Christie Brinkley Biography
Summary
"Christie Brinkley" (born February 2, 1954) is an American supermodel.
Early life and career
She was born "Christie Lee Hudson" in Monroe, Michigan, USA, even though she has claimed to have been born and raised in California. Majoring in art and graduating in 1972, Christie attended Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades, California. In the early 1970s, she and her family lived in the Bel Air hills. She was educated at le Lycée Français de Los Angeles and worked in Paris as an entry-level illustrator.
In 1976, she signed a contract with cosmetics giant Cover Girl, which they continued to renew for twenty years. A few years after Cover Girl ended their contract with Brinkley, they again signed her on as a model with ads in magazines and commercials for mature skin products in 2005. She appeared on the cover of three consecutive "Sports Illustrated" Swimsuit Issues (1979 – 1981).
Brinkley appeared as 'The Girl in the Ferrari' in the movie "National Lampoon's Vacation" in 1983, a role she reprised in the 1997 sequel "Vegas Vacation" (though in "Vegas Vacation" her character was cast as 'Woman in Ferrari'.)
She is currently a pitch person for a line of home fitness equipment sold on cable TV infomercials.
Personal life
Brinkley had a romantic relationship with Olivier Chandon de Brailles, heir to the Moët-Chandon Champagne fortune. Chandon died in 1983 in an auto racing accident. The two first met in 1972 at Studio 54 in New York City at a party promoting a calendar in which Christie appeared.
Brinkley has been married four times. Her first three marriages were to artist Jean-François Allaux (1973-1981), musician Billy Joel (1985-1994) and developer Richard Taubman (1994-1995). Her fourth husband is Peter Cook, an architect, whom she married in 1996. Brinkley filed for divorce from Cook in the summer of 2006.
Brinkley has three children: daughter Alexa Ray (b. January 1, 1986) with Joel, son Jack Paris (b. June 2, 1995) with Taubman, and daughter Sailor Lee (b. July 2, 1998) with Cook.
She is a supporter of animal rights and long time PETA member. She has spoken out against the Ringling Brothers Circus on behalf of PETA.
After hurting her back while on a ski trip in Aspen, Colorado, in December 2006, Brinkley was forced to undergo emergency back surgery in February 2007 since the injury had worsened in the days preceding the surgery.
Brinkley is an avid fan of the New York Islanders. In 2007, she showed her support for the team by writing a blog for (NHL.com) and filming a commercial for the Islanders.
Songs
The song, 'Uptown Girl', was written about her by her then husband, Billy Joel. It was conceived as Joel wondered aloud how Christie Brinkley could wind up with a guy like him.
The songs 'All About Soul', 'Blonde Over Blue', 'Shameless', 'A Matter of Trust', 'Christie Lee' and many more were also written by Billy Joel with Christie Brinkley in mind.
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Christie Brinkley.
