Cheryl Tiegs

Cheryl Rae Tiegs was born on September 25, 1947, in Breckenridge, Minnesota. Her family moved to Alhambra, California, in 1952. Encourage to pursue modeling by a friend, she began her career by working part-time during high school and college, accepting various assignments for minimal pay. While attending Alhambra High School, Tiegs modeled for a swimsuit advertisement for Cole of California, which appeared in Seventeen magazine. She later enrolled as an English major at California State University, Los Angeles, but left before her junior year to focus on her burgeoning modeling career.

Tiegs’s modeling career advanced significantly when Glamour magazine’s editorial staff saw her Cole bathing suit ad, leading to her first Glamour cover shoot in Saint Thomas with Ali MacGraw. In the same year, she also appeared on the covers of Seventeen and Elle. Over the course of her career, Tiegs graced the covers of prominent fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. She achieved widespread recognition as a model, becoming known for her approachable ‘California girl’ image.

Her career highlights include being the first model to appear twice on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, notably with her 1978 fishnet swimsuit photograph. Tiegs was also featured on the cover of Time magazine four times, with her 1978 ‘All-American Model’ cover story solidifying her status. In 1979, she secured a $1.5 million two-year contract with Cover Girl cosmetics, which was the highest-value contract in the industry at that time. Throughout her career, Tiegs has consistently advocated for various social and environmental causes, maintaining a presence in public life.