1988 Swimwear Illustrated Cover Girl of the Year
DONNA STOKES
(From Swimwear Illustrated, April 1988 issue) Don't be surprised if Donna Stokes looks familiar. In the world of swimwear modeling, promotions and contests, Donna is Queen of the Roost. She's been on not one, but three covers of Swimwear Illustrated, plus the cover of BIKINI magazine. When it comes to contests, she's used to coming out ahead. Her career got its first big boost when she won the Hawaiian Tropic Pageant, and as a grand finalist she was chosen to represent the company in national print ads and personal appearances around the world. While en route, she was discovered by the casting agents of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and her bikinied figure still flashes at the beginning of the show. Of course, fame is just one of the benefits of looking like Donna, she's also made a lucrative career of swimwear modeling and contests, and even her new bright red RX-7 is one of her many awards.
When this 5-foot-7, 24-year-old Nashville lady isn't strutting her stuff in swimwear, she's still making an impression modeling. Among her many commercial credits are Sun Country Wine Coolers and a score of music videos, including the cover of Lee Greenwood's album Streamline. She's also been seen three years running on Nashville's Country Music Awards, wearing a floor-length glittering gown and assisting with the awards presentation. Not bad for a Little Southern girl who says she used to be "an ugly duckling."
"I was never cute," she says with her thick-as-molasses Southern accent. "When I was a kid I was real skinny and ugly, and all the kids made fun of me. At night I would go to bed and pray that I would gain weight."
Well folks, Donna did. The butterfly began to emerge when Donna was in her mid-teens.
Donna was born and raised in Clarksville, a town of about 60,000 in Tennessee. Her first crack at notoriety was as a "mat-maid," a cheerleader for her high school's wrestling team. In the next three years Donna continued to "fill out" and she went from Clarksville high school homecoming queen to successful national model, and she didn't have to move further than Nashville to accomplish this. Nor does this down-home country girl have any ambitions to leave her native state.
"Eventually, I'd like to open a charm school in Clarksville," says Donna. She's a deeply religious young woman and her family, and faith, come first and foremost in her life. She has plans not of stardom and glittering lights, but of settlin' down and raising a family of her own some day. But in the meantime, Donna's going to flash that famous smile and enjoy her moment in the spotlight to the fullest. And you know, it couldn't happen to a nicer girl.
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