Happy Birthday Demi! A Look Back at the Always Smokin’ Star

Abandoned by her biological father before she was born, Demi was given her stepfather Danny Guynes’ surname at birth—Demi Gene Guynes. She was raised in Roswell, New Mexico, and then moved with her family to California in 1976.

Interested in modeling and acting, Demi was persuaded by her close friend, actress Nastassja Kinski, to leave high school to pursue her aspirations at the age of 16. She got a modeling contract with Elite Model Management.

Only two years into her career, Demi met Freddy Moore, the lead singer of the Kats, at a video shoot for the band’s song "It's Not a Rumour." He was 12 years older than Demi, but the pair married in 1980. Sadly, their union lasted only four years.

Career-wise, Demi changed her surname to Moore and landed her first high-profile acting job as Jackie Templeton, an ambitious, smoky-voiced reporter. She stayed on the show for two years before Hollywood wooed her with roles in films like Blame It on Rio, St. Elmo's Fire, and About Last Night.

Three years after her divorce from Moore, Demi met rising movie star Bruce Willis at the premiere of Stakeout and they got married four months later. They had three daughters together and remained a Hollywood power couple for 13 years until they split in 2000.

In 1990, Moore was cast as Molly Jensen, the grieving widow of Patrick Swayze’s character in the supernatural thriller romance Ghost. It grossed more than $500 million at the box office and Moore was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress.

Never one to shy away from controversy, Moore appeared nude while seven months pregnant with her daughter Scout for the cover of Vanity Fair. The media imploded over the image, turning it into a pop culture milestone which has since been parodied and copied many times. With a saucy smirk, Moore returned to the magazine’s cover in 1992, this time only adorned in body paint.

In 1997, Moore went full Method actress for G.I. Jane, portraying Lieutenant Jordan O'Neill, a female soldier recruited to the U.S. Navy Combined Reconnaissance Team. Moore shaved her head and participated in weapon and combat training for the role. She made baldness hot!

At the age of 40, Moore made women everywhere feel completely inadequate when she sauntered on-camera in a tiny bikini, playing villain Madison Lee in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.

Despite the end of their marriage in 2000, Moore and Willis managed to create a peaceful, stable coparenting life for their girls. When Moore met and then married actor Ashton Kutcher in 2003, their atypical family unit embraced the young stepdad. Moore, Willis, and Kutcher often showed up with the kids in tow to support everyone’s work. While fans and the media found it weird on one hand, they also found it pretty admirable (especially in Hollywood).

Together since 2003, Moore and Kutcher were a high-profile media couple, showing up together for red-carpet appearances or via Twitter images shared with their cyberfans. The pair divorced in December 2012.

At 51, Demi is still smokin' hot. Since splitting from Ashton Kutcher, she was in 2011's critically acclaimed Margin Call and will be in the upcoming Very Good Girls.