Katherine Marie Heigl (b. November 24 1978) is an American actress. She was born in Washington, D.C., USA to parents Nancy and Paul. A short time afterwards, the Heigl family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut.

She has two elder siblings, John and Meg. Her older brother Jason died in 1986 of brain injuries suffered in a car accident. He had been thrown from the back of a pickup truck, and doctors determined Jason was brain-dead, so the family decided to donate his organs. This has motivated her to promote organ donation.

An aunt, visiting the family took a number of photographs of Heigl, (then aged 9). After returning to New York she (with Heigl's parents permission) sent the photos to a number of modelling agencies. Within a few weeks Heigl had been signed as a child model.

Almost immediately, she made her debut in a magazine advertisement, and soon followed this with an inaugural television appearance in a national commercial for Cheerios breakfast cereal. Heigl made her 'big-screen' debut in That Night (1992). It was then that she realized that acting as opposed to modeling was her passion.

Heigl appeared in Steven Soderbergh's depression era drama King of the Hill before landing her first leading role in My Father The Hero (1994). During this time, Heigl continued to attend New Canaan High School, balancing her film and modeling work with her academic studies.

In 1995, she played opposite Steven Seagal in the role of Sarah Ryback in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. Despite an increased focus on acting, she still modeled extensively, appearing regularly in magazines such as Seventeen. She took the lead role in Disney's Wish Upon a Star in 1996.

In 1996 Heigl's parents divorced, and after her high school graduation in 1997, she moved with her mother into a 4-bedroom house in Malibu Canyon, Los Angeles. Heigl's mother became her manager.

In 1998 she co-starred with Peter Fonda in a re-working of the classic Shakespearian play The Tempest, themed around the American Civil War.

Later in 1998 Heigl was featured in: Bug Buster (1998) and Bride of Chucky (1998).

In 1999, Heigl turned her attention to television when she accepted the role of Isabel Evans on Roswell. Heigl's role was expanded in the second and third season to showcase her talents.

To publicize her role on Roswell, she appeared on the covers of magazines such as TV Guide, Maxim, and Teen as well as appearing in FHM. She later appeared in the FHM and Maxim calendars and FHM's annual 100 sexiest women in the world.

Whilst Roswell was in production, Heigl worked on several films. 100 Girls, an independent film released in 2001; her cameo role was that of Arlene, the Competitive Tomboy. The second film, Valentine, a horror film starring David Boreanaz and Denise Richards. Katherine played Shelley, a medical student.

In the spring of 2001, Heigl accepted a role in Ground Zero, a two-hour, original television thriller scheduled to be telecast that fall. She co-starred as a brilliant and politically-concerned college student who helps to build a nuclear device, to illustrate the need for a change in national priorities. The bomb ends up in the hands of a terrorist following betrayal by a fellow student.

Unfortunately, "The Seventh Power" based on the bestseller by James Mills was shelved when its plot was considered too close for comfort to the terrible events of September 11, 2001. The title given, and its relation to September 11 also was deemed far too close thus, when "Ground Zero" re-emerged in 2003, it was now titled "Critical Assembly".

Heigl recorded a passionate public service announcement for the American Red Cross in an effort to help raise money for victims of September 11.

In 2002 in the movie Romy and Michele: In The Beginning, Heigl was cast in the role of Romy. It was a prequel to the movie - Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (which starred Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow).

Love Comes Softly , a telefilm for Hallmark Entertainment, found Heigl starring in the role of Marty Claridge, a young, pregnant newlywed travelling west.

Heigl continued her worldwide travels when she was cast as Isabella Linton in MTV’s modern 'revamp' of Emily Brontë's classic novel Wuthering Heights.

In early 2003, Heigl returned to the horror genre with Evil Never Dies, a modern-day variation on the Frankenstein story co-starring Thomas Gibson. She played the role of the professor's assistant, whose intentions are not as clear as the police officer is first led to believe.

In October 2003, Heigl was cast opposite Johnny Knoxville, as the leading lady in The Ringer , a Farrelly brothers’ comedy.

Heigl has dated her former Roswell co-star, Jason Behr, for several years. Through interviews, such as FHM (which she was the cover shoot for) in November 2004 it is insinuated she is no longer dating Behr.

Heigl is currently starring in Grey's Anatomy, a medical drama on ABC.

Credits

• Grey's Anatomy (TV) 2005
• Romy & Michele: In The Beginning (TV) 2003
• Wuthering Heights (TV) 2003
• Evil Never Dies (TV) 2003
• Descendant 2003
• Love Comes Softly (TV) 2003
• The Twilight Zone (TV) 2002
• Critical Assembly (Ground Zero) (TV) 2001
• Valentine 2001
• 100 Girls 2000
• Roswell (TV) 1999
• The Tempest (TV) 1998
• Bride Of Chucky 1998
• Bug Buster 1998
• Stand-Ins 1997
• Prince Valiant 1997
• Wish Upon A Star 1996
• Under Siege 2: Dark Territory 1995
• My Father The Hero 1994
• King Of The Hill 1993
• That Night 1992

External links

• Katherine Heigl Online