Basinger was born in Athens, Georgia. Her father, Don Basinger, was a big band musician and loan manager who landed in Normandy during D-Day.Her mother, Ann, was a model, actress, and swimmer in Esther Williams films. She has two brothers, Mick and Skip, and two sisters, Ashley and Barbara.
When Basinger was sixteen years old, she started her modelling career by winning the Athens Junior Miss contest. She followed that up by winning the title “Junior Miss Georgia”. Basinger then headed to New York City to compete in the national Junior Miss pageant. It was there that Basinger was approached by fashion modeling mogul Eileen Ford, who offered the young beauty queen a modeling contract with Ford Modeling Agency. Initially turning down the offer in favor of singing and acting, Basinger reconsidered and headed back to New York to become a Ford model.
