Katherine Heigl

Biography

Heigl is a two-time Golden Globe® nominee and Emmy® Award winning actress, as well as a producer. She is best known for her starring roles in the feature films "The Ugly Truth," "27 Dresses" and "Knocked Up," as well as her work on ABC's critically acclaimed drama "Grey's Anatomy." For her performance as Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on the series, she won an Emmy and earned two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

Named #19 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006," Katherine Heigl became a star at the age of nine. Since then, her life has been on a swing and exciting. From modeling as a child star to doing TV commercials to being cast in a movie at the age of fourteen, Heigl has seen it all; popularity, celebrity status and sizable fan following.

Born on November 24th 1978, in Washington DC, Heigl's family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut soon after. The youngest member of her family, Heigl is of an Irish and German decent. She lost her brother due to brain injuries caused by a car accident in 1986. When the doctors pronounced her brother brain dead, the Heigl family made the generous but difficult decision to donate her brother's organs. This proved to be a turning point in young Heigl's life and she has since then used her celebrity status to promote the importance of organ donation.

Hollywood Calling
After making her movie debut in "That Night" (1992), Heigl got the opportunity to work with one of the best directors in Hollywood, Steven Soderbergh. She appeared in the Depression-era drama film, "King of the Hill." In 1994, she landed her first leading role in the comedy, "My Father The Hero" and caught the nation's imagination. Not wanting to give up on her education, Heigl continued attending the New Canaan High School, thus balancing her academic studies with her film and modeling career.

After achieving such super fast success, Heigl realized that acting was not just her passion but calling.

The year 1995, saw her star opposite Steven Seagal in the action thriller "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory." In 1996, it was the lead role in "Wish Upon a Star," a Disney film. Heigl starred in three movies in 1998; "The Tempest," set during the American Civil War, where she co-acted with Peter Fonda, "Bug Buster" and "Bride of Chucky." The year 1999, was very eventful for Heigl. She made her first appearance on television as an actor in the science fiction drama, "Roswell." Her role of Isabel Evans was an instant hit and found more exposure in the second and third seasons of the show.

Heigl worked on many movies even while shooting for "Roswell." Some of these movies are "100 Girls," and "Valentine" (Horror movie). She also went on to star in movies such as "Evil Never Dies" (2003), "Love Comes Softly" (2003), "The Ringer" (2003), and "Wuthering Heights" (2005).

She then starred opposite Gerard Butler in the romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth," which she also executive produced. These roles earned Heigl "Female Star of the Year" honors at the 2010 ShoWest awards. In 2017, Heigl starred in the Warner Brothers' thriller "Unforgettable." Additional film credits include "The Big Wedding," "New Year's Eve," "Life as We Know It," and "Killers."

She was part of an all-star cast, including Will Arnett, Liam Neeson and Brendan Fraser, lending their voices to the animated comedy feature "The Nut Job" and the recently released sequel "The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature."

Outside of film and television, Heigl co-founded along with her mother, Nancy, the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation in honor of her older brother, who died much too young in an automobile accident and whose strong, compassionate nature and great love of animals was the cornerstone of their endeavors.

The foundation funds pet education programs, actively supports spay/neuter programs, pet adoption programs and funds and supports small dog transport from local kill shelters to both no-kill shelters and rescues facilities throughout the country. To date, the foundation has helped countless animals in need and funded more than 25,000 spay/neuter surgeries, the transport of over 8,000 animals out of high-kill shelters to areas where they are rapidly adopted and an overwhelming variety of adoption and training programs intently focused on improving the plight of our pets.

Heigl also actively supports Donate Life, the organ donation foundation.

Heigl is married to singer-songwriter Josh Kelley and the couple have three children, daughters Nancy Leigh Mi-Eun and Adalaide Marie Hope, and son Joshua Bishop Kelley Jr. Heigl resides in Utah with her family.


Personal Trivia
Heigl played the cello in High School.

Achievements
Has been ranked #72 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women In The World" (2002).
Also ranked #55 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005."
Named #19 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006."
Got engaged to musician Josh Kelley in June 2006.

Past Projects
27 Dresses.... Jane
Knocked Up.... Alison Scott
Caffeine.... Laura
Grey's Anatomy (TV).... Dr. Isobel
The Ringer.... Lynn Sheridan
Romy and Michele: In the Beginning (TV).... Romy White
Wuthering Heights (TV).... Isabel Linton
Evil Never Dies (TV).... Eve
Love Comes Softly (2003) (TV) .... Marty Claridge-Davis
Roswell (TV).... Isabel Evans
100 Girls.... Arlene
Bride of Chucky.... Jade
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.... Sarah Ryback
My Father the Hero.... Nicole

Katherine Heigl was born in Washington, DC on November 24, 1978.
Name: Katherine Marie Heigl
Date of Birth: November 24th 1978
Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)

Talent Agency: Paradigm
360 N. Crescent Dr. North Bldg.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
USA

"I'm grateful people think I'm beautiful or think I'm sexy, and I suppose it's better than the alternative, but I do try to fight it a bit so it's not all people see me as. And I'd love to one day be in a position where I could choose a role to showcase my creativity versus just my bra size."

Katherine Heigl (Razor Magazine Interview)