Robbin Bain, who covered fashion and wonder as a “Today Girl” on the NBC morning show, died Oct. 21 in Southampton, NY. She was 87.
Bain’s daughter, Lara McLanahan, told Deadline that breast cancer was the reason for her death.
Born on Aug. 10, 1936, Barbara Jane Bain’s profession got underway in 1959 when the Queens native was crowned Miss Rheingold, which was the region’s hottest beer at the time.
Earning the $50,000 prize, Bain made several appearances across the US and Europe and was even tapped for Revlon and Helena Rubinstein ads.
“It was not a body thing,” Bain told The Latest York Each day News in 2000, per The Latest York Times.
![In 1961, Bain joined](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/NYPICHPDPICT000071853632.jpg?w=1024)
“Personality and wholesomeness were very essential. You needed to look very approachable to the fellows sitting at the bar or going to the supermarket,” Bain added.
She also gained fame as one in all 4 “Portrettes” who introduced Jackie Gleason on his variety show, “The Jackie Gleason Show.”
In 1961, Bain joined “Today,” where she discussed fashion, makeup, and other female-driven feature topics.
Barbara Walters, who died last 12 months at 93, became a “Today Girl” after joining the show in 1961 as a author and researcher.
In “Audition: A Memoir,” she said it’s “Neanderthal” for ladies to be stuck only covering “features geared for ladies.”
![Born on Aug. 10, 1936, Barbara Jane Bain's career got underway in 1959 when the Queens native was crowned Miss Rheingold, which was the region's most popular beer at the time.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/NYPICHPDPICT000071853633.jpg?w=1024)
Bain, who worked within the position just for 2 months before leaving on account of pregnancy, held a better opinion of the role.
“I used to be the one woman, excluding the makeup woman, on the set,” Bain recalled during a 2012 on-air reunion of “Today Girls.”
Following her departure from “Today,” Bain became an interior designer.
She is survived by McLanahan, daughter Dina Nemeth, her husband, Alexander Guadieri, stepson Alexandre Guadieri, and 6 grandchildren.