Christie Brinkley

Christie Lee Brinkley (née Hudson; born February 2, 1954) is an American model, actress, and entrepreneur.

Brinkley was born Christie Lee Hudson in Monroe, Michigan, on February 2, 1954, the daughter of Marjorie (née Bowling) and Herbert Hudson.

Her family moved to Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, where her mother Marjorie later met and married television writer Donald Brinkley in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

Donald adopted Christie and her brother Greg Brinkley.

During this time, the family lived in Malibu and then the Brentwood neighborhoods of Los Angeles.

After graduation in 1972, she moved to Paris to study art.

Brinkley was discovered in 1973 by American photographer Errol Sawyer in a post office in Paris.

He took her first modeling pictures and introduced her to John Casablancas of Elite Model Management agency in Paris.

Brinkley stated later: "I was basically a surfer girl from California. I never looked like a model."

After being introduced to Elite, where Brinkley met the fashion photographers Patrick Demarchelier and Mike Reinhardt who called Eileen Ford and told her about Brinkley, she returned to California, and by the end of a lunch meeting with Nina Blanchard (Eileen Ford affiliate in Los Angeles) she had been booked for three national ad campaigns.

Multiple appearances on the cover of Glamour soon followed, along with a record 25-year contract with cosmetics brand CoverGirl, one of the longest modeling contracts in history.

Brinkley gained worldwide fame with her appearances in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, ultimately appearing on an unprecedented three consecutive covers in 1979, 1980, and 1981.

She spent 25 years as the face of CoverGirl, has appeared on over 500 magazine covers, and has signed contracts with major brands; both fashion and non-fashion.

Brinkley went on to work as an actress, illustrator, television personality, photographer, writer, designer, and activist for human and animal rights and the environment.

Brinkley appeared on three consecutive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covers (1979, 1980, and 1981 ) – the first time that had happened – and appeared in the publication's annual swimsuit issues and television specials for years to follow.

Brinkley was featured exclusively in the first Sports Illustrated Calendar and also released two of her own calendars.

Brinkley played her first acting role in the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation as "The girl in the red Ferrari" opposite Chevy Chase.

Brinkley appeared on the Today Show in 1983 in a four-part segment featuring beauty tips and, in 1992, began her own television series Living in the 90s — With Christie Brinkley, a daily half-hour show on CNN.

Brinkley made further television appearances, including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue television specials and music videos for beau Billy Joel ("Uptown Girl", "Keeping the Faith", "All About Soul", "River of Dreams", "A Matter of Trust" and "Leningrad") and Mick Jones's "Just Wanna Hold".

She had a recurring role as Gayle Gergich, the wife of Jerry Gergich, on NBC's Parks and Recreation.

Brinkley has been married four times, most notably between 1985 and 1994 to musician Billy Joel, having appeared in several of his music videos.

In 1989, Brinkley was, along with Cheryl Tiegs and Beverly Johnson, one of the three models featured as dolls produced by Matchbox Toys called The Real Model Collection.

She reprised that role in the 1997 sequel Vegas Vacation; later spoofed it in a 2008 DirecTV commercial, using footage from Vacation; again in a 2015 Infiniti commercial as the wife in the Infiniti (the blonde in the convertible for this spoof is model Scarlett Burke); and again in the ABC series The Goldbergs in 2019.

In 2005, CoverGirl again signed Brinkley, using her in ads in magazines and TV commercials for mature skin products.

In 2005, Brinkley was featured in the special Sports Illustrated 40th Anniversary Issue's Hall of Fame, celebrating the most revered figures in the magazine's history and again in 2014, in the 50th Anniversary The Legends.

As an editorial model, Brinkley has appeared on over 500 magazine covers, including US, Vogue, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and the best-selling issue of Life.

She has held major contracts with Chanel No. 19, Prell, MasterCard, Breck, Diet Coke, Anheuser-Busch, Got Milk?, Healthy Choice, Max Factor, Nissan, Noxzema, Revlon, Clairol, Borghese Cosmetics, Danskin, Nu Skin, Yardley of London, Halston, Vogue Patterns, Gottex and Black Velvet, among others.

Brinkley has been photographed in six continents in more than 30 countries.

Her fourth marriage, to architect Peter Cook, ended in a much-publicized 2008 divorce.

With a career spanning more than 50 years, magazines such as Allure and Men's Health have named Brinkley one of the most attractive women of all time.

The film premiered at the 2010 Hamptons International Film Festival.

Brinkley's appearance on NBC's Mad About You was the broadcaster's highest-rated half-hour episode since the finale of The Cosby Show.

She hosted Celebrity Weddings InStyle, the highest-rated special in Lifetime's history.

In 2011, she appeared as herself in the documentary King of the Hamptons, which was produced by filmmaker Dennis Michael Lynch.

On April 8, 2011, in New York, Brinkley made her stage debut as Roxie Hart in the long-running musical Chicago.

In August, she completed a one-month engagement in the London's production at Cambridge Theatre and reprised the role on Broadway and continued with 182 total performances with the National Touring Company of Chicago in cities including Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston and Hartford.

Brinkley was educated at Paul Revere Junior High School and attended Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles from 9th to 12th grade.

In December 2012, Brinkley co-hosted Anderson Live and also danced with Dancing With the Stars alumnus Gilles Marini during the show.

In April 2019, Brinkley reprised the Roxie Hart role in Chicago at the Venetian Theatre at The Venetian Las Vegas.

On August 5, 2019, it was reported by Deadline that Brinkley would have a guest role on the season 7 premiere of the ABC television series The Goldbergs playing a character named Aleah Welsh.