There’s a curious kind of fame that exists at the periphery of Hollywood’s glittering lights. It’s a fame that flickers like an old neon sign, burning bright for a fleeting moment before slowly dimming into the backdrop of cultural consciousness.
Kristin Holby is the perfect epitome of that peculiar brand of stardom. If you blinked in the 80s—or, more likely, if you were too busy trying to mimic Eddie Murphy’s streetwise swagger or Dan Aykroyd’s high-society smugness—you might have missed her entirely.
But if you didn’t, if you were among the ones who noticed the striking presence of Penelope Witherspoon in Trading Places, you’d have found yourself asking, at some point, “Whatever happened to Kristin Holby?”
Background Info
Kristin Holby, whose real name is Kristin Clotilde Darnell, was born on November 9, 1951, in Oslo, Norway. She has a sister named Grethe Holby.
As a child, her family migrated to New York where she grew up, and later attended both Murray Avenue School and Mamaroneck High School in Mamaroneck, New York. After graduating high school, she enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design where she took several courses in apparel design. It was through her coursework that she found her love for fashion and began working as a fabric designer for a local textile company.
This love eventually parlayed into a modeling career in the 1970s and 1980s. Known back then as Clotilde, she successfully modeled for several big names including Givenchy, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, and Yves St. Laurent.
Trading Places
After her modeling career ended, Kristin pursued acting. Her biggest claim to fame was playing Penelope Witherspoon in the 1983 film, Trading Places. The film stars acclaimed actors Dan Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy, as two people from different social classes and economic statuses trading places in an experiment (unbeknownst to them, of course) to see if Murphy’s street-wise character can find the same level of success as Aykroyd’s Winthorpe if given the same treatment and opportunities.
Kristin’s character ultimately vilifies her finance once his rag-to-riches story becomes a riches-to-rag story instead.
What Did She Do After Trading Places?
After Trading Places, Kristin’s career halted a little bit before ultimately landing the role of Mrs. Jacobi in the 1986 film, Manhunter. The film follows a former FBI profiler as he attempts to pursue a new serial killer nicknamed the “Tooth Fairy.”
What is Kristin Holby Doing Now?
Kristin officially quit acting in 1986, making her bit part in Manhunter has last role to date. In between Trading Places and Manhunter, Kristin married Sebastian White in March 1984. She and White, who was a physicist, had three children together, a son and two twin daughters named Camilla and Pheobe. However, the marriage didn’t last too long.
In the early 1990s, she married James Edwin Darnell, Jr., a Vincent Astor Professor Emeritus of Biology at the famed Rockefeller University. Unfortunately, information regarding the exact date of their wedding is not available online.
Kristin’s private life remains pretty tight-lipped. As of publication, Kristin is now in her 70s and does not have any current social media channels, nor is she on Cameo or participating in interviews. That being said, there are several fake Instagram profiles for Kristin Holby floating around. She does, however, have a women’s clothing line and store called Clotilde: The Dress Shop, located in Larchmont, New York.
Who is her husband, James E. Darnell, Jr.?
As mentioned in the above entry, Kristin has been married to her current husband, James E. Darnell, Jr. since the early 1990s. James, who is in his 90s, has achieved a lot in his lifetime.
During his career, he made several important contributions to RNA processing. He is currently on the Advisory Council for the National Center for Science Education and in 2002, received the Medical of Science from former U.S. President George W. Bush. He is also the author of the textbook, Molecular Cell Biology.
Twin Daughters
Kristin has two twin daughters, Camilla and Pheobe, both born on July 18, 1989. While they are both active on Instagram, both of their accounts are set to private.
Phoebe White
Phoebe White currently serves as Executive Director of U.S. Rates Strategy at J.P Morgan. Before this, she served as Vice President of the company.
She married Divya Kumar Narendra on June 17, 2017, at the Wainwright House in New York. Narendra is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of SumZero, an online platform made for investors.