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Christie Brinkley

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Christie Brinkley
Christie Brinkley in 2007
Born
Christie Lee Hudson

(1954-02-02) February 2, 1954 (age 70)
Template:City-state, U.S.
OccupationSupermodel
Spouse(s)Jean-François Allaux (1973–1981)
Billy Joel (1985–1994)
Richard Taubman (1994–1995)
Peter Cook (1996-2008)
Children3
Websitehttp://christiebrinkley.com/

Christie Brinkley (born February 2, 1954) is a former American fashion model.

Early life

Christie Brinkley was born Christie Lee Hudson in Monroe, Michigan.[1] She attended Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades, California and graduated in 1972. In the early 1970s, Brinkley and her family lived in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles . Brinkley was educated at le Lycée Français de Los Angeles[1] and worked in Paris as an entry-level illustrator.

Career

Errol Sawyer, an African-American photographer from New York City, son of playwright Robert Earl Sawyer, discovered Christie Brinkley at a local post office on the rue de la Gaité in the 14th arrondissement in Paris during the spring of 1973.[2] Following a brief interview and a short series of headshots, he introduced Brinkley to model agent John Casablancas of Elite Model Management with whom he collaborated on portfolio development of prospective models.[3] Initially, Casablancas hesitated because at the time, Brinkley's look was "too American." However, based on his confidence in Errol Sawyer's taste, he agreed to send Brinkley on several "Go-Sees" the next day and, as they say, "The rest is history."

Contrary to Mr. Casablancas’s description: “Errol Sawyer was a scout on our payroll.” Except for a small advance against future “Test Shoots”, Elite Model Management compensated Errol Sawyer for normal costs of film and development, but nothing more. John Casablancas never informed Errol Sawyer that indeed, technically, Mr. Sawyer was eligible for a “Finder’s Fee” of approximately six percent of Ms. Brinkley’s future earnings while under contract with Elite Model Management.[4]

In 1976, Brinkley signed a contract with cosmetics giant Cover Girl, which was renewed for 20 years. A few years after Cover Girl terminated its contract with Brinkley, it again signed her as a model with ads in magazines and commercials for mature skin products in 2005.[5] Brinkley appeared on the cover of three consecutive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues (1979 – 1981).[5]

Brinkley has designed clothing patterns for Simplicity Pattern.[6]

Brinkley appeared on the Today Show in a four part set of beauty tips (1983), and in 1992 began her own television series "Living in the 90's With Christie Brinkley," a daily half-hour show, on CNN.[6] She has made a great many other television appearances, including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Specials.[7]

Brinkley played the "Red Ferrari Girl" in the 1983 movie National Lampoon's Vacation. She reprised that role in the 1997 sequel Vegas Vacation as "Woman in Ferrari".[7]

Brinkley has promoted home fitness equipment sold on cable TV infomercials.

Personal life

In 2005

Brinkley had a romantic relationship with Olivier Chandon de Brailles, heir to the Moët-Chandon Champagne fortune. The two met in 1982 at Studio 54[5] in New York City at a party promoting a calendar in which Brinkley appeared. Chandon died a year later in 1983 in an auto-racing accident.

Brinkley has married four times. Her first three marriages were to artist Jean-François Allaux (1973–1981), musician Billy Joel (1985–1994)[8], and real estate developer Richard Taubman (1994–1995).

Brinkley married her fourth husband, Peter Cook, an architect, in 1996, and filed for divorce in September 2006. The public divorce proceedings, held in summer 2008, were regular tabloid fodder, in part due to Cook's admission that he had committed adultery with eighteen-year-old Diana Bianchi. (Describing the experience as a "nightmare," Brinkley contended that, unlike Cook, she had remained faithful.) Press and public interest increased with Cook's revelations that he had paid $300,000 to Bianchi in the hopes of forestalling a lawsuit and had spent thousands of dollars each month on internet pornography and posting video of himself masturbating onto the internet. [1][2] Brinkley and Cook settled out-of-court on July 10, 2008, with Brinkley granting her fourth husband $2.1 million in exchange for custody of their two children and the retention of 18 disputed properties in the Hamptons. Additionally, Cook was granted parenting time with the children. Further details of the settlement were kept private. Both parties have stated that they are pleased with the settlement.[3]

Brinkley has three children: daughter Alexa Ray Joel (b. December 29, 1985) with Billy Joel,[9] son Jack Paris (b. June 2, 1995) with Richard Taubman (who was later adopted by Cook), and daughter Sailor Lee (b. July 2, 1998) with Peter Cook.[5] The children became a focus of public attention during Brinkley's fourth divorce proceedings when the former model contended that Cook used "overwhelming" physical force when unhappy with or disciplining the children. Alexa Ray Joel, Brinkley's child with ex-husband Billy Joel, supported these claims, while Cook denied them.[4] In July of 2008 a court-appointed psychiatrist, speaking during child custody proceedings in Brinkley's fourth divorce, testified that while he believed Brinkley should gain custody of her and Cook's children, but he also believed that she required additional therapy.[5]

