Kim Basinger facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kim Basinger
Basinger at the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990
Born	Kimila Ann Basinger (1953-12-08) December 8, 1953 (age 71) Athens, Georgia, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Georgia
Occupation	Actress singer
Years active	1976–present
Works	Full list
Spouse(s)	Ron Snyder ​ ​ (m. 1980; div. 1989)​ Alec Baldwin ​ ​ (m. 1993; div. 2002)​
Partner(s)	Mitchell Stone (2014–present)
Children	Ireland Baldwin
Awards	Full list
Signature

Kimila Ann Basinger (born December 8, 1953) is an American actress who became a major movie star. She is known for winning many awards for her acting, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Basinger started her career as a model before becoming an actress in 1976. She became famous worldwide when she played a Bond girl in the 1983 James Bond movie Never Say Never Again. She continued to be a popular actress for many years.

One of her most famous roles was playing the reporter Vicki Vale in Tim Burton's 1989 movie Batman. This is still the highest-earning film of her career. In 1997, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie L.A. Confidential.

Some of her other well-known movies include The Natural (1984), 8 Mile (2002), Cellular (2004), and Fifty Shades Darker (2017).

Early Life and Modeling

Basinger modeling for Breck Shampoo in 1974

Kim Basinger was born in Athens, Georgia, on December 8, 1953. Her mother, Ann, was a model and actress, and her father, Donald, was a musician and loan manager. She is the middle of five children. As a child, Basinger was very shy. She said her shyness was so bad that she would sometimes faint if a teacher asked her to speak in class.

From a young age, she studied ballet. When she was a teenager, she became more confident and joined her school's cheerleading team. At age 17, she won the Athens Junior Miss beauty pageant.

Basinger was offered a contract with the famous Ford Modeling Agency. At first, she turned it down to study acting and singing at the University of Georgia. But she later decided to move to New York and become a Ford model. She earned a lot of money as a model but did not enjoy it. She said she felt uncomfortable always being judged on her looks.

During the early 1970s, she appeared on the covers of many magazines and in hundreds of ads. She was famous for being the "Breck Shampoo girl." At the same time, she took acting classes and sang in clubs in Greenwich Village.

Acting Career

First Movie Roles

In 1976, Basinger quit modeling and moved to Los Angeles to become an actress. She appeared in TV shows like McMillan & Wife and Charlie's Angels. Her first main role was in a TV movie called Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold (1978).

She made her first movie appearance in the drama Hard Country (1981). This was followed by the adventure movie Mother Lode (1982).

Becoming a Star

Basinger's big break came in 1983 when she played the Bond girl Domino Petachi in Never Say Never Again, starring with Sean Connery. The movie was a huge success, making $160 million worldwide. This role made her famous around the world.

After this, she starred with Robert Redford in the baseball movie The Natural (1984). Her performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1989, she played the photojournalist Vicki Vale in Tim Burton's hit movie Batman, alongside Michael Keaton as Batman. The movie was a massive success, earning over $400 million. Critics praised her performance, and it remains the most successful film of her career.

Success in the 1990s

Basinger at the Deauville American Film Festival in 1989

After Batman, Basinger starred in several other films. In 1993, she appeared in the comedy Wayne's World 2 and was in the music video for the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song "Mary Jane's Last Dance".

In 1997, she made a big comeback in the crime movie L.A. Confidential. She played a glamorous woman caught up in a police mystery. The movie was a huge hit with critics. For this role, Basinger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Later Career

In 2000, Basinger starred in I Dreamed of Africa, playing the real-life writer Kuki Gallmann. She later said this was one of her favorite filmmaking experiences.

In 2002, she played the mother of an aspiring rapper, played by Eminem, in the movie 8 Mile. The movie was a critical and commercial success. In 2004, she starred in the thriller Cellular as a kidnapped teacher.

Her other films from this time include The Sentinel (2006), where she played the First Lady of the United States, and Charlie St. Cloud (2010) with Zac Efron.

In 2016, she had a role in the comedy The Nice Guys with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. She then played Elena Lincoln in the movies Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018). Most recently, she appeared in the video game Crime Boss: Rockay City (2023).

Personal Life

Basinger with Alec Baldwin in Paris in February 1994

Basinger married makeup artist Ron Snyder-Britton in 1980. They met on the set of the movie Hard Country and divorced in 1989.

In 1990, she met her second husband, actor Alec Baldwin, while they were filming The Marrying Man. They got married in 1993. They have one daughter, Ireland Baldwin, who was born in 1995. Basinger and Baldwin separated in 2000 and their divorce was finalized in 2002.

Since 2014, Basinger has been in a relationship with her hairstylist, Mitch Stone.

Activism

Basinger is a vegetarian and a strong supporter of animal rights. She has worked with organizations like PETA to create ads against wearing fur. She also helped create a bill in California to protect farm animals.

Major Films

Some of Basinger's most popular and successful films include:

See also

In Spanish: Kim Basinger para niños

• Bond girl
• List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations