Kathy Ireland
Encyclopedia
Kathleen Marie "Kathy" Ireland (born March 20, 1963) is an American former model, actress, and entrepreneur. She is the CEO and designer of her eponymous brand product marketing company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide.
, 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 San Marcos High School (Santa Barbara, California) in 1981, she was working steadily as a model
.
for 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 five 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.
, was later skewered during the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000
. Ireland's other appearances include Melrose Place, Boy Meets World
, The Larry Sanders Show
, Muppets Tonight
, 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.
, 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.
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."
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."
Life and career
Ireland was born in 1963 Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
, the daughter of John, a labor union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
organizer, and Barbara Ireland, who worked in charity. At age 17, Ireland was "discovered" by an agent for the Elite Model Management
Elite Model Management
Elite Model Management is a large modeling agency based in New York and Paris. It is a subsidiary of Elite World S.A.-History:Founded in France in 1972 by John Casablancas and Alain Kittler, it was rebought in 1990 by Nicholas Farrae. Elite World S.A. is the parent company of Elite Model...
company, and by the time she graduated from San Marcos High School (Santa Barbara, California) in 1981, she was working steadily as a model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
.
Sports Illustrated
Starting in 1984, Ireland was featured in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit IssueSports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated. It features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. In addition, the issue is a media nexus that in 2005 carried in advertising....
for 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
Christie Brinkley
Christie Brinkley is an American model and actress best known for her three consecutive appearances on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in the late 1970s and early 1980s, for her long-running contract with CoverGirl, the longest ever of any model in history, and for her marriage...
and Cheryl Tiegs
Cheryl Tiegs
Cheryl Rae Tiegs is an American model and actress.- Early years :Tiegs was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota but raised in Alhambra, California, and she graduated from Alhambra High School in 1965. She also attended the California State University, Los Angeles and became a little sister to the Sigma...
and surpassed only by Elle Macpherson
Elle Macpherson
Elle Macpherson is an Australian model, actress, and businesswoman nicknamed "The Body". She is perhaps best known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s...
(with five appearances). Ireland was the cover model for the first time on the 25th Anniversary Swimsuit Edition, which became SI
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
'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
Rachel Hunter
Rachel Hunter is a New Zealand born American model, actress and reality TV show host who now resides in the U.S. She is best known for her appearance in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues and her longtime marriage to singer Rod Stewart, which ended in 2006...
and Elle Macpherson
Elle Macpherson
Elle Macpherson is an Australian model, actress, and businesswoman nicknamed "The Body". She is perhaps best known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s...
; notably, both Hunter and Ireland were pregnant at the time.
Acting
Ireland has appeared in a number of television and movie roles. Her first movie, 1988's Alien from L.A.Alien from L.A.
Alien From L.A. is a 1988 science fiction film that stars Kathy Ireland as a young woman who visits the underground civilization of Atlantis. The film was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Plot:...
, was later skewered during the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. Ireland's other appearances include Melrose Place, Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
, The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
, Muppets Tonight
Muppets Tonight
Muppets Tonight is a live-action/puppet television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. Much like the "MuppeTelevision" segment of The Jim Henson Hour, Muppets Tonight was a continuation of The Muppet Show, set in a television studio, rather than a theater.-Format:The...
, Side Out
Side Out
Side Out is a 1990 film about a beach volleyball competition, featuring C. Thomas Howell, Peter Horton and Courtney Thorne-Smith.The term “side-out” refers to an obsolete rule in volleyball under which the winning point could only be scored by the serving team...
, Mr. Destiny
Mr. Destiny
Mr. Destiny is a 1990 comedy film starring James Belushi. Other actors in this film included Linda Hamilton, Jon Lovitz, Michael Caine, Courteney Cox, and Rene Russo.-Plot:...
, Necessary Roughness
Necessary Roughness (film)
Necessary Roughness is a 1991 comedy film starring Scott Bakula and Sinbad. The film was directed by Stan Dragoti, who has also directed the movies Mr. Mom, She's Out of Control, and The Man With One Red Shoe. In addition to Bakula and Sinbad, Necessary Roughness has an additional cast of Héctor...
, Mom and Dad Save the World
Mom and Dad Save The World
Mom and Dad Save the World is a 1992 sci-fi adventure, family, romantic comedy film which stars Jon Lovitz, Teri Garr, Jeffrey Jones, Eric Idle, Thalmus Rasulala and other actors. Jon Lovitz plays Emperor Tod Spengo who is the cruel, silly and over-dramatic emperor of the planet named Spengo. Teri...
, National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1
Loaded Weapon 1
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 is a 1993 crime-comedy film, directed by Gene Quintano and starring Emilio Estevez, Samuel L. Jackson and William Shatner...
(alongside William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
), Once Upon A Christmas
Once upon a Christmas (film)
Once Upon A Christmas is a 2000 family film directed by Tibor Takács. It stars Kathy Ireland, John Dye, and Mary Donnely-Haskell. The filming location was in Vancouver, British Columbia. It premiered on the PAX Network...
, and its sequel Twice Upon A Christmas
Twice Upon a Christmas
Twice Upon A Christmas is a 2001 sequel to the PAX television film, Once Upon A Christmas. The filming location was in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is directed by Tibor Takács and stars most of the original cast from the first film...
(her final film to date). She also appeared in the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 9)
Dancing with the Stars returned for a ninth season on September 21, 2009, on a three-night premiere. Executive producer Conrad Green confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that the 9th season would start off with 16 celebrities, with 3 double-eliminations halfway through the season...
, however, hers was the third couple eliminated in the second week of competition.
Entrepreneur
In 1993, Ireland put her name on a line of socks. After they proved a best-seller for KmartKmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
, 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
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
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.
Books
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."
Personal life
Kathy Ireland became an evangelical ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
at the age of 18, when she read the Bible out of curiosity. She has said that she switched her previously pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
stance on abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
to pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
after researching her husband Dr. Greg Olsen's medical books.
Ireland gave a speech at the fourth Youth Assembly at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
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
Jesusita Fire
The Jesusita Fire was a wildfire that began at approximately 1:45 PM on May 5, 2009 in the hills of Santa Barbara, California. The fire burned , destroyed 80 homes and damaged 15 more before being 100% contained....
near Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
: 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
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
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."