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Christie Brinkley
Christie Brinkley, photo taken in 2007
Born	Christie Lee Hudson February 2, 1954(1954-02-02) Monroe, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Model
Spouse(s)	Jean-François Allaux (1973–1981) Billy Joel (1985–1994) Richard Taubman (1994–1995) Peter Cook (1996-2008)
Children	3
Website http://christiebrinkley.com/

Christie Brinkley (born Christie Lee Hudson on February 2, 1954) is an American model and ex-wife of musician Billy Joel. She also has also worked as an actress, illustrator, photographer, writer and designer, and also as an activist for human and animals rights and ecology and the environment.¹²

Early life

Born in Monroe, Michigan,³ Brinkley is the daughter of Herbert and Marge Hudson. When her mother later married Donald Brinkley, she and her brother Gregory adopted their step father's surname.

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, Los Angeles.

Brinkley was educated at Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles³ and worked in Paris as an entry-level illustrator.

Career

Brinkley was discovered by African-American photographer Errol Sawyer at a local post office on the rue de la Gaité in Paris' 14th arrondissement during the spring of 1973. 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. Initially, Casablancas hesitated to sign Brinkley because he considered her look "too American". However, he agreed to send Brinkley on several "go-and-sees"^{clarification needed} and contracted her afterward.

In the late 1970s, she met French photographer Patrick Demarchelier in Paris, who presented her to the Ford model agency in Los Angeles.⁴ There she worked for over 30 years.⁵

In 1976, Brinkley signed a contract with cosmetics giant Cover Girl which was renewed for 20 years, the longest ever in the fashion industry. A few years after Cover Girl terminated the contract with Brinkley, it again signed her as a model with ads in magazines and commercials for mature skin products in 2005.⁶ Brinkley was the very first model to appear on the cover of three consecutive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues (1979,1980 and 1981).⁶ Brinkley has designed clothing patterns for Simplicity Pattern.⁷ In 1983, she appeared on the Today Show in a four part set of beauty tips and, in 1992, began her own television series "Living in the 90's With Christie Brinkley", a daily half-hour show on CNN.⁷ She made further television appearances, including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Specials.⁸ Brinkley played her first role as an actress in 1983 as "The girl in the Red Ferrari" in the movie National Lampoon's Vacation and reprised that role in the 1997 sequel movie Vegas Vacation.⁸ She spoofed the role in a 2008 DirecTV commercial interspliced with footage from Vacation. Brinkley has promoted home fitness equipment sold on cable TV infomercials.¹

Personal life

In 2005

Brinkley married four times:

• French artist Jean-François Allaux (1973–1981).

• In 1982, Christie had a romantic relationship with Olivier Chandon de Brailles, heir to the Moët-Chandon Champagne fortune.
  The two met at Studio 54 ⁶ in New York City at a party promoting a calendar in which Brinkley appeared, and quickly became engaged.
  Chandon died a year later in 1983 in an auto-racing accident.

• Billy Joel, in (1985–1994).⁹
• Real estate developer Richard Taubman (1994–1995).
• Peter Cook, an architect (1996-2008).

Her lawyer in this latest case was Robert Stephan Cohen, a top divorce attorney. The divorce proceedings, held in the summer of 2008, were regular tabloid fodder, in part due to Cook's admission that he had committed adultery with eighteen-year-old Diana Bianchi. 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.¹⁰¹¹ Brinkley and Cook settled out-of-court in July 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.¹²⁶

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 daughter with ex-husband Billy Joel, testified about such behavior toward her, which Cook denied.¹³ In July 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.¹⁴ John Tantillo appeared on Fox & Friends to discuss the implications for her brand and her career, interpreting these events as an excellent opportunity to reinvent herself. ¹⁵ Her divorce from Peter Cook was officially finalized on October 3, 2008. More recently, Cook has been accused of making a sex tape of him and Bianchi.

Christie Brinkley has three children:

• Alexa Ray Joel, (born December 29, 1985), with Billy Joel.¹⁶ The name "Ray" was given to Alexa in honour to Ray Charles.¹⁷
• Jack Paris Taubman, (born June 2, 1995), with Richard Taubman. He was later adopted by Peter Cook and named Jack Paris Brinkley Cook.
• Sailor Lee Brinkley Cook (born July 2, 1998), with Peter Cook.

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.¹⁸ Brinkley lives on Long Island in Sag Harbor, New York; she previously lived in Bridgehampton and Amagansett, Long Island. ¹⁹⁷ 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.⁷ 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.¹⁹ Brinkley supports animal rights, most notably through the organization PETA.⁶ Brinkley has previously spoken out against the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on behalf of PETA.²⁰ Brinkley has also been involved in anti-nuclear activities. She campaigned against the restarting of the High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR) located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.^{21 22} 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.²³²⁴

Songs

December 1999

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.²⁶ 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.^{citations needed} She has also appeared in Billy’s classic music videos “Uptown Girl”, “Keeping the Faith” and “All About Soul” as well as Mick Jones music video “Just Wanna Hold”. ¹ Christie illustrated the cover art for Billy Joel's 1993 triple platinum album River of Dreams. "Rolling Stone Magazine" awarded her the honor of best album cover of the year.^{6citations needed}

Movies, TV, Videos, and Books

The inclusion of certain items in this list is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.

