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Biography
Kim overcame her shyness and bought her own town... Kim Basinger
was born December 8, 1953, in Athens, Georgia, the 3rd of 5
children. Both her parents had been in entertainment, her dad had
played big-band jazz, and her mother had performed water ballet in
several Esther Williams movies. Kim was introspective, from her
father's side. As a schoolgirl, she was very shy. To help her
overcome this, her parents had Kim study ballet from an early age.
By the time she reached sweet sixteen, the once-shy Kim entered the
Athens Junior Miss contest. From there, she went on to win the
Junior Miss Georgia title, and traveled to New York to compete in
the national Junior Miss pageant. Kim, who had blossomed to a 5'7"
beauty, was offered a contract on the spot with the Ford Modeling
Agency. At the age of 20, Kim was a top model commanding $1,000 a
day. Throughout the early 1970s, she appeared on dozens of magazine
covers and in hundreds of ads, most notably as the Breck girl. Kim
took acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse, performed in
various Greenwich Village clubs, and she sang under the stage name
Chelsea. Kim moved to Los Angeles in 1976, ready to conquer
Hollywood. Kim broke into television doing episodes of such hit
series as _Charlie's Angels_. In 1980, she married Ron Britton
(they divorced in 1989). In movies, she had roles like being a Bond
girl in _Never Say Never Again (1983)_ and playing a small-town
Texan beauty in _Nadine_ (1987). Her breakout role was as
photojournalist Vicki Vale in the blockbuster hit _Batman_. There
was no long-orchestrated campaign on her part to snag this plumb
role, Kim was a last-minute replacement for Sean Young. This took
her to a career high. With perhaps too much disposable income, Kim
headed up an investment group that purchased the entire town of
Braselton, in her native Georgia, for $20 million (she would later
have to sell it). In 1993, Kim married Alec Baldwin, and in 1995
they had a daughter, Ireland Eliesse. Kim took some time off to
stay at home with her child. Kim, who loves animals and is a strict
vegetarian, devoted energy to animal rights issues, and PETA
(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), even posing for some
ads. In 1997, Kim gave an Oscar-winning performance in the film
noir classic _L.A. Confidential_. Kim's salary for _I Dreamed of
Africa_ is $5,000,000 - putting her firmly in the category of
big-name movie star. And no doubt there are still many great things
ahead, in the career of cover girl turned Oscar-winning actress Kim
Basinger.
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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Kim Basinger
