Who was Christie Brinkley’s biological father Herbert Hudson? Supermodel details abusive relationship with dad in new memoir Uptown girl

Herbert Hudson was the biological father of Christie Brinkley. The milkman from Monroe, Michigan, ended up marrying her mom, Marjorie Bowling, back in 1950. In her freshly published memoir Uptown Girl, Christie lays it all out, hinting that the man tagged as her “father” was really quite troubled and, frankly, abusive; his presence left more than just a passing mark on her childhood.

The book unravels in its own raw way, through years of harsh physical punishment and emotional pain, and eventually, almost as if by a legal mic-drop, Hudson stepped away entirely by giving up his parental rights.

A Childhood Marked by Fear

Back in a passage from Uptown Girl that People magazine published, Brinkley recalls some really dark memories from her childhood—those early years with her biological dad.

“Nearly every night, after Herb came home from work as a milkman, he took off his belt and whipped me,” she writes. “Other nights, he’d take me into the bathroom and wash my mouth out with soap, scouring until I tasted lye.”

She felt the abuse was just something she couldn’t escape, almost inevitable.

“It didn’t matter how good or quiet I was: Herb always seemed to find a reason to punish me.”

Her parents had split up when she was merely eight, and later her mom married TV writer Don Brinkley, who eventually became the legal dad for both Christie and her brother Greg.

The Last Encounter

One memory that stuck in her mind is the final time she saw her real dad: a Los Angeles County courtroom where he, of his own accord, gave up his parental rights.

“I was stunned [and thinking] Why didn’t he love me?” she writes.

That very same day, the judge turned to Don Brinkley, checking if he’d take on full legal responsibility for Christie and Greg. “Yes, absolutely,” he said. Christie described feeling a “huge sense of relief” in that moment.

Who Was Herbert Hudson?

Public records hint that Herbert G. Hudson was born around 1925 in Monroe, Michigan, to Herbert A. Hudson and Isabelle Gessner. He got married to Marjorie Marie Bowling on August 5, 1950, and together they had two kids before eventually calling it quits.

Hudson, who once worked as a milkman, lived in Monroe and even appeared in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census alongside his parents and siblings. After his split from Marjorie, he remarried in 1963 to Roberta M. Sugarman—a union that didn’t last either.

While not much is known publicly about what happened later in Hudson’s life, Brinkley’s memoir does offer some insight, suggesting that his presence faded pretty early on in her story.

Don Brinkley: A True Father Figure

In 1962, when Don Brinkley married Marjorie, he soon embraced a new chapter by adopting Christie and Greg. Christie notes that his sincere love and steady commitment really made a difference in helping her heal.

“To anyone we met, Don Brinkley was my dad,” she says in the People interview.

She reflects on his relationship with her mother as one filled with affection and stability.

“They loved, laughed and protected each other. They had it all. It was tangible and it filled up a room,” Brinkley recalls.

“I know that true love exists and I know that it’s possible to be lasting.”

Marjorie Brinkley’s Life

Marjorie Marie Brinkley died in 2012 at 81 in Sag Harbor, N.Y. She was the widow of Don Brinkley, to whom she had been married for 50 years, and she was known to friends and family as “Miracle Marge” for having survived years of health challenges.

Survivors include her children and grandchildren, among them the singer Alexa Ray Joel and the model Sailor Brinkley Cook, according to her obituary.

Uptown Girl Set for Release

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Uptown Girl by Christie Brinkley will be published by Harper Collins on April 29, 2025. The book follows her from a traumatic childhood through five decades in the public eye as a model, actress, and entrepreneur. Preorders are now open for it.

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