Tawny Kitaen: Whitesnake video icon dead at 59

One of the most iconic and gorgeous video vixens of all time, Tawny Kitaen, has passed away at only fifty-nine years old. No cause of death has yet been revealed, but obviously, this is way too young, so our hearts here at JoBlo.com go out to her family. If you happened to be alive in the eighties, Kitaen was an ultra-iconic presence. I remember vividly watching Whitesnake videos on MuchMusic here in Canada as a child and thinking – man – it doesn’t get much more rock n’ roll than Tawny doing cartwheels across two parked Jaguars, writhing about in a white negligee. It was ultra sexy, but also kind of sweet as Kitaen was married to lead singer David Coverdale at the time, and the two seemed to be madly in love.

Indeed, the two had their ups and downs, as revealed in probably my favorite book on the era, “I Want My MTV”, but Kitaen, arguably, was as responsible as anyone in the actual band for making them so iconic. I can’t hear “Here I Go Again” or “Is It Love” without thinking of her. Kitaen also had a good acting career going at the time, showing up as Tom Hanks’s love interest in one of his first hits, BACHELOR PARTY (the only movie ever where you see a donkey do a rail of coke), plus the horror classic Witchboard. She also turns up in a staple of soft-core erotica, Gwendolyne, which is kinda like Emmanuelle meets Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Rest in peace Tawny. We’ll never forget you!