Brinkley was actually born as Christie Lee Hudson, and has reportedly tried to make her fans believe she was born and raised in California. After studying art and working as an entry-level illustrator (she studied at the French school Lycée Français de Los Angeles, which includes notable alumni Jessica Biel, Jodie Foster, Claire Danes, Molly Ringwald, and Leelee Sobieski, among others), Brinkley decided to pursue a career in modeling.

She soon landed her big break in 1976, at the age of twenty-two, with a Cover Girl cosmetics contract that lasted twenty years—one of the longest known modeling contracts ever. Brinkley was actually the first face of Cover Girl. Other notable Cover Girl models include Niki Taylor, Tyra Banks, Queen Latifah, Brandy, and Rihanna.

However, years after her contract with Cover Girl ended, Brinkley was signed on with the cosmetics giant once again for their line of mature and aging skin products, for both commercials and magazine advertisements. In addition, for three years in a row—1979, 1980, and 1981—Brinkley managed to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issues and editions. Besides her career as a model, Brinkley is also famous for her many marriages—she has been married four times: to Jean-François Allaux from 1973 to 1981, to famous musician Billy Joel from 1985 to 1994, to Richard Taubman from 1994 to 1995, and most recently, to Peter Cook from 1996 to 2006, from whom she divorced after learning about reports and rumors that he had cheated on her.

Brinkley was also involved with heir to the Moët-Chandon Champagne fortune, Olivier Chandon de Brailles, who died in a car-racing accident in 1983. The famed supermodel also has three children of her own, each from different hubbies: Alexa Ray with Joel, born in 1986; Jack Paris with Taubman, born in 1995; and Sailor Lee with Cook, born in 1998. Joel penned a number of songs for Brinkley and about Brinkley, including "Uptown Girl," "All About Soul," "Blonde Over Blue," "Shameless," and "Christie Lee."

Brinkley is also an animal rights supporter and activist, and a member of PETA. She also appeared in two National Lampoon movies as a woman in a Ferrari, in the 1983 Vacation, and in 1997's Vegas Vacation, both of which starred actor Chevy Chase.

YUDDY