Heidi Klum

Heidi Klum was as famous for her business acumen as for her camera-ready face. She was born in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany and had early experience with the art of glamor as her mother was a hair stylist and her father worked as an executive for a cosmetics company. It was in 1992 that Klum entered Germany's "Model 92" modeling contest and won a contract with Metropolitan Models New York, thus beginning her career. She steadily rose in popularity even as she married stylist Ric Pipino in 1997, signing a contract to become an "Angel" for Victoria's Secret and appearing on her first cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition the following year. Klum and Pipino divorced in 2002, but Klum remained on a professional upswing, hosting her first "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" (CBS, 2002) of what would be several. In 2004, Klum began hosting and executive producing the competitive reality series "Project Runway" (Bravo, 2004-2017), a series that faced would-be fashion designers with numerous challenges, awarding the season's winner with the ability to produce their fashion line. The show proved a huge success both critically and commercially, and Klum continued with the show until 2017. In the meantime, 2004 also found Klum appearing as Brumhilda in the movie "Ella Enchanted" (2004). She and musician Seal were married the following year. In 2006, Klum launched a line of jewelry for Mouawad, which quickly sold out via cable channel QVC. She designed a similarly successful fashion line for Jordache in 2008, along with the maternity wear lines Lavish by Heidi Klum for A Pea in the Pod, and Loved by Heidi Klum for Motherhood Maternity in 2010. Klum hosted and executive produced the short-lived "Seriously Funny Kids" (Lifetime, 2011) in 2011 and consistently found time to engage playfully with her on-screen persona, playing the wealthy Ulee Danssen in a two-episode arc on the series "Parks and Recreation" (NBC, 2009-2015). Klum and Seal divorced in 2014. Klum bounced back in 2019 however, marrying musician Tom Kaulitz and signing on to executive produce the reality series "Making the Cut" (Amazon, 2020-).