Shane and Sia Barbi
Encyclopedia
Shane Barbi and Sia Barbi (born April 2, 1963, in San Diego, California according to their official website), popularly known as The Barbi Twins, are vegan identical twins, models
, physical fitness
authors, and animal rights
activists.
Cosmopolitan UK
described the twins' popularity during the 1990s as "Barbi Mania" due to their record breaking Playboy
magazine covers and top selling calendars reported by E! True Hollywood Story
.
mail-order catalog. As adults, their career has included fashion
and mainly pin-up modeling.
In the early '90s they modeled for Chanel
, Thierry Mugler
, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano
and others.
The Los Angeles Times
did a cover story about the Barbi Twins when their billboard went up on Sunset Boulevard in 1989 immediately catapulting them to world wide attention. According to their 2001 E! True Hollywood Story
, the billboard, and the press that came from it, caught the eye of Hugh Hefner
. The twins were put on the cover of Playboy
magazine in the September 1991 issue which broke records by selling out in less than two weeks. In an unprecedented move, Hefner erected a billboard to promote the Barbi Twins and their second Playboy issue (which also broke sales records).
USA Today
said that the twins career brought them “caviar dreams and champagne life styles of the rich and famous”. Playboy called their covers “legendary” and credited their subsequent television appearances with “the highest ratings,” remarking that the twins became Hollywood landmarks and global obsessions.
The twins have also generated a degree of controversy - a Saturday morning cartoon and an MTV
show were criticized for being “too sexy” or “too controversial".
Magazines and tabloids called them everything from "the sexiest twins alive” and "the best selling calendar model’s of the world” (Cosmopolitan UK) to referring to them as both “bizarre and bulimic” and “sexual icons and America’s cartoon sweethearts” (Entertainment Weekly) The London Sun said that the Barbi Twins “took the glamour world by storm”. They were a favorite for cover models appearing on the covers and inside not only Playboy but mainstream national and international magazines like Cosmopolitan
and Redbook
. Newspapers, magazines and tabloids like USA TODAY
, Sunday Magazine’s News of the World, and the Daily Star, were plastered with articles and pictures of the twins.
Shane Barbi was among the many notable quotables when Newsweek
’s “Overheard” section (syndicated from the New York Post
, Page Six) picked up a quote from her during an interview, "You can ask us about our cup size or favorite positions but please no personal questions.” Stuff
magazine gave the twins the title of “Sex Symbols for 1993” placing them in good company with other popular female icons such as Marilyn Monroe
(1962), Farrah Fawcett
(1977), Madonna
(1991) and Sharon Stone
(1992).
Redbook
magazine took excerpts from the book “Diana’s Boys” which reveals how Prince William had his first crush on the Barbi Twins. The London Sun passed on a poster to the young prince autographed by the twins,“Love and Kisses, Shane and Sia”.
In the Caribbean, a riot ensued when the inmates caught a glimpse of the twins doing a photo shoot nearby but tourists were jumping out of ships yelling “Las Barbi’s”. After four years of the “best selling calendars”, photographs from a photo shoot were stolen from a NY film lab and "held for ransom" but were later returned.
In 2011 were featured and voted as one of MAXIM's Hottest Famous Twins, , were featured in numerous movie posters on behalf of animal causes (see Animal Activism below) and on covers and featured articles in True Cowboy Magazine.
and Entertainment Weekly
put them on their “Top 15 Hot Sheet” for their Barbi Twin Comic.
Other merchandise such as promotional trading cards, postcards, gift cards, gift wrap, mugs, lighters and just about any product that could have their images (or more specifically bodies) stamped on it were for sale. The Daily Star UK ran a comic strip called “The Barbi Twins, featuring the twin models with psychic abilities. Gift shops world wide contained Barbi Twin products and every Spencer Gifts had dedicated a corner to Barbi Twin merchandise as E! True Hollywood Story
reported.
did a special on the Barbi Twins in 2002 on their eating disorders, and the E! True Hollywood Story
did a biography on the twins in 2001. They also had several guest appearances on talk shows for television and radio, such as The Geraldo Rivera Show and The Howard Stern Show. The twins made several appearances along with William Shatner
, John Landis
, and many others in the American animated series Eek! The Cat
playing twin rocket scientists, "Dr. Shane and Dr. Sia". In 2007, they received an associate producer
credit on Curt Johnson
's animal activist documentary titled Your Mommy Kills Animals, which received highly acclaimed reviews from Variety
, Hollywood Reporter and LA Times.
