Jayne Kennedy is a former fashion model, actress, and Television personality. She was the first African American woman, who was crowned as Miss Ohio in 1970. She also participated in the Miss USA beauty pageant and was the fourth runner-up. Her face was once insured for $1 million.
Career
She made her acting debut with the B-Movie ‘Group Marriage’ in 1973. She went on to appear in a string of B-movies over the next few years. Kennedy also appeared in many TV series including ‘Ironside’, Banacek’, ‘The Rockford Files’, ‘Wonder Woman’ and many more. In 1978, she became one of the first female network sports anchors in an era when hiring attractive women was merely a rating ploy designed to lure male viewers. She also served a stint with comedian Bob Hope on his overseas tours to entertain American troops in Southeast Asia toward the end of the Vietnam War.
In the early 1980s Kennedy the celebrity-exercise bandwagon and released a how-to video, Love Your Body, that was a top seller in the early 1980s.
Personal life
In her early modeling career, Kennedy-Overton met famous DJ Leon Isaac and they both fell in love. The couple got married after a year and moved to Los Angeles. The marriage lasted for eleven years and ended with a divorce. After three years, she married actor Bill Overton and they are still married and have four kids. She suffered from endometriosis, a painful uterine-tissue condition, for a number of years. She also underwent surgery and she left her career to raise her children.
She now devotes her time to community causes and to writing her memoirs. She has also done charity work for groups including the National Lung Association, the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation, and many more.
Here below are some beautiful photos of Jayne Kennedy from her modeling and acting career.
