Kimila Ann Basinger was born on December 8, 1953, in Athens, Georgia, to Don, a jazz musician and loan-company manager, and Ann, a former model, champion swimmer, and water ballet performer (her mother performed in some Esther Williams movies). Kim was extremely shy as a child, so much so that her parents suspected that she was autistic and had her tested for the condition. One thing was for sure: despite her bashfulness, Kim knew she was going to be an actress.

Since performing is in both her parents' genes, this was not too hard to believe. Basinger took diving, dancing and gymnastics lessons in high school. She was 16 when she entered the Athens Junior Miss contest, and won by singing a number from My Fair Lady. She later won the "Junior Miss Georgia" title and moved on to compete in the national Junior Miss pageant held in the Big Apple.

It was in New York that Eileen Ford of the Ford Modeling Agency met Kim and offered her a modeling contract. At first, Basinger refused the offer since she was more passionate about singing and acting, but she eventually returned to New York after changing her mind while in Georgia.

Basinger had to make quite an adjustment when she moved to New York; the different culture and lifestyle of the fast-paced city were intimidating for a small-town girl like her, but that didn't stop her from adapting to her new career. She graced dozens of magazine covers and posed for hundreds of ads throughout the early '70s, and was mostly known as the Breck shampoo girl. Kim also practiced performing by singing at various clubs in New York City, under the stage name "Chelsea."

Kim moved to Los Angeles in 1976, looking for a fresh start and a chance to break into acting. Though her modeling career was successful, she never gave up her dream of becoming an actress.

Kim's first six months in L.A. were not so glamorous, as she lived in a motel overlooking the Hollywood Freeway. She finally broke into television with roles in Gemini Man, Charlie's Angels and The Six Million Dollar Man. After a year in Hollywood, Basinger landed her first role, as the female lead (Officer J.Z. Kane) on the short-lived series, Dog and Cat.

Thanks to her performance in NBC's Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold (in 1978), Basinger won the female lead on the network's 1979 remake of From Here to Eternity and made her feature film debut in 1981's Hard Country. Although she was getting roles, Basinger felt that a spread in Play..boy was necessary to increase her status in the public eye, so she posed for the magazine in February of 1983. And it definitely didn't harm her film career: she took on the role of "Bond Girl" Domino Petachi in 1983's Never Say Never Again opposite Sean Connery, and was a notch in Burt Reynolds' belt in the remake of 1983's The Man Who Loved Women.

In 1984, she co-starred in The Natural with Robert Redford and in 1986, she starred in the sexy box-office smash 9 1/2 Weeks, with Mickey Rourke. It was this film that made Basinger more than a hot property; she became the key to high ticket sales. In 1989, Basinger starred as Vicky Vale in the hugely successful Batman, which led to a romance with Prince. Batman was actually her last box-office hit during the eight years that followed.

1989 was also the year Basinger made headlines after purchasing the town of Braselton in her native Georgia. But in 1993, she was sued by Main Line studio for violating a verbal agreement she had made to star in Boxing Helena. She was ordered to pay them $8.1 million, which caused her to file for bankruptcy. Even though she eventually reached an out-of-court settlement with Main Line, Basinger was forced to sell her interest in Braselton.

She finally found love again in 1991, after her marriage with makeup artist Ron Britton failed (they were married from 1980 until 1988). In 1993, she married Alec Baldwin, after meeting him on the set of 1991's The Marrying Man. In 1995, their only child -- a daughter named Ireland -- was born, which prompted Basinger to take a few years off. Even though she was out of the acting spotlight, she kept busy with her activism in animal rights organizations like PETA.

Kim returned to the big screen with a vengeance in 1997's L.A. Confidential, co-starring Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe, which resulted in Best Supporting Actress trophies at the Oscars and Golden Globes. Basinger's salary was bumped up to $5 million for 2000's I Dreamed of Africa, which she followed up with 2002's 8 Mile. While portraying Eminem's mother (in a loose biopic of the rapper), rumors even surfaced that Kim and Eminem were an item, but it seems they were just that: rumors.

After 2002's People I Know, Kim starred in 2004's The Door in the Floor, which received positive reviews. Basinger next starred in the thriller Cellular, which did well at the box office and earned her a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2005, she can add Jump Shot to her resume, while The Sentinel will follow in 2006.

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