Tawny Kitaen

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Julie "Tawny" Kitaen (born August 5, 1961, in San Diego, California) is an American actress.

Julie Kitaen was born to a Jewish-American father Terry Kitaen, who was an employee of a neon sign company, and Linda Taylor Kitaen, a housewife and a former beauty pageant queen. Julie began using the name "Tawny" at the age of twelve, on her own initiative.

Kitaen attended Pacific Beach Junior High and Mission Bay High School in San Diego, California, but never graduated. As an adult, Kitaen is 5'7" (1.70 m) tall.

[edit] Career

Tawny's first significant work away from home was in modeling, particularly in modeling blue jeans.

She began her acting career in 1983 with a minor role in a television movie, Malibu. In 1984, she starred as the title character of the erotic-adventure movie the Perils of Gwendoline (a.k.a. Gwendoline), and she also co-starred in the movie Bachelor Party as the bride-to-be of a young Tom Hanks.

Kitaen soon became associated with the "hair metal" scene. Decked in black leather, she appeared on the cover of the band Ratt's self-titled EP and breakthrough album, Out of the Cellar. In 1987, she appeared in the band Whitesnake's music video "Here I Go Again", in which she did the splits and rolled around on the hood of a Jaguar dressed in little more than a white negligee. She also appeared in promotional videos for Whitesnake's "Is This Love" in 1987, and in 1989 appeared in videos for "Fool For Your Loving" and "Deeper The Love." Kitaen married the band's lead singer David Coverdale in 1989, but the two divorced in 1991.

Riding the publicity from her music-video appearances, Kitaen took on a number of television roles. She was co-host of America's Funniest People with Dave Coulier from 1990 to 1992, and she was a regular cast member on The New WKRP in Cincinnati from 1991 to 1993. She guest-starred in an episode of the TV-program Seinfeld in 1991, and on Married... with Children in 1994. She had a recurring role as Deianira in three of the Kevin Sorbo Hercules television movies in 1994, and then in the regular television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. From 1992 until 1996, she provided the voice of "Annabelle" in the animated television show Eek! The Cat.

Tawny Kitaen in the Whitesnake music video "Here I Go Again"

After her marriage to Coverdale ended, Kitaen was romantically linked at varous times to Robbin Crosby,Tommy Lee, O.J. Simpson, Jerry Seinfeld, Chuck Finley and Jon Stewart. She married baseball pitcher Chuck Finley in 1997. She and Finley had two daughters together — Wynter Finley in 1993 and Raine Finley in 1996 — and the parents appeared in a feature of professional athletes and their wives in the 1999 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Tawny was one of the cast of the sixth edition of The Surreal Life, a reality television show on VH-1. The show began airing in March 2006. In an episode of the Surreal Life, Tawny verbally attacked Florence Henderson of the Brady Bunch to the dismay of her fellow castmates and the studio audience watching, while in the season finale, she blew up over a phone call that her fiance had her assistant, Kevin, fired because he was going to tell her that her fiance was allegedly sleeping with Tawny's manager.

[edit] Legal troubles

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On December 13, 2001, Kitaen was arrested in Newport Beach, California, for allegedly vandalizing another woman's automobile. On April 1, 2002, she was arrested again in Newport Beach and then charged with domestic abuse and battery for attacking Mr. Finley while the two were driving home. Kitaen reportedly kicked Finley several times with her high-heeled boots, and severely twisted his ear, leaving visible marks. Finley filed for divorce three days after this incident.

Kitaen admitted shortly afterwards in court filings that she had become addicted to prescription medications for depression and migraine headaches. Mr. Finley was granted a temporary restraining order against Kitaen and temporary custody of their children, and also as part of a criminal plea agreement, Kitaen was required to undergo substance abuse counseling and to make a $500 donation to a battered-women's shelter.