Carolyn Murphy was born in Panama City, Florida on the 11th of August, 1975. She is best known for being a supermodel and appearing in numerous fashion campaigns for MaxMara, Gucci, Versace, Zara, The GAP, Fendi, Prada, Missoni and many other famous brands. While growing up she spent her time between Maryland and England, living with both of her divorced parents.

She was discovered in her native Florida, at the tender age of 16 by a scout representing Mary Lou's Models. After graduating from high school in 1991, she made the move to New York in order to pursue a modeling career. Her career started taking off with her being called to do photo shoots for prestigious magazines such as French Vogue, American Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. She was hired to represent brands such as Gucci, Prada and Calvin Clein raising her status from model to supermodel. Murphy was named "Model of the Year" by VH1/Vogue in 1998 one of the most prestigious awards in the modeling industry. She has been represented by a total of four modeling agencies, most recently by IMG Models from New York.

In 1999, she made her film debut in the movie called "Liberty Heights", also starring Adrien Brody and Ben Foster. In the same year Vogue named her the "Model of the Millenium". Estee Lauder hired her as their spokesmodel in 2001 for their 2002 campaign Defining Beauty. She has appeared in the Sports Illustrated sedition two times, in 2004 and 2005.

Her 1999 marriage to surfer Jake Shroeder ended in 2001 after having one daughter Dylan Bleu, in December 2000. In 2006 her ex-husband tried to sell a sex tape of them but was arrested in the process. The film eventually found its way to the internet in 2006. She is still active in modeling although considerably less so, and is living with her daughter in Venice Beach, California.