In 2010 the twins again showed their support for the animal community and were featured in the movie Skin Trade, IMDB.
and a candid interview in USA TODAY
their bulimia and insecurities caused them to be obsessed with crash-dieting, bingeing and purging, abusing laxatives and destructive exercise routines for up to 10 hours a day. Their disorders manifested into agoraphobia
preventing them from attending the Hollywood major premieres and invites they received, causing them to cancel events, and to turn down offers for their own television shows and movies, and even dates with their high profile suitors.
During their recovery, the twins armed themselves with degrees in health and nutrition, and began lecturing in 2000 on “How to eat to live, not live to eat”. They lectured at the Learning Annex, universities and high schools as well as on radio, television and on-line. In early 2001, they came out to the nation on the CBS
television program 48HRS in a piece about eating disorders, entitled “Slim Chance.” They also shared their recovery story in a chapter in a celebrity addiction book called Feeding the Fame.
The twins first health and fitness book, Dying To Be Healthy: A Breakthrough Diet, Nutrition and Self Help Guide (1999), tells the story of their struggles with eating disorders and how they overcame it. Their second book, The Eco Anti-Diet, Plus Confession (2006), helps people understand how to be “eco and animal friendly” while being healthy and fit. 100% of the proceeds of the books go to animal charities.
and Hustler
magazine for shots taken at Playboy
studios that found their way to Hustler without permission. The twins had a vitamin line they were promoting to be introduced in 2004 and the pictures were never meant to be published. They sued for both the pictures and a fictional story that appeared in Hustler as the Barbi Twins claimed it ruined their health image.
but their parents divorced when the twins were just two. The twins believe that their mother was always a lesbian and when she left their father, she and they travelled to West Hollywood where Marsha became an "outspoken lesbian feminist". According to the twins, Marsha had numerous lesbian lovers including some quite famous women. Then she met closeted singer Dusty Springfield
in 1975 and the two women lived together for two years."We were 12 when they got together and we lived in this fantastic three-storey townhouse in West Hollywood. She became our unofficial godmother and every night she'd sing us to sleep," Shane told journalist Caroline Graham in 2002.
The twins were more tomboys than girly girls, but becoming models was an inevitable career path as they came from a show business family background.
Shane married Ken Wahl
in 1997. The Globe touted them as "Hollywood’s Hottest New Couple". Sia has dated many high profile celebrities (E True Hollywood Story) and is still single according to their official website.
By the year 2000 the twins began using their modeling career to help show support and draw focus on other issues they felt important, including publishing books on fitness and health issues (see publications below), showing their support for the military with their patriotic images and words of support, and animal rights.
and Hurricane Rita
and the California fires over the last few years (USA TODAY). They physically go and help rescue the animals from the waters and fires and also help instruct people on national disaster rescue tips for domestic and wild animals. The twins founded a website for animal activism called TheKittyLiberationFront.org which has now become TwinBunnies.com, and help animal charities and rescue groups worldwide, volunteer with shelters for walking and rehabilitating dogs, participate in the TNR (Trap, Neuter and Return). They made calendar featuring shelter animals, called “Pinup Pets” which was to support the hurricane animal rescue efforts (as seen in their documentary Your Mommy Kills Animals).
In a 2009 article by Fox News called the twins "the Willie Nelson of pin-up girls interviewing the twins where they spoke of how they (the twins) use their “seven and a half minutes each of fame” to speak out for animals. They participate in animal protests, such as anti-pet shops, anti-puppy mill, anti-circus, and anti-animal experimentation (vivisection
) and are vegan. They held a vigil for pets lost during the pet food poisoning that occurred that same year. They also help lobby animal bills, such as the pet food safety bill. In 2009 they became very active in lobbying against the ROAM bill for wild horses along with Willie Nelson
,, and continued their support speaking openly about the horse slaughter ban, the ban on de-clawing and the fight against factory farms and animal cruelty.
In 2010 they helped bring public awareness to the ban on seal hunting
in Canada by doing a media blitz to help end the brutality of seal hunting, the dangers to the sea turtles and other endangered species affected by the BP oil spill, and helped lobby and pass HR5566, the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act Bill (banning violent images against animals on websites). The Twins use their celebrity status in every way they can including offering their images up in posters displaying their "wacky humor and good looks" (Fox News) , such as their 2010 posters to support causes such as the Anti Fur movie "Skin Trade" and the cruelty that happens in the dairy industry in the documentary 'Earthlings'. and their 2011 Covers and featured articles in True Cowboy Magazine and their continuing fight to save the wild horses (February and April 2011 issues).
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....
, physical fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
authors, and animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
activists.
