88.
Klinger, who has been called the "Dean of Skin Care," arrived in the U.S. in 1940 from her native Czechoslovakia with aspirations of offering her skin care knowledge to Americans. Klinger, who studied biology and skin care there, grew up learning the hardships of problem skin.
"She had an allergic reaction to makeup -- a prize she won in a beauty contest," said her daughter.
So began her quest for perfect skin.
In 1941, Klinger opened the first Georgette Klinger salon, at 509 Madison Avenue, with the financial help of several friends who...