Demi Moore — Back on Top of Hollywood's "A" List by Kaya Morgan

Among those selected by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in the world, and voted by Shape magazine readers as the "Most Sexy Woman," we are not surprised that some of Demi Moore's most famous acting roles have put her considerable assets on display. After a six-year hiatus while nestled in the small town of Hailey, Idaho, we now find her upstaging the Charlie's Angels stars at their own premiere, drinking vodka and Red Bull, studying the Kabbalah and sporting a new tadpole boyfriend. But it's not always been an easy road for the recent bikini-clad star.
Born in the town of Roswell, New Mexico, not only was her family poverty stricken, but the future soap opera star's childhood was a drama in itself. Her father, employed by the U.S. Airforce, was barely married to her mother for 2 months. Later, mother, Virginia remarried a newspaper ad salesman, Danny Guynes, who she believed until age 14, was her biological dad. His rather unstable career forced the family to move around from time to time, often being overshadowed by his alcohol abuse and gambling debts.

After her stepfather's shocking suicide, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Demi, now 16, left school and began working as a pin-up model in Europe, which is why even today, nude pictures of her at a young age can be still be found in circulation. Having a cross-eyed condition that was finally corrected after two surgeries, she also opted for her first plastic surgeries as a young model wanting to have the perfect look.

At 18, Demi married rock musician, Freddy Moore, twelve years her senior, and took Moore as her signature surname. But, their short-lived marriage did more than make Demi, Mrs. Moore. It led her to pursue an acting career when their neighbor, actress Nastassja Kinski, inspired her to embark upon an acting career. Soon, Demi launched into acting, beating out a thousand other hopefuls to win a role on the daytime soap opera, General Hospital, in 1982. Her early films, made during her tenure on the poplar soap, went largely unnoticed until she won a supporting role in Blame it on Rio (1984), starring Michael Caine, when her movie career finally took off.

By the time Moore got her first major film role in 1984, as a vivacious young cocaine addict in St. Elmo's Fire, she herself was battling drug addition. The film's director, Joel Schumacher, reportedly threatened to fire her if she didn't clean up her act, and Moore successfully quit using drugs during the film. When St. Elmo's Fire was released, it became one of the quintessential movies of the eighties, and its attractive young cast members including Moore, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy and Ally Sheedy became forever known as the "Brat Pack." Over the next three years, Moore and Estevez's on-again, off-again engagement was said to be Demi's first real love.

Shortly thereafter, Moore met actor Bruce Willis, the then charming star of TV's hit show, Moonlighting. After a whirlwind three-month courtship, Moore and Willis were married in November 1987. Less than three years later, both Moore and Willis made the leap to the A-list of Hollywood stardom — Willis with his role as the wisecracking cop in the blockbuster action film, Die Hard (1988), and Moore with the smashing success of Ghost (1990), the supernatural romantic drama co-starring Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg.

Over the years, Demi has had a series of not-so-remembered films, along with a number of hot tickets like A Few Good Men (1991) with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, Disclosure (1994) with Michael Douglas, and Indecent Proposal (1994) with Robert Redford and Woody Harrelson, which garnered her an MTV Movie Award for the "Best Onscreen Kiss."

Moore has led the industry in a series of landmark "1st's" — the first actress to demand the same salary and benefits as her male counterparts including equal billing on a movie's credits; the first established bona fide actress to take on roles that involved substantial nudity with her controversial film, Striptease — the film that placed Demi among the highest paid female actresses with a salary of $12. 5 million. She also appeared nude for Oui magazine, and twice on the cover of Vanity Fair, once when seven months pregnant, and a second time covered only in body paint.

Demi has managed to rock-to-the-top of the fame charts by combining good career moves, sex appeal, and an 11-year, high-profile marriage to actor Bruce Willis with whom she still remains close friends. Despite her lack of work over recent years, Moore has clearly led an accomplished career. Her fame and box office power have allowed her to create her own TV and film production company bringing us two Austin Powers box office hits, and also directing some independent films.

Even though forty, after all, is ancient in Hollywood years, Demi Moore's figure is a testament to the discipline, advantageous genes, along with Moore's personal commitment to excellence. Although it is the image of her in a bikini that makes the eye linger, it is not simply because it is the most revealing.

To read more updates on Demi click on Demi Moore.