Born December 8, 1953, in Athens,
Georgia. A former fashion model, Basinger worked for several years to establish
credibility in Hollywood.
Basinger
began her acting career with appearances on television series like Charlie's Angels
and The Six Million Dollar Man. Her feature film debut came in 1981 with Hard
Country, and her breakthrough role came two years later opposite Sean Connery's
James Bond in Never Say Never Again. In
1984, Basinger starred with Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, and Glenn Close in
The Natural. She steamed up the screen with Mickey Rourke in 9 1/2 Weeks (1986),
and cemented her reputation as a sexy screen star with a turn as Vicki Vale, the
love interest in 1989's Batman, starring Michael Keaton. While filming the less-successful
The Marrying Man (1991), she met her future husband, Alec Baldwin.
After
taking off a few years to devote time to her family, Basinger came back with the
biggest role of her career, as a gorgeous Veronica Lake look-a-like prostitute
in the critically acclaimed L.A. Confidential (1997), also starring Kevin Spacey
and Russell Crowe. She earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the role,
an accolade that gave her a career a much needed boost.
The
film was based on a memoir by Kuki Gallmann, Basinger's character in the movie.
Her next project, a horror film called Bless the Child, was released later that
year. Both films were critical and commercial disappointments.
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Kim Basinger Nude Gallery