Here is the biography of Katherine Heigl:
Katherine Marie Heigl was born on November 24, 1978, in Washington, D.C., to Nancy Heigl (née Engelhardt),a personnel manager, and Paul Heigl, an accountant and executive. Her father is of German/Swiss-German and Irish descent, and her mother is of German ancestry. A short time after her birth, the family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut, where Katherine was to spend the majority of her childhood.
Katherine was the youngest member of her family, with two elder siblings, John and Meg. Tragically, her older brother Jason died in 1986 of brain injuries suffered in a car accident. The family made the difficult decision to donate his organs, which motivated Katherine to use her celebrity to promote the importance of organ donation.
Katherine was first thrust into the limelight as a child model. A family friend took a number of photographs of Katherine, then aged nine, in a series of poses to advertise a haircare product she had invented. The photos were sent to a number of modeling agencies, and within a few weeks, Katherine had been signed to Wilhelmina, a renowned international modeling agency.
Katherine made her big-screen debut in "That Night" (1992),followed by roles in "King of the Hill" (1993),"My Father the Hero" (1994),and "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" (1995). She continued to balance her academic studies with work on films and modeling, which she undertook during holidays, vacations, and weekends.
In 1996, Katherine took the lead role in Disney's "Wish Upon a Star." It was also during that year that her parents divorced, and following her graduation from high school in 1997, she moved with her mother into a four-bedroom house in Los Angeles' Malibu Canyon area.
Katherine's early film roles included "Stand-ins" (1997),"Prince Valiant" (1997),"The Tempest" (1998),"Bug Buster" (1998),and "Bride of Chucky" (1998). She then made the transition to series television with the role of Isabel Evans on "Roswell" (1999),a show that blended teen angst with sci-fi drama.
During her time on "Roswell," Katherine found time to work on several movies, including "100 Girls" (2000),"Valentine" (2001),"Critical Assembly" (2002),and "Descendant" (2003). She has also starred in the television movie "Romy and Michele: In the Beginning" (2005),a prequel to the 1997 feature "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion."
Katherine is now being represented by Norman Aladjem at Paradigm Agency and being managed by Nancy Heigl and Stephanie Simon and Jason Newman at Untitled Entertainment.
