The word weekend has been missing from Kelly LeBrock’s vocabulary. That’s because the actress and former model – who has called the Santa Ynez Valley home for nearly 20 years – is busy expressing herself through the power of the pen. She recently put the final touches on a meaty proposal for her memoir titled “Woman in Red,” a name that will sound familiar to anybody who saw her first feature film.
“The title sells itself,” LeBrock says in reference to the agreeable 1984 comedy. The Santa Ynez resident, who turns 50 on March 24, has endured a lion’s share of personal struggles, which isn’t to say her personal account will be a downer. Quite the contrary. “It is a story of empowerment and heart, to tell people to never give up despite hardships,” she explains, adding she would like her voice heard as someone who wants to help those who aren’t able to help themselves.
The chronicle isn’t fun and games about LeBrock’s considerable career in the limelight. Such achievements and fortune take a back seat when your beloved mother is dying. To have LeBrock describe it: “She has very low lights in the eyes.”
A divorcee once married to actor Steven Seagal – with whom she has three children – LeBrock has endured no shortage of obstacles in recent years. Her mother, Maria, afflicted with Alzheimer’s and dementia, has been ailing for upward of three years. And LeBrock’s brother Harold lost his battle with cancer a year ago. (She laments: “We brought him home to die.”)
LeBrock’s life in the Valley seems a far cry from her adolescent years in London, from where she returned to New York City, her birthplace. At the tender age of 16, she escaped the less-productive elements of England to return stateside in search of more gainful employment.
“All my friends were getting into drugs and other bad things,” she recalls with British accent intact. “I was unable to make enough money and had to pay modeling agents too much – working for free.”
It was in the Big Apple, when she was all of 19, that Vogue magazine came calling and introduced the world to LeBrock’s je ne sais quoi – in an unprecedented 24-page spread. She soon took a shine to America, though it wasn’t always easy: Just because Britons and Americans both speak English doesn’t necessarily mean they speak the same language.
“Words don’t mean the same thing. It was confusing,” LeBrock says. “Here, you say ‘trunk’ of the car, but there (England) it’s known as a bonnet.”
Nevertheless, she adds, “I felt like I had come to the right place.” And how. It wasn’t long before Christian Dior offered a deal she couldn’t refuse: Get generously compensated for working only 30 days per year. Eventually, LeBrock’s accomplishments led her to Los Angeles, where she would meet Seagal and start a family with him.
Getting cast in “The Woman in Red” – what she deems an “incredible” experience – elevated LeBrock to the silver screen for the first, but certainly not the last, time. She was effusive about working with co-star (and now longtime friend) Gene Wilder, whom she refers to as very talented man, actor and director. “When you start with a movie like that one,” she says, “the only place to go is down.”
Not exactly, given that her encore was the popular “Weird Science,” directed by the iconic John Hughes, who passed away last year. LeBrock likened that indelible production set to being in “a dormitory of complete crazies” – though not in the worst way. She couldn’t say anything negative about the late filmmaker, describing Hughes as a wonderful family man who loved children. “I have fond memories of John and always wanted to work with him again. There’s so much stuff he has written, so maybe his kids will follow up,” LeBrock says.
Her movie career lived on, with the likes of “Hard to Kill” and “Wrongfully Accused,” continuing into 2009 with the aptly named, “Don’t You Forget About Me.”
But the death of her younger sibling resonated, as have endless thoughts of her ailing mother — and LeBrock’s own biological clock. Hence the memoir.
“The truth is, I wasn’t happy, things in my life weren’t working,” she says. “If I end up like my mother, at least I’ll have stories I can read.”
The book “Woman in Red” encompasses a slew of subjects, from struggles to accomplishments. When LeBrock first shared the original manuscript with somebody, the confidante suggested it was merely a paper of bones – essentially missing something. LeBrock took heed, deciding to write the no-holds-barred truth: “My history that everybody whispered about.” Whether it makes readers laugh or cry, LeBrock thinks it’ll be worth the price of admission.
“I want to empower other women who have been in abusive relationships,” she contends. “Don’t let that light burn out; they can rekindle it.”
Perhaps it isn’t unexpected, then, LeBrock’s advice to aspiring models and actresses is to turn around and go home. Such words to the wise complement those she once expressed on behalf of Pantene products (“Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”)
“I would say to young ladies, if you cannot enjoy the body, face and soul of who you are, don’t go into modeling,” she adds. “But if you’re comfortable – you go, girl.”
These days, health simmers at the forefront of LeBrock’s mind. She is fed up with America’s health care system and strives to help a cherished friend by the name of Sam Craft. A hard-working masseuse based in Santa Maria, he sustained a stroke and is paralyzed. LeBrock has called upon the Valley Journal to accept donations and checks on Craft’s behalf.
“That would be brilliant. We can make a difference,” she says. While reflecting again on her family ties, LeBrock points to a recent journey she took to her old stomping ground in upstate New York. After going on a walkabout with her French-Canadian relatives, LeBrock better understands herself. Santa Ynez Valley, however, is where she belongs.
“I need a lot of space,” she explains. “The weather here is extraordinary, and there are very nice people. When you’re in trouble, the Valley really comes through.”
Despite years of enduring highs and lows, LeBrock maintains a self-effacing sense of humor, true to British form: “In my sweats,” is her reaction when asked how she’d like to be remembered a half-century from now.
Until then, LeBrock plans to make the twilight years truly count. “If you don’t have it right by the time you’re 50, well, time is getting short and slipping by.”