Brinkley supports animal rights, most notably through the organization PETA.[5] Brinkley has previously spoken out against the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on behalf of PETA.[10]

In February 2007, Brinkley had emergency back surgery to correct a herniated disc that occurred after a ski trip in Aspen in December 2006, Colorado.[11][12]

Brinkley and her children are fans of the New York Islanders ice hockey team. Brinkley began doing promotions for the team after being noticed at games.[citation needed] In 2007, she showed her support by writing a blog for NHL.com and filming a commercial.[13] Brinkley helped found a club for cutting, an equestrian sport in which a rider has two and one half minutes to cut as many cattle from a herd as he can.[6]

Brinkley lives on Long Island in Sag Harbor, New York; she previously lived in Bridgehampton and Amagansett, Long Island.[14][6]

Since 1998, she has given nearly $100,000 to organizations and candidates of the Democratic Party of the United States, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, America Coming Together, and Moveon.org.[14]

After the High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) was shut down, Brinkley was part of an antinuclear group that campaigned against the restart. The HFBR is an academic nuclear reactor used for a range of research from cancer cures to superconductivity. The HFBR was closed for an Environmental Impact Statement after it was discovered that its spent-fuel pool was leaking a small amount of tritium-containing water.[15] The leak was confined to the laboratory grounds and posed no threat to employees or the community,[16] and so the EIS concluded that "the environment and public health and safety would be protected" in an HFBR restart. According to a report in George magazine, a then-popular political periodical, Brinkley "reminded [Bill] Richardson [then secretary of the Department of Energy] that his aspiration to be Al Gore's running mate [in the 2000 presidential election] - a job he hadn't been coy about lobbying for - would be seriously compromised if he didn't acquiesce [to the demands of Brinkley's group]".[17] Richardson then terminated the HFBR, thus aborting the carefully arranged restart procedure. His office also refused to meet with Julius Hastings, the senior user of the HFBR.

Songs

Brinkley starred in the music video for the song "Uptown Girl", which was written and performed by her then-future husband (now ex-husband), Billy Joel.[5]

The songs "That's Not Her Style", "All About Soul", "Blonde Over Blue", "Shameless", "A Matter of Trust", "The Longest Time" and "Christie Lee" were also written by Joel with Brinkley in mind.[citation needed]

Christie illustrated the cover art for Billy Joel's album River of Dreams one morning over breakfast with Billy. [citation needed]

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Christie Brinkley biography". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  2. ^ "Errol Sawyer". Intute. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  3. ^ "What Does It Mean To Be Truly Beautiful". Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  4. ^ Gross, Michael (1995). Model:The ugly business of beautiful women. William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York. pp. 317–318. ISBN 0-688-12659-6.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Christie Brinkley - Model Profile". New York. Retrieved 2008-07-02. A guide to the career of Christie Brinkley including cover shots, party photos, runway images, backstage photos, quotes, and more.
  6. ^ a b c d Pener, Degen (1992-09-13). "EGOS & IDS; It's the Christie Brinkley Show". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  7. ^ a b "Christie Brinkley filmography". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  8. ^ "Joel, Brinkley make splash with wedding". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 1985-03-24. Joel, 35, and Brinkley, 31, took their vows in a private ceremony attended by 175 family members and friends, including Paul Simon and the Straycats band. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |upage= ignored (help)
  9. ^ "Brinkley, Joel Parents of `Uptown Girl'". Los Angeles Times. 1985-12-30. p. 2. The 6 1/2-pound girl, as yet unnamed, was born in a Manhattan hospital at about 11:45 p.m. Sunday, said the spokeswoman, Geraldine McInerney.
  10. ^ "Christie Brinkley: Ringling's Abuse of Animals 'Absolutely Appalling'". People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Retrieved 2008-07-04. The supermodel/actor calls Ringling Bros.' death toll 'absolutely appalling'... {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ The Associated Press (2007-02-28). "Supermodel recovering from back surgery". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
  12. ^ Yuan, Jada (2008-02-27). "Christie Brinkley Backs Out". New York.
  13. ^ "Christie Brinkley NYI Spot Now Available". New York Islanders. 2007-08-31.
  14. ^ a b "Donor Lookup: Find Individual and Soft Money Contributors". Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 2008-07-04. Total for this search: $98,280 {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ Physics World,20,20,2007
  16. ^ Hist. Stud. Phys. Bio. Sci, 31, 41, 2000
  17. ^ Physics World,20,20,2007

Gross, Michael. Model: The ugly business of beautiful women, William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1995. pages 317-318; ISBN 0-688-12659-6

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