Tawny Kitaen, the actor and model who became an MTV icon during the 1980s for her appearances in a series of videos for the rock band Whitesnake, has passed away at the age of 59.

Kitaen attended her first rock concert when she was 14 and later recalled that seeing the treatment that Peter Frampton's then-girlfriend received made her aspire to date a rock star, as well. She achieved that goal before she graduated high school, dating Robbin Crosby, the lead guitarist of the rock band, Ratt. She followed the band to Los Angeles in the late 1970s. Even after breaking up with Crosby, Kitaen agreed to model for the cover of Ratt's first two albums and appeared in the music video for their 1984 song, "Back For More" (Ratt's manager was the nephew of the legendary comedian, Milton Berle, so Berle also appeared in a number of Ratt music videos).

By the this time, Kitaen was pursuing a career as an actor, as well, and in 1984, she received her biggest role to date as Tom Hanks' bride-to-be in the hit film, Bachelor Party. That film brought her to the attention of Davie Coverdale, the lead singer of the rock band, Whitesnake. They started to date and Kitaen appeared in a series of Whitesnake music videos, including "Here I Go Again", "Still of the Night", "Is This Love," and "The Deeper the Love".

1987's "Here I Go Again" was the most famous of the videos, and Kitaen's acrobatic moves dancing across two cars in the video made her a star on MTV. She later recalled, “I didn’t have a lot of experience as a dancer. I was never a stripper. I did floor and I did the balance beam, so, you know, dancing on two Jaguar hoods, it was a snap!”

Kitaen married Coverdale in 1989, but they divorced in 1991.

During the 1990s, Kitaen appeared as a regular character on the syndicated sequel sitcom, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, as an overnight DJ at WKRP. She was also a recurring character, Deianeira, on the syndicated series, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. She briefly was the co-host of America's Funniest People, as well.

Kitaen married baseball player Chuck Finley in 1997. She had two daughters with Finley before divorcing in 2002.

In the 2000s, she appeared on a pair of notable reality shows, The Surreal Life in 2006 and then Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2008. In recent years, Kitaen had been working with a number of charities for victims of domestic abuse, like Kathy’s House, a shelter for women who are escaping abusive relationships.