Katherine Heigl at a NYC screening of her new film, The Ugly Truth

The Short Story: Katherine Heigl

Birthday: November 24, 1978
Hometown: Washington, DC
Famous For: Her Emmy-winning role as Isobel Stevens on the ABC hit show Grey's Anatomy; Her controversial statements about her Knocked Up role and the substance of her Grey's Anatomy role
Quick Scoop: Married to singer Josh Kelley who she met on the set of his video for Only You; began modeling at age 9; named one of the 11 Most Fascinating People of 2007 by Barbara Walters
Awards: 2007 Emmy Awards: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Grey's Anatomy. 2007 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Grey's Anatomy. 2008 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Female TV Star, Grey's Anatomy.

Biography

Katherine Marie Heigl was born on November 24, 1978 in Washington DC. Her parents are Nancy and Paul Heigl and she has two older siblings, Meg and Holt. Her third sibling, Jason, was killed in 1986 when he was thrown from a pickup truck. Soon after she was born, Heigl's family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut where she spent her childhood.

Heigl began her career as a child model. A family member took some photos of her when she was 9 and with her parent's permission, sent them to the premiere modeling agencies in New York. It wasn't long before she was signed by International renowned modeling agency Wilhelmina Models and doing shoots for Sears and Lord & Taylor. She was also featured in a national commercial for Cheerios cereal.

Soon, Heigl was bit by the acting bug. She starred in her first movie in the 1992 coming-of-age story, That Night. Soon after she was cast in Steven Soderbergh's drama King of the Hill and snagged the leading role in the 1994 film My Father the Hero alongside French actor Gerard Depardieu. In 1995 she starred in the Steven Seagal thriller Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.

Katherine Heigl

In 1996, Heigl's parents got divorced and her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. After 9 months of treatment, the cancer went into remission. That same year, Heigl took the lead role in the Disney made-for-TV movie Wish Upon a Star. When Heigl graduated high school in 1997, she and her mom moved from New Canaan to Los Angeles to focus on her career. It was at this time that her mom became her manager as well. 1998 brought two roles: she co-starred in an updated version of The Tempest in a TV movie with Peter Fonda and she had a key role in the horror film Bride of Chucky.

Television is where Heigl really made a splash. After auditioning for all three female lead roles, in 1999 she was cast as Isabel Evans on the WB teen drama, Roswell. She played one of three aliens trying to hide their true identities from the rest of the world. The show lasted three seasons. During her stint on Roswell, she also made two films, 100 Girls and Valentine. She followed her first TV series with several made-for-TV movies: Evil Never Dies, Love Comes Softly, MTV's updated Wuthering Heights, and Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion.

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It was in 2005 that Heigl was cast in her huge breakout role, Dr. Isobel Stevens on the ABC monster hit Grey’s Anatomy. She’s been nominated for a Golden Globe and won the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama for the role. She and costar, T.R. Knight (Dr. George O’Malley) became best friends over the course of filming and she was one of his biggest supporters and most outspoken cast member during the infamous Isaiah Washington controversy.

 The season following her Emmy win, Heigl made headlines when she spoke out to the press about the lack of substance in her character’s plot on the show. Despite some negative press and some previous on-set tension, Heigl remains on Grey’s Anatomy today.

In 2007, she married singer Josh Kelley in Park City, Utah. They met on the set of his music video for his song Only You. The couple famously did not live together before marriage. They live now in a house in Los Feliz, California.

During her tenure on Grey’s Anatomy, Heigl also did some films including the hugely successful Judd Apatow-directed movie Knocked Up co-starring Seth Rogen. Heigl caused a stir when, after the success of the movie, she was quoted in Vanity Fair as saying the film was “a little sexist” and "paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys." Apatow and Rogen have both acknowledged her quotes in the press and Heigl has since said she’s sad her quotes are the most memorable thing about that experience.

She also filmed the movies Side Effects, Zyzzyx Road, and 27 Dresses alongside James Marsden. The Ugly Truth, co-starring Gerard Butler, was just released this summer. She is currently filming 5 Killers co-starring Ashton Kutcher.

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