She spent 25 years as the face of CoverGirl;[3] has appeared on over 500 magazine covers; and has signed contracts with major brands, both fashion and non-fashion.

Brinkley went on to work as an actress, illustrator, television personality, photographer, writer, designer, and activist for human and animal rights and the environment.

Brinkley was educated at Paul Revere Junior High School and attended Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles from 9th to 12th grade.

"[7] After being introduced to Elite, where Brinkley met the fashion photographers Patrick Demarchelier and Mike Reinhardt[9] who called Eileen Ford and told her about Brinkley,[6] she returned to California, and by the end of a lunch meeting with Nina Blanchard (Eileen Ford affiliate in Los Angeles) she had been booked for three national ad campaigns.

[17] As an editorial model, Brinkley has appeared on over 500 magazine covers,[3] including US, Vogue, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and the best-selling issue of Life.

19, Prell, MasterCard, Breck, Diet Coke, Anheuser-Busch, Got Milk?, Healthy Choice, Max Factor, Nissan, Noxzema, Revlon, Clairol, Borghese Cosmetics, Danskin, Nu Skin, Yardley of London, Halston, Vogue Patterns, Gottex and Black Velvet, among others.

[3] Brinkley played her first acting role in the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation as "The girl in the red Ferrari" opposite Chevy Chase.

Brinkley's appearance on NBC's Mad About You was the broadcaster's highest-rated half-hour episode since the finale of The Cosby Show.

[22] Brinkley made further television appearances, including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue television specials[19] and music videos for beau Billy Joel ("Uptown Girl", "Keeping the Faith", "All About Soul", "River of Dreams", "A Matter of Trust" and "Leningrad") and Mick Jones's "Just Wanna Hold".

[24] On April 8, 2011, in New York, Brinkley made her stage debut as Roxie Hart in the long-running musical Chicago.

In August, she completed a one-month engagement in the London's production at Cambridge Theatre and reprised the role on Broadway and continued with 182 total performances with the National Touring Company of Chicago in cities including Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston and Hartford.

On August 5, 2019, it was reported by Deadline that Brinkley would have a guest role on the season 7 premiere of the ABC television series The Goldbergs playing a character named Aleah Welsh.

[30] Since 1997, Brinkley has appeared with Chuck Norris in a long-running series of cable TV infomercials promoting Total Gym home fitness equipment.

[31][18] In 2008, Brinkley and Carlon Colker promoted National Family Fitness Day with Xbox 360 at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

[18] Brinkley illustrated the cover art for Billy Joel's 1993 triple platinum album River of Dreams.

[16] In 1991, Brinkley was considered to have an ideal, all-American look with her blonde hair, blue eyes, slim figure, and soft features, when Allure first conducted a survey taking the pulse of the average American (men and women) searching for their beauty perceptions and preferences.

In 1982, Brinkley had a romantic relationship with Olivier Chandon de Brailles, heir to the Moët-Chandon Champagne fortune.

The two had met in 1983 on the Island of St Barts, in the Caribbean, and were married on March 23, 1985, on a yacht on the Hudson River; it was also Joel's second marriage.

[67] She has also been involved in anti-nuclear activities and campaigned against the restarting of the High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR) located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

[68][69] Brinkley supports animal rights, most notably through the organization PETA,[11] having previously spoken out against the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.