Christie Brinkley is celebrating her 70th birthday.
Celebrations are in full swing for the supermodel’s big birthday. She posted a carousel of photos on Wednesday of her and two of her kids on vacation in Turks & Caicos. The photos show her sitting on a cabana at the beach and her and her kids smiling under a balloon arch and happy birthday banner.
“We made it here just in time for a golden sunset at lucky house,” she captioned the post. “And swipe to see what the kids did to our living room so I don’t forget I’m turning 70 on Friday! isn’t that S W E E T!!!!”
Speaking with People in January 2024, ahead of her milestone birthday, Brinkley admitted it has led the model to think of all the things she still wants to accomplish in life.
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“I still have to see India,” she shared. “I’ve never been to Tahiti or Thailand. I want to go to Bali also. I’ve got to do an eat, pray, love.”
Brinkley told the outlet she is approaching 70 “with a lot of reverence and emotion.” She explained she feels similar to when she turned 50, saying both birthdays are “a time when you look both back and forward.”
Brinkley is celebrating her 70th birthday. (Getty Images)
“The big 7-0 is another one of those [ages] that’s up there in giant block numbers that loom over,” she told the outlet. “At 62, you start thinking, ‘Well, I’m almost 70.’ It cast a shadow all over that whole decade down.”
Despite initially thinking she was going to throw “a big blowout” party, she admitted to being so busy she didn’t have time to plan much.
“That’s absolutely fine with me,” Brinkley said.
The actress made waves as a model after being discovered in Paris in 1973. She went on to make history multiple times as a model, while also making appearances in popular movies and TV shows.
In addition to being a highly successful model, Brinkley is also a proud mother to three children and has started many successful businesses. Going forward, she isn’t going to let growing older keep her from pursuing new projects.
Brinkley got her start as a model in the early 1970s after being discovered in Paris. (MEGA/GC Images)
“What’s the big deal about 30? What’s the big deal about 40?” Brinkley told Tamron Hall in September 2023. “If you take good care of yourself, and you eat right, and you exercise, and you have a good mental attitude — lots of laughter, lots of curiosity, lots of adventures — that keeps you young. In short, age is just a state of mind, so I just don’t think about it.”
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Here is a look back at the model’s life and career.
‘A very reluctant model’
Brinkley began modeling in 1973 when she was studying abroad in Paris. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Brinkley started her modeling career in the early 1970s after being discovered by an American photographer in Paris while she was there studying abroad.
Soon after being discovered, Brinkley signed with Elite Model Management and appeared on over 500 magazine covers, including Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Cosmopolitan.
Despite calling herself “a very reluctant model,” Brinkley made history twice, once for being the first model to appear on three consecutive covers of Sports Illustrated in 1979, 1980 and 1981 and when she signed a record-breaking 25-year contract with CoverGirl Cosmetics.
“My Sports Illustrated adventures have been some of my favorites in my modeling career,” Brinkley told Fox News Digital in July 2018. “It’s very hard to explain that feeling and the teamwork that happens and being in the most beautiful places with the most beautiful light and being outdoors from when the sun comes up to when the sun sets. … Working for Sports Illustrated is like you are outdoors looking for beauty the whole time. … Working with a team and trying to create a beautiful image — it’s really special.”
‘Girl in the red Ferrari’
Brinkley appeared as “the girl in the red Ferrari” in “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Brinkley made her on-screen debut in the 1983 movie “National Lampoon’s Vacation” opposite Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo.
In the film, she played “the girl in the red Ferrari” who kept running into Chase and D’Angelo’s characters while they are on vacation with their family. She’s been asked to reprise her role more than once but has only agreed to do so a few times, including in a 2019 episode of “The Goldbergs.”
“I think this is a really good reprisal right here, and I think it fits because both families have that same dynamic,” Brinkley told Entertainment Weekly in September 2019. “In fact, when they wanted me to do the [2015 remake], they said, ‘They’ll open the door and it’ll be you and Chevy together,’ and I said, ‘Oh, no! No, no, no, you guys would ruin everything because what we loved about the first movie was the fact that they can argue, they can carry on. But at the bottom of everything they stick together and they’re a family. You can’t break up that family.’”
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After making her debut, Brinkly appeared in a few music videos for her ex-husband Billy Joel and episodes of “Mad About You,” “Ugly Betty,” “Parks and Recreation” and “Nightcap.”
Becoming a businesswoman
Brinkley has many businesses, including a wine company, Bellisima. (Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Buca di Beppo)
Although Brinkley hasn’t put her modeling days behind her completely, she has branched out into the business world, becoming an entrepreneur.
