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Pop Culture

Happy 50th Birthday Kathy Ireland, The Kate Upton Of The '80s

Was that headline a clever ploy to unite Generation X and Y in solidarity with millenials? You're damned right.

Everyone from the first two groups can agree on the bushy eyebrows and bikini-clad bod of Kathy Ireland, who turns 50 years old today, and was ubiquitous in Sports Illustrated's best late '80s and early '90s swimsuit issues (thirteen of them in a row), and our creepy adolescent fantasies.

REWIND:

The 20 Best Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Covers

It was those gym shorts of Ireland's in Necessary Roughness, man.

Ireland could be called the Kate Upton (the current reigning pinup) of her generation, Upton has built an empire with her ample bosoms, powered by the magic of Twitter and the help of the jiggling GIF. No doubt if those all existed in the '80s, Ireland would have been noticed in an even bigger way.

Let this blog unite all three demos to behold the greatness of Ireland, who is now a powerful businesswoman, earning $2 billion in 2011 with her line of, well almost everything from home furnishings to wigs. She's traded SI covers for Forbes covers.



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Craig Hlavaty
Contact: Craig Hlavaty