Who is Kim Basinger?

Kim Basinger was introspective, from her father's side. As a schoolgirl, she was very shy. To help her overcome this, she was encouraged to 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 (1976). 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 (1989). There was no long-orchestrated campaign on her part to snag this plum 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). 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 (1997). Kim's salary for I Dreamed of Africa (2000) was $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.

Trivia

  • Her agoraphobia could keep her housebound for up to six months at a time, before she received therapy to combat it.
  • As a school child, she suffered from crippling shyness preventing her from reading aloud or answering questions in class.
  • Turned down the role in Basic Instinct (1992) that later went to Sharon Stone.
  • When she reneged on her verbal agreement to star in Boxing Helena (1993) in 1993, the producers sued her for breach of contract and a jury ordered her to pay over $8 million, which ultimately forced Basinger to declare bankruptcy. Her appeal was ultimately accepted.
  • Cosmetics firm Revlon severed their contract with her in early 1983 for violating a no-nudity clause. Several months later, when Kim was getting a lot of publicity for the Bond film, Revlon came back to her and she turned them down flat.