Kathy Ireland Biography

Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.

Date of Birth: 20 March 1963, Glendale, California, USA

Birth Name: Kathleen Marie Ireland

Height: 5' 10" (1.78 m)

Biography:

Ireland was born in Glendale, California, the daughter of John, a labor union organizer, and Barbara Ireland, who worked in charity. At age 17, Ireland was "discovered" by an agent for the Elite Model Management company, and by the time she graduated from high school, she was working steadily as a model.

Starting in 1984, Ireland was featured in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue 13 consecutive years, with her final appearance in 1996. In addition to her long tenure within the pages, Ireland appeared on the cover of the annual issue three times, a feat tied by Christie Brinkley and Cheryl Tiegs and surpassed only by Elle Macpherson (with six or more appearances). Ireland was the cover model for the first time on the 25th Anniversary Swimsuit Edition, which became SI's best selling swimsuit issue to date. She returned to the cover in 1992 and in 1994. In her third appearance, she was accompanied by Rachel Hunter and Elle Macpherson; notably, both Hunter and Ireland were pregnant at the time.

Ireland has appeared in a number of television and movie roles. Her first movie, 1988's Alien from L.A., was later skewered during the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Ireland's other appearances include Melrose Place, Boy Meets World, Side Out, Mr. Destiny, Necessary Roughness, Mom and Dad Save the World, National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 (alongside William Shatner), Once Upon A Christmas, and its sequel Twice Upon A Christmas (her final film to date). She also appeared in the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars, however, hers was the third couple eliminated in the second week of competition.

In 1993, Ireland put her name on a line of socks. After they proved a best-seller for Kmart, the retailer gave Ireland her own clothing line She then founded "Kathy Ireland Worldwide," a brand product marketing company in which she holds a majority stake. By 2004, Ireland was marketing products from 16 manufacturers, including those of Standard Furniture. Ireland's long-term exclusive contract with K-mart Corporation lasted until 2003, after which the company contracted with thousands of independent mid-tier retail stores for distribution. By 2005, KIWW products were sold at over 50,000 locations in 15 countries, generating an estimated $1.4 billion in retail sales. Ireland's annual take is thought to be around $10 million, which has prompted Forbes to name her the "prototype for model-turned-mogul," in an article about the trend of modelpreneurs.

Since 1994, Ireland has published several fitness videos.

Ireland has written six books, including three for children.

Her debut effort (with Laura Morton), Powerful Inspirations: Eight Lessons that Will Change Your Life, was first published by Doubleday in June 2002. It is laced with discussions of her faith in God and the reasons for her strong pro-life stance.

Her children's books, Mona's Favorite Words, What Do Mommies Do? and An Angel Called Hope, were released by Publications International Ltd. in November 2005 as part of their Story Reader series.

Ireland's Real Solutions for Busy Moms: Your Guide to Success and Sanity was published by Howard Books in April 2009. It was released in both English and Spanish. According to the jacket, in her book Ireland shares "stories from her own life and wisdom she has gained through her years from teenager with a paper route to successful supermodel to mom to entrepreneur."

Her sixth book, Real Solutions: 52 God Inspired Messages from My Heart was also published by Howard Books and released on November 24, 2009. This book says it "shares inspirational messages from one busy mom to another."

Kathy Ireland became a Christian at the age of 18, when she read the Bible out of curiosity. She has said that she switched her previously pro-choice stance on abortion to pro-life after researching her husband Dr. Greg Olsen's medical books.

Ireland gave a speech at the fourth Youth Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters on August 13, 2007. The purpose was to encourage activities among young people towards ending poverty. Ireland spoke on a subject of social entrepreneurship and partnerships.

In May 2009, Ireland and her family were evacuated from two homes endangered by the Jesusita Fire near Santa Barbara, California: one belonging to Ireland's parents, and the other being the home where Ireland, her husband and their three children reside.

Ireland appeared on Larry King Live in 2009 to discuss her weight gain and women's health. She had gained a pound a year for 25 years and the cumulative effect had become obvious to her in a candid photograph her son had taken. Ireland said in the interview, "Weight is a symptom of something that needs to change in your life."

Spouse:

Dr. Greg Olsen (20 August 1988 - present) 3 children

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Fun Facts

Trivia:

Began modeling at age 17.

