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It was on this day in M(ichigan) M(ovie)H(istory) American model and actress Christie Brinkley was born in Monroe, Michigan. Born Christie Lee Hudson, her family moved to Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, where her mother Marjorie later met and married television writer Don Brinkley in Bel Air, Los Angeles.
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.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.
After multiple appearances on the cover of Glamour she was signed to a record 25-year contract with cosmetics brand CoverGirl, one of the longest modeling contracts in history.
Brinkley played her first role as an actress in the 1983 film National Lampoon’s Vacation as “The girl in the red Ferrari” opposite Chevy Chase.
Brinkley has worked as an actress, illustrator, television personality, photographer, writer, designer, and activist for human and animal rights and the environment. In February 2012, she was ranked third in the Daily Mail list “World’s 20 richest models.”