April 8, 1966: The Birth of Robin Wright in Dallas, Texas

On April 8, 1966, Robin Virginia Gayle Wright was born in Dallas, Texas.

She was the second child of Fred Wright, born in 1941, and Gayle Gaston, born in 1944.

Robin joined the family three years after her older brother, Richard Wright, who was born on November 15, 1962.

1968/1970: Robin’s parents’ divorce and she leaves Texas for California

Robin Wright’s parents divorced when she was two/three years old.

Gayle Gaston left Dallas with their children and they went to California.

The siblings were raised in San Diego, where Robin spent most of her childhood under her mother’s care.

Despite the distance, she maintained a bond with her father, spending summers with him back in Dallas.

The 1970s: A New family for Robin Wright

During the 1970s, Robin Wright’s life took another turn as her mother, Gayle Gaston, rose through the ranks of the newly emerging Mary Kay Cosmetics, eventually becoming one of the company’s executives.

Her demanding role meant frequent travel and Gayle often brought young Robin and her brother Richard along for the journey.

Gayle remarried, this time to Andy Carmichael, an Englishman with two children of his own.

At just eleven years old, Robin became part of a blended family.

Among her new siblings was Lucinda Carmichael, who would go on to play a meaningful role in Robin’s life, eventually becoming not just a stepsister, but a best friend and real sister.

1980: Robin Wright in 9th Grade at Charles Evans Hughes Junior High School

In 1980, Robin Wright was a ninth-grade student at Charles Evans Hughes Junior High School in Woodland Hills, California.

This school-year photograph captures the actress during her teenage years.

The 1980s: Studying in La Jolla High School & Modelling all over the world

Robin Wright spent her childhood and teenage years in San Diego, attending La Jolla High School.

In this photo we can see a very young Robin Wright in Tokyo with Florence Déprez, who was Richard Wright’s girlfriend and later she became his wife, Robin Wright’s sister-in-law.

It was also during this time that Robin’s professional journey began.

While still in high school, she entered the world of modeling, which quickly whisked her away to international destinations such as Europe, North Africa, and Japan.

She embraced modeling not for the spotlight, but for the chance to explore the world.

Wright says she pursued modeling mainly for the traveling opportunities it provided: “I think that the whole idea of beauty distorts your ability to not only find yourself but to have a healthy sense of your identity. And then I went to Europe and I didn’t want to come home. I loved Europe so much.”

But Robin Wright always thought that modeling was a really humiliating business where she was treated like a piece of meat.

At 17, she was working in Paris when a short-tempered and very famous photographer shouted that her breasts were too small and her ass too big.

At Christmas 1983, she decided to go to California to spend the holidays with her family. As soon as she arrived, she was hired for television commercials.

Robin Wright did modeling until she decided that selling her beauty was no longer acceptable to her as woman. She says, “I tried to get the other models to revolt.”

In 1984, Robin quit modeling and tried acting instead.