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Kathy Ireland
Kathy Ireland at the World Jewelry Center, 2008.
Date of birth	March 20, 1963 (1963-03-20) (age 45)
Place of birth	Santa Barbara, California
Hair color	Auburn
Eye color	Blue
Spouse(s)	Dr. Greg Olsen
Official website

Kathy Ireland (born March 20, 1963) is an American model, actress, businesswoman, and CEO of her eponymous brand product marketing company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide.

Biography

Kathy Ireland was born Kathleen Marie Ireland in Santa Barbara, California, daughter of John Ireland, a labor union organizer, and Barbara Ireland.¹ At 17, she was discovered by an agent for Elite Model Management, and by the time she graduated high school, she was working steadily as a model.².

Sports Illustrated

Starting in 1984, Ireland was featured in the annual Swimsuit Issue an extraordinary dozen times before her final appearance in 1996.³. In addition to her long tenure within the pages, Ireland appeared on the cover of the annual issue 3 times, a feat tied by Christie Brinkley and Cheryl Tiegs and surpassed only by Elle Macpherson. 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.⁴⁵ 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.⁵⁶

Acting

Ireland branched out from modeling into a small number of television and movie acting appearances. Her first movie, 1988's Alien from L.A., was later skewered during the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000⁷. Ireland also appeared in Melrose Place, Side Out, Mr. Destiny, Loaded Weapon 1, Once Upon A Christmas,Twice Upon A Christmas,Mom and Dad Save the World and Necessary Roughness.

Entrepreneur

In 1993, Ireland dipped her toe in the waters of brand marketing when she put her name on a line of socks. Kmart took a chance on them and after they proved a best-seller, the retailer offered Ireland her own clothing line⁸. Ireland then founded Kathy Ireland Worldwide (KIWW), a brand product marketing company in which she holds a majority stake.⁹ By 2004, Ireland was marketing products from 16 manufacturers; with Standard Furniture¹⁰ products representing about half the company's sales.⁸¹¹ Ireland's long-term exclusive contract with the K-mart Corporation lasted until 2003, after which she began adding thousands of independent mid-tier retail stores to her distribution chain.¹² By 2005, KIWW products were sold at over 50,000 locations in 15 countries, generating an estimated $1.4 billion in retail sales.¹¹ 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.¹³

Since 1994, Ireland has published several fitness videos.⁶ In 2004, she authored Powerful Inspirations: Eight Lessons that Will Change Your Life, published by Random House.¹⁴ In the book, Ireland uses the Bible and her Christian faith to highlight her life story and beliefs.

Personal life

Ireland is married to Dr. Greg Olsen and lives in Santa Barbara, California, with three children: son Erik, born May 1994, and daughters Lily, born 27 October 1998, and Chloe, born March 2003. She has two sisters: Mary Ireland and Cynthia Ireland.

Ireland has recently become outspoken about being pro-life. On Politically Incorrect, she said that she used to be pro-choice, and said that after reading her husband's biology books, she determined, "At the moment of conception, life starts".^{episode needed}

Ireland gave a speech at the fourth Youth Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters on 13 August 2007 on a subject of social entrepreneurship and partnerships.

References

External links

• Official Website
• Kathy Ireland at the Internet Movie Database