In 1981, Kennedy won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for her role as Julie Winters in “Body and Soul”. That same year, she was the first black woman on the cover of Playboy magazine.
A workout enthusiast, Kennedy produced and starred in her hit workout video “Love Your Body” in 1982 (Watch video below). During that time, she was a spokesperson for both Coca Cola’s Tab brand and Diet Coke. Soon would come her award winning role in “Body and Soul”, written and directed by her then husband, Leon Isaac Kennedy. The couple wed in a ceremony in which Motown legend Smokey Robinson served as the best man. Unfortunately, the union did not last, and the two divorced in 1982.
In 1985, Kennedy wed Bill Overton, one of the actors from the set of “Cover Girls”. They raised four daughters together. Kennedy was last scene working with the Children’s Miracle Network as a spokesperson, along with other national charity organizations.
After her run in Hollywood, Kennedy committed her time to raising her children.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nybZ5RHYgIk%5D
Little Known Black History Fact: Jayne Kennedy was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