• All-Star Birthday Party at Annapolis, (TV-1982).

• Young Doctors in Love, (TV-1982).

• National Lampoon´s Vacation, ("The girl in the red Ferrari"- Movie-1983).

• Today Show, (TV-1983).

• Christie Brinkley’s Outdoor Beauty and Fitness book, (Book-1983).

• The 56th Annual Academy Awards, (co-presenter oscar for best sound, TV-1984).

• CoverGirl’s Guide to Make-up with Christie Brinkley, (video comercial-1987).

• Powaqqatsi - Life in Transformation, (Doc.-1988).

• An American Saturday Night, (TV-1991)

• Living in the 90's with Christie Brinkley, (hosting TV-1992).

• Sports Illustrated Behind the Scenes: Official Swimsuit Video, (video-1992).

• Billy Joel: Shades of Grey, (doc. TV-1993).

• Mad About You, (as herself, TV-1994).

• Pay-Per-View Special Supermodel of the Year Contest, (TV-1994).

• Vegas Vacation, (Movie, same role "The girl in the red Ferrari"-1997).

• Divas Live: An Honors Concert for VH1 Save the Music, (TV-1998).

• Intimate Portrait, (Biography, Video, March-1999)

• The Rosie O'Donnell Show, (TV-1999-2000).

• Billy Joel: The Essential Video Collection, (Video-2001).

• The Hamptons, (TV-2002).

• VH-1 Where Are They Now?, (TV-2002).

• The Family Truckster, (Video-2003).

• Sports Illustrated 40th Anniversary Swimsuit Special:American Beauty, (Video-2004).

• The Oprah Winfrey Show, (TV-2004).

• Blue Collar TV, (TV-2004).

• The View, (TV-2005).

• The Insider, (TV-2007).
• Today, (NBC, TV-2007).
• Rachael Ray Show, (TV-2007).
• Entertainment Tonight, (TV-2006-2008).
• Access Hollywood, (TV-2008).
• The O'Reilly Factor, (TV-2008).

Awards and achievements

Christie Brinkley, December, 1999, photo by Dewitt D. Roseborough with US Sailor Keith Bernauer in a Christmas visit where she was invited by the USO.

• Top Picks, in 1993 by Rolling Stone Magazine for the artistic work she done on Billy Joel’s cover album River of Dreams.¹²
• 2001 Merit Award , given by USO-The United Service Organizations Inc..
  She traveled with the USO on goodwill missions to Sarajevo, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Italy entertaining the peacekeeping forces and visiting aircraft carriers and refugee camps. After participating in USA Secretary of Defense William Cohen’s Christmas tour to Kosovo, she was given the award in Washington DC for her efforts on behalf of american troops.¹²
• Spirit of Achievement Award, at 2003 by 'The Women’s Division' of Albert Einstein School of Medicin at Yeshiva University presented Christie for her charity work.¹²
• Christie Brinkley Scholarship, at February, 2007 by Ross School in "Easthampton", "Long Island", New York.
  This scholarship allow students interested in art or environment sciences get four free years at "Ross High School".²
• Heart Award, special honor from the American Heart Association in the 12th Annual Heart of the Hamptons Gala for her commitment to helping children live healthier lives. She said she was very honored to receive the award from the AHA being convinced that the research from the organization made it possible for her mother to be alive after suffering five strokes.²⁵²
• Cookie Award, April 21, 2008, honored her in New York at the 'Second Annual Smart Cookie Awards Gala' and and three other amazing charitable mothers, voted by Cookie Magazine readers. Daughter Alexa Ray was invited and proud to hold a speech.²⁶²
• Humanitarian Award, given by the organization March of Dimes. ²⁷
• Merit Award, by Mothers Voices. ¹²
• Mother of the year, given by The National Mothers Day committee at a ceremony held in New York City.¹
• Merit Award , given by Make-A-Wish Foundation in New York.²⁷²
• Americas Mothers and Shakers, named by Redbook Magazine for her involvement in "STAR - Standing for Truth About Radiation".¹²

See also

• Supermodel
• Model
• Billy Joel

Notes

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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christie Brinkley

• Christie Brinkley at the Internet Movie Database
• Christie Brinkley in the Fashion Model Directory
• Christie Brinkley - Biography (Subject's own website, July 13, 2006)
• Christie Brinkley News, Christie Brinkley Videos, and Christie Brinkley Photos Elle Magazine's web site