Over the years, the Sports Illustrated model has created a line of beauty products; Christie Brinkley Authentic Skin Care; her own wine label, Bellisima Prosecco; a hair extension line, Hair2Wear; and a line of eyeglasses, Christie Brinkley Eyewear.
She recently announced a partnership with Xcel Brands. She will work with the company to create a lifestyle and apparel brand called Twrhll. She says it’s “inspired by [her] many years in fashion and the timeless style of [her] home.” The main goal of the brand is “inclusivity and fun fashion.”
“I want to inspire women at any age and with any body type to confidently wear products that support their individual characteristics,” she said in a statement in December 2023. “Twrhll is a brand specifically tailored to these efforts, and I am excited to connect personally with consumers across retail and livestream channels.”
Love life
Brinkley has been married four times. (RJ Capak)
Brinkley has found love more than once. She was married to French artist Jean-François Allaux from 1973 to 1981.
After a brief relationship with Olivier Chandon de Brailles in 1982, Brinkley began a relationship with singer Billy Joel. The two met in 1983 when both were vacationing in St. Barts and soon began dating.
The couple got married in 1985 on a 147-foot yacht in New York Harbor and welcomed one daughter together, Alexa. In 1994, they announced their separation. Their divorce was finalized in August of that year after nine years of marriage.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Brinkley hinted that a lack of communication was the reason for their split, saying, “Just because people can express themselves through their art doesn’t mean they are great communicators in person.”
Brinkley and Joel were married for nine years before getting divorced in August 1994. (Vinnie Zuffanate/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
While still legally married to Joel, Brinkley was introduced to real estate developer Richard Taubman, and the two were married in December 1994. They were married for less than a year before welcoming son Jack and getting divorced in June 1995.
Brinkley’s fourth marriage was in 1996 to Peter Halsey Cook. The two had one daughter, Sailor, before finalizing their divorce in 2008. They decided to go their separate ways when Cook confessed to having an affair with his 18-year-old assistant.
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Their divorce was anything but amicable. In a 2012 statement released on Facebook, Brinkley said she was “dealing with a person diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder,” saying Cook’s motivation for taking her to court that year was “extortion for money he was not owed.”
“I ‘moved on’ from my marriage to Peter Cook the moment a police offer tapped me on the shoulder and informed me that ‘my husband had been cheating on me in a two year affair with his 17 year-old-daughter,’ she wrote. “Since that moment, it has been an odyssey of frustration as I have navigated the court system with one goal to find peace and protection for my family from the various forms of abuse at the hands of a narcissist.
Brinkley and Cook got divorced after Cook admitted to cheating on her with his 18-year-old assistant. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“In a late night settlement, I finally won the right to establish boundaries with provisions such as an intermediary to deal with email bullying, verbal and emotional abuse,” she later added.
Cook also addressed the demise of their marriage during a 2008 interview with the late Barbara Walters.
“I was seeking a connection I could not find in my own marriage,” he said. “I wanted a little acknowledgement, a little attention, a little thank-you every now and then for my efforts, for the amount of time I took to care for her and my family, for the wealth I was building. Just the tremendous amount of work I was putting into my family.
“My hope is that the world will see that I’m not the scumbag pervert that I’ve been painted to be.”
‘I have three real individuals’
Brinkley is the mother of three children, two daughters and one son. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)
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Aside from her many career successes, Brinkley is a mother to three children, Alexa, Jack and Sailor.
Alexa has released many singles and an EP, saying both her mom and her dad have inspired her musically, as both are Broadway fans.
Sailor decided to follow in her mom’s footstep, and has been photographed for Sports Illustrated and Vogue. She has walked the runway for many high-profile designers. She and her mom even walked the carpet together for the Elie Tahari show during New York City Fashion Week.
“When I started my career, I was a very reluctant model,” Brinkley told AARP in January 2019. “Like, it was not part of my plan. I really didn’t like so many things about the idea of it, you know? And she’s doing the exact same thing. She’s, like, ‘No, no, I’m not really a model. I’m going to be a photographer.’ And I was doing the same thing. I was saying, ‘I’m going to be an artist.’”
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All three of Brinkley’s kids chose a different path. (Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Her son Jack has mainly stayed out of the spotlight, choosing instead to enter the tech world, launching a ride-share app called Rove, which helps people who are trying to get from New York City to the Hamptons.
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“You learn so much from each child, just getting an opportunity to see the world through their eyes. I have three real individuals,” Brinkley told Parade in May 2018. “They all find magic in different places, and I feel so fortunate to be able to experience that.”