Kim Basinger

Born: 8 December 1953 Birthplace: Athens, Georgia Best Known As: Oscar-winning blonde star of L.A. Confidential Kim Basinger went from beauty pageants to modelling, then from Playboy magazine to television and the movies. She had parts in Never Say Never Again (1983) and The Natural (1984, with Robert Redford), but it was her starring role in 9 1/2 Weeks that gained her an audience. Basinger made headlines when she bought the small town of Braselton, Georgia in 1989; she was forced to sell it when she declared bankruptcy in 1993. She proved her acting chops in the 1997 drama L. A. Confidential (opposite Russell Crowe) and won an Oscar. Her other films include 8 Mile, in which she played Eminem's mother, The Door in the Floor (2004) and Cellular (2004). Basinger and actor Alec Baldwin were married in 1994, but split up in 2001; they have a daughter, Ireland, born in 1995.