Basinger, Kim (1953– )

US film actor. She became an international celebrity and sex symbol in the 1980s as a result of her performances in such high-profile Hollywood films as Never Say Never Again (1983), in which she was a ‘Bond girl’, the sex thriller 9 1/2 weeks (1986), and the romantic comedy Blind Date (1987). Such roles gave her little scope, and Basinger was used as little more than window dressing for shallow films lacking in plot and character development. In the wake of a high-profile lawsuit following her withdrawal from a verbal agreement to appear in Boxing Helena (1991), Basinger sought out more credible film roles. She was one of the few successes in Robert Altman's otherwise disappointing Prêt-à-Porter (1994), playing an exasperated reporter, Kitty Porter. Then, as Lynn Bracken in the James Ellroy adaptation LA Confidential (1997), she gave an Academy Award-winning performance as a high-society call girl servicing the fantasies of 1950s Hollywood society.

Among her other films are the thrillers No Mercy (1986) and Final Analysis (1992) and the comedies My Stepmother is an Alien (1988) and The Marrying Man/Too Hot to Handle (1991). In the latter, as in The Getaway (1994), she starred opposite her husband, Alec Baldwin. She also appeared alongside Michael Keaton (1951– ) and Jack Nicholson in Batman (1989). Later films include I Dreamed of Africa (2000) and Bless the Child (2000).

A former model, Basinger began her screen career in television, making guest appearances in such popular shows as The Six Million Dollar Man and Charlie's Angels, before featuring in the series Dog and Cat (1977) and the television film Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold (1978).