- Had a long-time involvement with but never married Don Henley of the Eagles. In fact, her first marriage did not occur, until she was in her late 50s, with noted philanthropist and Wall Street broker, Richard Gilder.
- Her younger brother, with whom she was extremely close, tragically died of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1978. She made a choice to take a three-year hiatus from acting as a result just as her career had reached its peak. Her film career never fully recovered after she came back. She originally was offered the top Bondian love interest that Barbara Bach portrayed in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) by director Lewis Gilbert but turned it down because of her initial self-imposed hiatus. The director, however, convinced her to play Holly Goodhead in Moonraker (1979) before she left the screen.
- Was the original choice for Agent Triple X (Anya Amasova) in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but as a moment of fate, got her chance as the 007 girl in Moonraker (1979) after Lewis Gilbert sat next to her on an airline flight.
- Professor at University of Houston, Houston Texas (March 2005)
- She is very active in raising money for the research and prevention of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, particularly because her brother's life was taken by same.
- Was the daughter of Barbara Wayne (née Kirkland) and Marion Clay Chiles, who was the brother of oil tycoon and Texas Rangers owner Eddie Chiles.
- Before entering films, she was one of the very top models of the 1970s.
- She was flying back to America having completed filming Death on the Nile (1978) and found herself sitting next to director Lewis Gilbert who was looking for an actress to play Holly Goodhead in the film Moonraker (1979), and asked her to audition for him.
- Battled breast cancer in 2005.
- Attended prestigious Finch College where she was discovered by a Glamour magazine editor and that led to her fashion modeling career.
- Was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, not long after the death of her father M. Clay Chiles (brother of oil tycoon Eddie Chiles).
- José Ferrer directed her on stage in productions of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "The Best Man" in the mid 1980s.
- Graduate of the University of Texas, Austin in 1969.
- Has homes in both New York and Houston.
- In 1982, she starred on the popular drama Dallas (1978) for one year, alongside Ken Kercheval. 10 years later, they played husband and wife on an episode of In the Heat of the Night (1988).
- Took acting lessons from a number of prominent drama teachers: Roy London, Milton Katselas, José Quintero, and Sanford Meisner.
- Her husband Richard Gilder donated money to a school called Northfield Mount Hermon, which is located at Mount Hermon in Massachusetts, so the school decided to name their theater the Chiles Theater after her.
- First attended the University of Texas at Austin before continuing her studies at the prestigious Finch College in New York City, where she was discovered for modeling by Glamour magazine and eventually joined the Wilhelmina company as a haute couture model.
- Directed by four Academy Award winners: Sydney Pollack, James L. Brooks, Cameron Crowe, and Quentin Tarantino.
- On the popular prime time soap Dallas (1978), she played Holly Harwood, a young woman who inherits her late father's oil company. She has a real life connection to the oil industry as her paternal uncle was oil tycoon Eddie Chiles.
- Her last name is pronounced like "files" with a "ch".
- Stepmother of Ginny Gilder.
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