Tiegs was born in Minnesota, but raised in California, where she graduated from Alhambra High School in Alhambra, California in 1965. She also attended the California State University, Los Angeles and became a little sister to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. By the time she was 17 years old, she appeared on the cover of Glamour magazine. Other covers followed, including Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Time, and Vogue.
She is best known for her long-running affiliation with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which featured her on the cover in 1970, 1975, and 1983. The 1978 poster of her in a pink bikini became an iconic 1970s pop culture image.
While posing for the 1978 swimsuit issue, she took a quick dip in the water on the beach wearing a white cotton fishnet swimsuit. When she emerged from the water, photographers—professional and amateur—flocked to her and asked her to pose for an extended amount of time—about 50 minutes. She later said she had no idea why the photographers suddenly took such an interest in her, and didn't discover why until she saw the final prints from the shoot: when wet, the suit was almost completely translucent.
Tiegs has resumed modeling, is appearing in the HGTV series Living With Ed and has an accessory and wig line for Revlon. She also appeared in Vincent Gallo's controversial film The Brown Bunny.
Tiegs was reputedly never comfortable in the spotlight and did not welcome the scrutiny that came with it. She has been married and divorced four times, to Stan Dragoti (1970–1979), Peter Hill Beard (1981–1983), Tony Peck (1990–1995), and Rod Stryker (1998–2001). Tiegs has admitted that during the height of her fame, she would jump from one relationship to the next, never secure with the man she was with.
Cheryl Tiegs has three sons, one by Peck and two by Stryker. She and Rod Stryker became parents of twin boys Jaden Joseph and Theo Reid in 2000 with the services of a surrogate mother. Stryker obtained exclusive custody of the twins during their divorce.