Cosmopolitan UK
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
described the twins' popularity during the 1990s as "Barbi Mania" due to their record breaking Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine covers and top selling calendars reported by E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...
.
Career
Shane and Sia began modeling at the age of seven when they posed for a layout in the SearsSears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
mail-order catalog. As adults, their career has included fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
and mainly pin-up modeling.
In the early '90s they modeled for Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
, Thierry Mugler
Thierry Mugler
Thierry Mugler is a French fashion designer and creator of several perfumes.-Childhood:Mugler was born in Strasbourg, France on 21 December 1948. His passion led him to focus more on drawing than on school and at the age of 9, he began to study classical dance...
, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano
John Galliano
John Charles Galliano CBE, RDI is a Gibraltan-born British fashion designer who was best known as head designer of French haute couture houses Givenchy and Christian Dior , and his own self titled fashion house.-Family:He was born in Gibraltar to a Gibraltarian father, Juan Galliano, and a...
and others.
The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
did a cover story about the Barbi Twins when their billboard went up on Sunset Boulevard in 1989 immediately catapulting them to world wide attention. According to their 2001 E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...
, the billboard, and the press that came from it, caught the eye of Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
. The twins were put on the cover of Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine in the September 1991 issue which broke records by selling out in less than two weeks. In an unprecedented move, Hefner erected a billboard to promote the Barbi Twins and their second Playboy issue (which also broke sales records).
USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
said that the twins career brought them “caviar dreams and champagne life styles of the rich and famous”. Playboy called their covers “legendary” and credited their subsequent television appearances with “the highest ratings,” remarking that the twins became Hollywood landmarks and global obsessions.
The twins have also generated a degree of controversy - a Saturday morning cartoon and an MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
show were criticized for being “too sexy” or “too controversial".
Magazines and tabloids called them everything from "the sexiest twins alive” and "the best selling calendar model’s of the world” (Cosmopolitan UK) to referring to them as both “bizarre and bulimic” and “sexual icons and America’s cartoon sweethearts” (Entertainment Weekly) The London Sun said that the Barbi Twins “took the glamour world by storm”. They were a favorite for cover models appearing on the covers and inside not only Playboy but mainstream national and international magazines like Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
and Redbook
Redbook
Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.-History:...
. Newspapers, magazines and tabloids like USA TODAY
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, Sunday Magazine’s News of the World, and the Daily Star, were plastered with articles and pictures of the twins.
Shane Barbi was among the many notable quotables when Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
’s “Overheard” section (syndicated from the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, Page Six) picked up a quote from her during an interview, "You can ask us about our cup size or favorite positions but please no personal questions.” Stuff
Stuff (magazine)
Stuff is a men's magazine featuring reviews of consumer electronics, and other articles of interest to a predominantly male audience.- UK edition :...
magazine gave the twins the title of “Sex Symbols for 1993” placing them in good company with other popular female icons such as Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
(1962), Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...
(1977), Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
(1991) and Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
(1992).
Redbook
Redbook
Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.-History:...
magazine took excerpts from the book “Diana’s Boys” which reveals how Prince William had his first crush on the Barbi Twins. The London Sun passed on a poster to the young prince autographed by the twins,“Love and Kisses, Shane and Sia”.
In the Caribbean, a riot ensued when the inmates caught a glimpse of the twins doing a photo shoot nearby but tourists were jumping out of ships yelling “Las Barbi’s”. After four years of the “best selling calendars”, photographs from a photo shoot were stolen from a NY film lab and "held for ransom" but were later returned.
In 2011 were featured and voted as one of MAXIM's Hottest Famous Twins, , were featured in numerous movie posters on behalf of animal causes (see Animal Activism below) and on covers and featured articles in True Cowboy Magazine.
Merchandising
Unlike most other models during that time period who posed for other products, the twins were the product. The London Sun credited the twins with starting the celebrity model calendar business. Shane and Sia posed together in several internationally-distributed Barbi Twins calendars from 1993 to 2007. After the success of their 1993 calendar the “Barbi Mania” continued with dozens of posters, a comic art calendar and two comic books. They were fantasy art fan favorites and appeared on covers such as Heavy MetalHeavy Metal (magazine)
Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. In the mid-1970s, while publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to jump-start the French edition of National Lampoon, he discovered the French...
and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
put them on their “Top 15 Hot Sheet” for their Barbi Twin Comic.
Other merchandise such as promotional trading cards, postcards, gift cards, gift wrap, mugs, lighters and just about any product that could have their images (or more specifically bodies) stamped on it were for sale. The Daily Star UK ran a comic strip called “The Barbi Twins, featuring the twin models with psychic abilities. Gift shops world wide contained Barbi Twin products and every Spencer Gifts had dedicated a corner to Barbi Twin merchandise as E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...
reported.
