Julie "Tawny" Kitaen

Yesterday I saw the news and was taken back by it. How in the world could Tawny Kitaen be gone? For guys that were teenagers in the eighties, Tawny Kitaen was the dream girl in music videos. The firey, redhead, in lingerie or tight clothes. She was a mystery as a model in music videos for the band Whitesnake then went on to be an actress, cover model, and sex symbol. I think, looking back, there were posters of her on my wall that made my high school girlfriend jealous. She was the larger-than-life embodiment of the rock and roll model that every metalhead and fan loved, even though we didn't know her.

Who was she though? Who was she behind the screens, the glitz, the glamour, and the music that brought her onto our screens during the MTV rock years? What happened to this promising star that by all accounts burned far too bright and burned out way too soon?

Tawny Kitaen was born Julie Kitaen. Hailing from San Diego, California, Kitaen was born in 1961 to Linda and Terry Kitaen. Linda was a one-time beauty queen and Terry, Kitaen's father, was an employee of a neon sign company. It was at just twelve that Kitaen took on the nickname Tawny. At fourteen, backstage at a concert, she learned that the girlfriends of the performing act were treated like a princess and wanted that life for herself.

Kitaen started modeling and appeared in television commercials. She worked for Jack LaLanne's Health Spas in the early 80s. Later, Kitaen went on to appear on the cover of Ratt's debut album Ratt and the band's debut album with Atlantic, Out of Cellar. At the time she was dating the Ratt guitarist, Robbin Crosby. In January of 2021 Kitaen claimed it was what inspired her to try acting.

As an actress, Kitaen had numerous roles including starring opposite Tom Hanks in the comedy Bachelor Party. She also starred opposite Jerry Seinfeld as Jerry's girlfriend in an episode. Tawny graced nineteen episodes of The New WKRP in Cincinnati from 91 to 93 as a DJ named Mona doing a show called Mona Til Midnight. She went on to co-host America's Funniest People from 92 to 94. Kitaen starred in some lower-budget movies and many one-and-done roles throughout the years. Some of the most memorable ones went barely noticed but I'll never forget seeing her on Married With Children in the Shoeway to Heaven episode.

From her role as Gwendoline in the Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak, to Linda Brewster in the movie Witchboard, all the way to her 90's television appearances, Tawny left a trail of roles and red-haired memories wherever she went.

Kitaens' personal life became fairly well known after it was revealed that she had an affair with OJ Simpson while he was married to Nicole. Marrying Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale, something we all saw coming, she found herself divorced just two years later. Kitaen's life from there saw her marry baseball player Chuck Finley and have two daughters. In 2002 Kitaen was arrested for domestic violence and Finley promptly filed for divorce just three days later.

That wouldn't be the end of her legal troubles as she was charged with possession of fifteen grams of cocaine in 2006 when police searched her home in Orange County. She entered rehab as a condition of getting the authorities to dismiss the felony possession charge. Then again, in 2009, Kitaen was arrested for driving under the influence and was sentenced to 2 days in jail, and ordered to enter a first-offender alcohol program.

Tawny Kitaen was one of the most beautiful women of the 1980s. She'll forever be remembered as a star. From the Whitesnake videos that will bring memories of her in that white lingerie to her running through a hotel in white lingerie in Bachelor Party, guys will forever remember the firey red-haired sex symbol. At 59 years old, Julie "Tawny" Kitaen died after the tumultuous life of a Hollywood Icon.