Cheryl Tiegs

Cheryl Tiegs’ first husband was advertising executive and future film director Stan Dragoti. Their marriage lasted from 1970 to 1979. She then had a whirlwind romance with photographer Peter Beard, whom she married on May 24, 1981. After their divorce in 1983, she began dating aspiring actor Anthony Peck (son of Hollywood legend Gregory Peck) and married him on November 23, 1990. Their son Zackary Anthony Peck was born on October 1, 1991. Tiegs and Peck’s divorce was finalized in 1995.

She was most recently married to yoga instructor and author Rod Stryker. The wedding took place on May 30, 1998. In July 2000, she became a mother of twin boys, Jaden Joseph Stryker and Theo Reid Stryker, via surrogacy. Her fourth divorce was finalized on October 8, 2001.

Tiegs currently resides in Bel Air, California. She also lives a significant part of the year in Minnesota with cyclist and author Dan Buettner.

Born on September 25, 1947, in Breckenridge, Minnesota, US, Cheryl Tiegs is the daughter of Phyllis and Theodore Tiegs. Her father was an auto-assembly lineman turned funeral director. When she was five years old, she and her family relocated to Alhambra, California, where she attended Alhambra High School.

In her senior year, she was chosen to pose for bathing suit manufacturer Cole of California. The advertisement, which was printed in ‘Seventeen,’ helped her start her modeling career.

The editorial staff at ‘Glamour’ became interested in Cheryl Tiegs after seeing the bathing suit advertisement. They reached out to her and without even having a traditional in-person meeting, hired her for a shoot in Saint Thomas with Ali MacGraw, which later led to her appearance on the cover of the magazine. She followed it up with several other cover appearances on magazines like ‘Seventeen,’ ‘Elle,’ ‘Vogue’ and ‘Harper's Bazaar.’

She became the first model ever to be featured on the cover of ‘Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue’ twice. In 1978, she was featured on the ‘Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue’ cover in a pink bikini. She also appeared in a fishnet swimsuit for the magazine that year. Both of these iconic appearances garnered her international recognition.

She was also featured on the cover of ‘People’ four times and ‘Time’ three times, including the "All-American Model" cover story in 1978.

In 1979, she signed a two-year contract with ‘Cover Girl’ cosmetics for which she reportedly was paid $1.5 million. At that time, it was the biggest contract ever signed between a model and a brand.

She and photographer Peter Beard became acquainted in New York in 1978. They travelled to Kenya together the following year and launched a photographic expedition to investigate the management and widespread destruction of African wildlife. An Emmy-winning documentary titled ‘Africa: End of the Game’ was made, chronicling their journey.

Besides being an ardent supporter of the Farrah Fawcett Foundation, Cheryl Tiegs is a member of the Board of Directors of C.O.A.C.H. for Kids and the Earth Conservation Corps. She also serves as the spokesperson for City of Hope, a private, not-for-profit clinical research centre, hospital and graduate medical school in Duarte, California, as well as the ambassador for Planned Parenthood. Tiegs has also lent her support to causes such as the Macula Vision Research Foundation and I Am Waters.

A long-time environment conservationist, she went on an expedition to the Arctic to know more about the effects of global warming. She was part of a General Motors environmental program, for which she drove a hydrogen-powered car to make people aware of the concept of zero emissions. In 2010, in an appearance on Planet Green’s reality show ‘Living with Ed’, she talked about environmentally conscious living.