Sports Illustrated's 25th Anniversary Swimsuit Issue cover model. [1989]

Started her own annual calendar in Fall 1993 (1994 calendar)

Son, Erik (b. May 1994)

Has her own line of clothing at K-Mart.

Has a fitness video: "Kathy Ireland's Total Fitness Workout" (1994)

Her mother set her up with her husband.

She's a contributing editor for FITNESS magazine.

Attended San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, California while Anthony Edwards, Cady Huffman and Eric Stoltz were also students there.

Has a son Erik (b. May 1994) and daughters Lily (b. 27 October 1998) and Chloe (b. March 2003).

Measurements: 34B-24-34 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Wears a size 8 shoe.

Daughter of John and Barbara Ireland. Her sisters are Mary Ireland and Cynthia Ireland.

Mentioned, along with Vendela Kirsebom Thomessen and Paulina Porizkova, in the Sonic Youth song "Swimsuit Issue" performed by Kim Gordon.

Former lifelong surfer.

She has authored several best-selling children's books including "What Do Mommies Do?" and "An Angel Called Hope" along with the book "Powerful Inspirations" which now is in its 5th printing in paperback.

She has been Chair or Honorary Chair of such major national causes the March of Dimes, PTA, Feed the Children and City of Hope campaigns and as Campaign Chair for Dream Foundation, the Barbara Ireland Walk for the Cure, Project Inform and Athletes and Entertainers for Kids. She is the Ambassador for Children for the Entertainment Industry Foundation and for the Department of Agricultures wild land fire prevention organization, Firewise, and she recently established the National Family Reading Night campaign.

Her KIWW brand passed the billion dollar a year retail sales mark in its first decade. Her initial venture was her design and manufacture of socks ( her company having recently celebrated the sale of its 100,000,000th pair) and quickly expanded to furniture, lighting, flooring, kitchenware, carpeting, window treatments, landscaping accessories, watches, tableware and bedding, as well as her early-established success in apparel and her partnership with Dame Elizabeth Taylor for whose House of Taylor Jewelry, Ireland designs the accessibly priced jewelry product.

By adhering to the mission statement she created for her Kathy Ireland Worldwide products, "finding solutions for families, especially busy moms," she won the endorsement and title of "best friend to working mothers" from both Associated Press and the London Times.

She is founder, CEO and Chief Stylist for the Kathy Ireland Worldwide product empire.

She began modeling at 17 and was cover model for the most Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issues. She left modeling for lifestyle designing, establishing the Kathy Ireland Worldwide brand, when she realized the fashion wear she modeled was unsuitable for most buyers.

Lives in Southern California with her husband, an emergency room physician and their three children, Erik, Lily and Chloe. She enjoys being a full time mom and continues to be a Sunday school teacher as well.

She is the only woman in INC. Magazine's list of the top five celebrity entrepreneurs, which included Paul Newman, Magic Johnson and Francis Ford Coppola.

Is the highest grossing (over $l billion in annual retail sales according to Forbes magazine in 2004) Lifestyle Designer in the world, with a brand name that has achieved industry-leading success in over one dozen product areas.

She was dubbed super-model-turned-super-mogul by Forbes Magazine and syndicated columnist Liz Smith.

Friend of Cindy Williams and Brooke Shields.

Appeared in the "Sports Illustrated" Swimsuit Edition for 13 consecutive years.

Personal Quotes

It is a hard thing to quit. It's good money for not too much hard work. It allows me to be selective about the acting parts I take. (on modeling)

Whether I'm a sex symbol or not isn't the kind of thing I think about too much. I just go in, do my job, get the money and go home. Whatever people think about me is up to them.

Many of the parts I'm offered, even at this point in my career, are stupid bimbo roles that require nudity. I've been dealing with the nudity thing throughout my modeling career. They take one look at me and they expect me to take my clothes off. Some people don't have a problem with nudity. I do, so I've turned down quite a few scripts. (from a 1992 interview)

Being a model first opened some doors and closed some others. For the most part, it has been a positive transition. I'm being given a chance to prove myself because they know who I am. But coming from a modeling background, you also bring along the mindless bimbo baggage that all models have attached to them and because of that you have to work that much harder. I also have to be a bit more careful about the choices I make. A complete unknown could come along, do a string of B movies and work her way up without calling any attention to herself. I can't do that.