Film and television
48 Hours48 Hours (TV series)
48 Hours is a documentary and news program broadcast on the CBS television network since January 19, 1988. The program originally presented documentaries of various events related to a particular subject occurring within a 48-hour period, and is credited as one of the first to air a "reality show"...
did a special on the Barbi Twins in 2002 on their eating disorders, and the E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...
did a biography on the twins in 2001. They also had several guest appearances on talk shows for television and radio, such as The Geraldo Rivera Show and The Howard Stern Show. The twins made several appearances along with 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...
, John Landis
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
, and many others in the American animated series Eek! The Cat
Eek! The Cat
Eek! The Cat is an American and Canadian animated series, created by Savage Steve Holland and Bill Kopp and produced by Fox Kids and Savage Studios with animation by Nelvana, that ran from September 11, 1992, to August 1, 1997.-Premise:Eek! the Cat is about a purple cat named Eek whose motto is...
playing twin rocket scientists, "Dr. Shane and Dr. Sia". In 2007, they received an associate producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
credit on Curt Johnson
Curt Johnson
Curt Johnson is former General Manager of the Kansas City Wizards, a position he had held from 1999 to 2006.Johnson attended North Carolina State University, graduating in 1991 with a BA in Communication studies...
's animal activist documentary titled Your Mommy Kills Animals, which received highly acclaimed reviews from Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Hollywood Reporter and LA Times.
In 2010 the twins again showed their support for the animal community and were featured in the movie Skin Trade, IMDB.
Personal health
The twins struggled with bulimia. According to their E! True Hollywood StoryE! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...
and a candid interview in USA TODAY
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
their bulimia and insecurities caused them to be obsessed with crash-dieting, bingeing and purging, abusing laxatives and destructive exercise routines for up to 10 hours a day. Their disorders manifested into agoraphobia
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder defined as a morbid fear of having a panic attack or panic-like symptoms in a situation from which it is perceived to be difficult to escape. These situations can include, but are not limited to, wide-open spaces, crowds, or uncontrolled social conditions...
preventing them from attending the Hollywood major premieres and invites they received, causing them to cancel events, and to turn down offers for their own television shows and movies, and even dates with their high profile suitors.
During their recovery, the twins armed themselves with degrees in health and nutrition, and began lecturing in 2000 on “How to eat to live, not live to eat”. They lectured at the Learning Annex, universities and high schools as well as on radio, television and on-line. In early 2001, they came out to the nation on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television program 48HRS in a piece about eating disorders, entitled “Slim Chance.” They also shared their recovery story in a chapter in a celebrity addiction book called Feeding the Fame.
The twins first health and fitness book, Dying To Be Healthy: A Breakthrough Diet, Nutrition and Self Help Guide (1999), tells the story of their struggles with eating disorders and how they overcame it. Their second book, The Eco Anti-Diet, Plus Confession (2006), helps people understand how to be “eco and animal friendly” while being healthy and fit. 100% of the proceeds of the books go to animal charities.
Barbi v. Flynt
In November 2003, the Barbi Twins sued Larry FlyntLarry Flynt
Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. is an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications . In 2003, Arena magazine listed him as the number one on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list....
and Hustler
Hustler
Hustler is a monthly pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1974 by Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the Hustler Newsletter which was cheap advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to...
magazine for shots taken at Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
studios that found their way to Hustler without permission. The twins had a vitamin line they were promoting to be introduced in 2004 and the pictures were never meant to be published. They sued for both the pictures and a fictional story that appeared in Hustler as the Barbi Twins claimed it ruined their health image.
Personal lives
The twins were the daughters of property developer Bob Carlson (d. October 2001), a devout Christian and Marsha Barbi, a former Miss OhioMiss Ohio
The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program selects the representative for the U.S. state of Ohio to compete for the title of Miss America...
but their parents divorced when the twins were just two. The twins believe that their mother was always a lesbian and when she left their father, she and they travelled to West Hollywood where Marsha became an "outspoken lesbian feminist". According to the twins, Marsha had numerous lesbian lovers including some quite famous women. Then she met closeted singer Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
in 1975 and the two women lived together for two years."We were 12 when they got together and we lived in this fantastic three-storey townhouse in West Hollywood. She became our unofficial godmother and every night she'd sing us to sleep," Shane told journalist Caroline Graham in 2002.
The twins were more tomboys than girly girls, but becoming models was an inevitable career path as they came from a show business family background.
