Kim Basinger

Kimila Ann Basinger, born December 8, 1953, is an American actress and former model. She gained widespread recognition for her work in film, earning accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After initially appearing in television productions, Basinger shot to fame as a Bond girl in 1983 and went on to star in numerous high-profile feature films over the following two decades.

Basinger was born in Athens, Georgia, as the middle of five children to Ann Lee, a model, actress, and swimmer, and Donald Wade Basinger, a big band musician and loan manager. Raised Methodist, she was extremely shy as a child, though she studied ballet and joined her high school cheerleading team. At age 17, she won the Athens Junior Miss pageant. She subsequently moved to New York to become a Ford model, appearing on magazine covers and in numerous advertisements during the early 1970s while attending acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the William Esper Studio.

In 1976, Basinger stopped modeling and relocated to Los Angeles to act. Following guest appearances on television shows such as McMillan & Wife and Charlie's Angels, she starred in the made-for-TV movie Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold (1978), the series Dog and Cat, and the miniseries remake From Here to Eternity. She made her feature film debut in Hard Country (1981) and achieved widespread exposure playing Domino Petachi in the 1983 James Bond entry Never Say Never Again. Her career expanded with a Golden Globe-nominated role in The Natural (1984), as well as performances in Fool for Love (1985), 9½ Weeks (1986), Blind Date (1987), and Nadine (1987). In 1989, she played photojournalist Vicki Vale in Tim Burton's Batman, which became the highest-grossing film of her career.

During the early 1990s, Basinger starred in projects including The Marrying Man (1991), Final Analysis (1992), the animated film Cool World (1992), The Real McCoy (1993), and The Getaway (1994). Following a career hiatus in the mid-1990s, she returned to the screen in Curtis Hanson's 1997 neo-noir film L.A. Confidential. Her portrayal of a high-class hooker earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, alongside a BAFTA Award nomination.

Basinger continued taking on diverse film roles throughout the 2000s and 2010s. She starred in I Dreamed of Africa (2000) as environmentalist Kuki Gallmann, and reunited with director Curtis Hanson to play the mother of an aspiring rapper in 8 Mile (2002). Her subsequent film credits include The Door in the Floor (2004), Cellular (2004), The Sentinel (2006), The Burning Plain (2008), While She Was Out (2008), The Informers (2009), Charlie St. Cloud (2010), and Black November (2012).

In addition to film acting, Basinger has engaged in musical projects, including guest vocals on a re-recorded track for Was (Not Was), recording the album Hollywood Affair with musician Prince, and appearing in the music video for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' single Mary Jane's Last Dance. Divorced from makeup artist Ron Snyder and actor Alec Baldwin, she has a daughter, Ireland Baldwin, from her marriage to Baldwin, and later began cohabitating with hairdresser Mitch Stone.