Julie E. “Tawny” Kitaen, who famously appeared as the woman in the Whitesnake video dancing on the hood of cars, died at age 59.
The cause of death is still unknown, according to Variety. The Orange County, California coroner’s office listed her as Tawny Finley and stated she died at her Newport Beach home Friday morning.
Born in San Diego, Kitaen was first introduced to the rock world by appearing on covers of back-to-back albums by heavy metal band RATT. Kitaen would later go on to appear in the band’s music video “Back for More.” The success would lead her to later appear in Whitesnake’s 1987 hit music video “Here I Go Again.”
Her on-screen appearance spurred her on to appear in the 1984 “Bachelor Party,” where she played on Tom Hanks’ girlfriend. Kitaen had multiple movie appearances, including “White Hot,” “Witchboard,” “Dead Tides,” and she even scored an appearance in a Seinfeld episode titled “The One With The Nose Job.”
Most recently, she had appeared on TV shows such as “The Surreal Life,” “Botched,” and “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” after she had a stint with the law and substance abuse issues.
She was married to former baseball player Chuck Finley from 1997 to 2002.
Source: Newmax