Interview with Christie Brinkley
Thursday / October 1, 2026
About Christie Brinkley
Model discovered in Paris, first on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover in 1979. She played Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway and wrote the memoir Uptown Girl.
Source: Katie Couric on YouTube
These answers are taken from Christie Brinkley on Marriage to Billy Joel, Her Abusive Biological Father, and More in New Memoir on Katie Couric's YouTube channel. You! Backstage did not conduct this interview.
What was your very first experience with modeling?
I was living in Paris in the garret under the rooftops. In my little garret, I did not have a shower or a bathroom or a telephone. We had a little dog to keep me company, and the little dog was sick, so I would put her in a little carrier over my shoulder and go a couple of blocks over to the telephone office to call the vet, almost daily. And this day, as I was rushing in to call my vet, I literally smashed right into Errol Sawyer, the photographer, who had seen me there before. He had a client who was looking for a sporty California type girl, and he was like, “That's the girl at the phone office.”
And he said, “Are you a model?” And I said, “No.” And he said, “Well, then you should be.” He gave me the address of his studio, because he also didn't have a phone. He said, “Please, trust me. Let's do some photos. I'll take you into the model agency.” I wasn't sure if this was a line, but my friend Stephanie said, “No, no, I've seen his name on a byline. Come, I'll go with you.” And that's how it happened.
What was a great moment for you as a model?
My first Sports Illustrated cover. I had no idea. I really was clueless. They threw a big party for me, and I literally called the agency to say, “I don't think I can go to that party. I already told somebody else I'd be at the studio.” And they were like, “What do you mean you can't go to the party? It's for you.” I just had no idea. I was doing my makeup in the car on the way there, sort of wet hair, just throwing myself together. By the third one, I had hair and makeup people. I had stylists getting me clothes.
I met Olivier at Studio 54, the first time I ever went to Studio 54. They were having a party for me for the first Sports Illustrated calendar. Ford Models and Sports Illustrated combined to do this party for me, and I was the person that they wanted to take a picture of, because it was the party.
What advice do you have for new models?
I was told my cheeks were too round, my body too curvy. When he took me into the model agency, I immediately assumed they would make me look like them. I was like, “Oh, what will they do to me? They'll do something to my hair.” But that was the thing that set me apart. So sometimes the things that you worry about are the things that make you different, and end up being your key to success.
And I was so lucky with the timing, because modeling just prior to that had been very elegant: long, lean, thin, elegant beauties. And then suddenly it was “Let's get physical,” with that whole movement of athletics, people starting to work out at home with Jane Fonda.
Has your career as a model progressed the way you expected?
I left for Paris to be an artist, and then when I became a model I had no time to be an artist, so my art shrank. I got a Rapidograph, which is a very fine-point pen, and I would do these little drawings in my journal.
I was a very reluctant model, I have to say. I used to love sitting at a cafe in Paris with my little sketch pad and being able to just blend in, and not be noticed. And then after Sports Illustrated, you get noticed. And I wasn't 100% sure about that whole part of it. It wasn't like it bothered me, but it was different. But people have always been very nice, I have to say. People just want to say hello. Especially after I was with Billy, then it was a whole different level.
Tell me something I may not know from reading your credits.
One day I did an acting class, just on a whim, and the acting teacher said, “Okay, you're going to have an argument in a fake language. Go.” And me and the other person on stage started going, and he said, “No, no, no, Christie, not a language that you speak, but a fake language.” And I said, “I am doing a fake language.” And he said, “No, you keep speaking French.” And I said, “I am?” And he said, “Yes, because I speak French perfectly.” So I was like, that's it. I must have been French in another life.
I always had this dream that I would live in a little garret in Paris and wear my beret. I remember The Umbrellas of Cherbourg came out, and my dad got me the album, and I would put the needle back and sing along. I loved the music. I loved the language, and I just had to get into the thick of it if it was the last thing I did.
What are some of your professional goals for the future?
I would do these little drawings in my journal of a restaurant and the whole crew sitting around the table, and I think someday I'll do a big canvas with this and I'll paint it. But my life hasn't slowed down to be able to do that yet. But someday I'll paint that.
At 71, your life just doesn't fit in a book. There are so many adventures that I couldn't put in there. Maybe another book.
I've always felt a sense of gratitude. My mom and dad raised me like that. I feel like I have gratitude on steroids, and I'm so grateful when I wake up in the morning and I've got a new day to dive into. Whatever it is that I get into, I enjoy it.
Christie Brinkley's Full Biography
Christie Brinkley was born on 2 February 1954 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She is an actress, known for National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), Vegas Vacation (1997) and Jack and Jill (2011). She was previously married to Peter Cook, Richard Taubman, Billy Joel and Jean-François Allaux.