Shane married Ken Wahl
Ken Wahl
Ken Wahl is an American film and television actor, popular in the 1980s and 1990s. He twice won the title of Sexiest Man on TV, earned an Emmy nomination and won a Golden Globe.-Career:...
in 1997. The Globe touted them as "Hollywood’s Hottest New Couple". Sia has dated many high profile celebrities (E True Hollywood Story) and is still single according to their official website.
By the year 2000 the twins began using their modeling career to help show support and draw focus on other issues they felt important, including publishing books on fitness and health issues (see publications below), showing their support for the military with their patriotic images and words of support, and animal rights.
Animal activism
The twins participate in animal rescue projects, including major national disasters such as such as Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
and the California fires over the last few years (USA TODAY). They physically go and help rescue the animals from the waters and fires and also help instruct people on national disaster rescue tips for domestic and wild animals. The twins founded a website for animal activism called TheKittyLiberationFront.org which has now become TwinBunnies.com, and help animal charities and rescue groups worldwide, volunteer with shelters for walking and rehabilitating dogs, participate in the TNR (Trap, Neuter and Return). They made calendar featuring shelter animals, called “Pinup Pets” which was to support the hurricane animal rescue efforts (as seen in their documentary Your Mommy Kills Animals).
In a 2009 article by Fox News called the twins "the Willie Nelson of pin-up girls interviewing the twins where they spoke of how they (the twins) use their “seven and a half minutes each of fame” to speak out for animals. They participate in animal protests, such as anti-pet shops, anti-puppy mill, anti-circus, and anti-animal experimentation (vivisection
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
) and are vegan. They held a vigil for pets lost during the pet food poisoning that occurred that same year. They also help lobby animal bills, such as the pet food safety bill. In 2009 they became very active in lobbying against the ROAM bill for wild horses along with Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
,, and continued their support speaking openly about the horse slaughter ban, the ban on de-clawing and the fight against factory farms and animal cruelty.
In 2010 they helped bring public awareness to the ban on seal hunting
Seal hunting
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
in Canada by doing a media blitz to help end the brutality of seal hunting, the dangers to the sea turtles and other endangered species affected by the BP oil spill, and helped lobby and pass HR5566, the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act Bill (banning violent images against animals on websites). The Twins use their celebrity status in every way they can including offering their images up in posters displaying their "wacky humor and good looks" (Fox News) , such as their 2010 posters to support causes such as the Anti Fur movie "Skin Trade" and the cruelty that happens in the dairy industry in the documentary 'Earthlings'. and their 2011 Covers and featured articles in True Cowboy Magazine and their continuing fight to save the wild horses (February and April 2011 issues).
Books
- Barbi, Sia and Greg Gorman (photographer). Dying To Be Healthy: Millennium Dieting and Nutrition. Pentimento Entertainment, 1999. ISBN 1-892676-11-7
- Reprinted as: Dying To Be Healthy: A Breakthrough Diet, Nutrition and Self-Help Guide. 2nd Edition. Triumph Books, 2001. ISBN 1-892049-42-2
- Conte, Robert. History of the Barbi Twins. Studio Books, 1998. ISBN 1-890313-01-7
- The Barbi Twins. The Eco Anti-Diet, plus confessions AuthorHouse, 2006 ISBN 1-4259-2722-X
Calendars
- Barbi Twins: Shane and Sia – 1993 Calendar
- The Barbi Twins 1995 Swimsuit Comic Art Calendar ToppsToppsThe Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
ComicsComic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
, 1994- Artists include John Byrne, Adam HughesAdam HughesAdam Hughes is an American comic book artist who has worked for companies such as DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros...
, Julie BellJulie BellJulie Bell is an American painter. A fantasy artist and wildlife artist, she is a former bodybuilder and fantasy model for her husband, painter Boris Vallejo.-Career:...
, Miran Kim, Linser, et al.
- Artists include John Byrne, Adam Hughes
- Best of the Barbi Twins 1997 Calendar. H & H Global Inc.
- Barbi Twins 2000 Health & Fitness Calendar. Pentimento Entertainment, 1999
- "Barbi Twins" calendars for the years 2002 through 2007
Comic book
- Conte, Robert, Peter Hsu, Matt Haley, Fastner and Larson. The Barbi Twins Adventures. 1. Topps Comics.
External links
- The Barbi Twins Official Website
- Twin Bunnies Official Animal Activist Website Founded by the Barbi Twins formerly The Kitty Liberation Front
- Sia Barbi at the Internet Movie Database
- Shane Barbi at the Internet Movie Database
- Barbi Twins Chat Transcript from CBS News