Kathleen Marie Ireland was born on March 20, 1963 in Glendale, California. Her parents are John and Barbara Ireland. She also has a sister Cynthia. When she was a teenager, she tried herself as a photographer. In the 1979, being at the high school she was chosen by Elite Model Managementagansy and started her model career at the age of 16.
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She started her career seriously in the 1984 and joined Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, where she featured in the journal for 13 years in a row and left in the 1996. At the end of 80s, she was the cover model for the first time on the 25th Anniversary Swimsuit Edition, and later returned in 1992 and in 1994. During her model career she appeared on covers for world wide famous journals like “Vogue”, “Cosmopolitan”, “Mademoiselle” as well as “Forbes”.
In the early 90s, she became a business lady and founded her own Company of brand marketing “KiWW”, which also is known as Kathy Ireland Worldwide Company. She worked with KMart Company and later concentrated her business in home products. It was her successful years and her annual net worth rose to 10 million dollars per year. Till 2012 products of her company generated two billion dollars in annual retail sales, which made her company a leader in its industry.
She started her acting career in the middle of the 80s. She made her TV debut appearance in the series “Charles in Charge” in the 1985. In the 1989 she played in the movie “Alien from L.A.”. In the same year she played the role of Wanda Saknussemm at the fantasy film “Journey to the Center of the Earth”.
The next year she appeared at the movie “Mr. Destiny”. During her years as an actress, she has made her appearances with an episodic role in such projects like “Melrose Place”, “Tales from the Crypt”, “Touched by an Angel”, and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”. She also tried herself as a voice actor for several projects like “The Fantastic Four” and “Totally Spies!”. She also participated in the 9th season of the popular reality show “Dancing with the Stars”, where she danced along with Tony Dovolani.
This beautiful self-made woman reached to the 20 successful woman list by the Forbes magazine. In addition to her model and acting career, she also was an author and already published six books. In the 2002 she wrote her first literary work titled “Powerful Inspirations: Eight Lessons that Will Change Your Life”. She also published books by her children, like “An Angel Called Hope” and “Mona's Favorite Words, What Do Mommies Do?” which appeared in the 2005.
She also is an active in charity work and even donated $10 million for Toys For Tots to the millions of at-risk children and youths. She has been married to Greg Olsen since 1988. Her husband is a physician. The couple is blessed with three children named Erik, Lily and Chloe. Her incredible net worth is approximately 420 million dollars.
Last Modified: Mar 10, 2020
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