She is the first supermodel. To some, she is the most enduring supermodel. To many, she is the most stunning supermodel. And to Sports Illustrated, Kathy Ireland is the most photographed supermodel on their annual swimsuit issue. Ireland was an L.A. beach bum who spent her summers hanging out at the shore. Then one summer, an agent from Elite approached her. Within weeks, she was signed with the agency in New York. The day after her high school graduation, she was headed for Rome.

In 1987, Ireland appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia. That same year, she landed the lead in Alien from L.A., a low-budget film about a G-stringed woman who stumbles on the undiscovered continent of Atlantis. The film bombed, but she was called the body of the year. Ireland says nabbing the cover of Sports Illustrated's 25th-anniversary swimsuit issue in 1989 launched her into the forefront of the fashion industry. The U.S. market became virtually saturated with Ireland in the early '90s, when she appeared everywhere sporting everything from couture spreads in Vogue and Mademoiselle to workout duds in Fitness.

Melrose Place fans will remember the leggy actress in her 1992 four-episode stint as Brittany Maddocks, the evil but gorgeous scam artist who was killed after trying to seduce Jake. The following year proved to be one of the her most active both personally and professionally. She posed for her first Kathy Ireland calendar and released her first fitness video, Kathy Ireland's Total Fitness Workout. And after doing her third SI swimsuit issue and getting her mug on Cheerios cereal boxes, Ireland achieved her most memorable feat she gave birth to Erik. Although she continues to sell calendars and memorabilia off-the-walls, Ireland spends the majority of her time with her son. In 1996, she helped Lays launch their low-fat potato crisps and made what many consider to be her comeback, in Howard Stern's Private Parts. As the years pass, she hopes to focus more on acting and always on Erik.