Virginia Madsen
Madsen at the 2009 Academy Awards
Born	Virginia G. Madsen[1] (1961-09-11) September 11, 1961 (age 50) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1983–present
Spouse	Danny Huston (m. 1989–1992; divorced)
Partner	Billy Campbell (1981–1989; engaged) Antonio Sabato, Jr.
Website
virginia-madsen.org

Virginia G. Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress and documentary film producer. She came to fame during the 1980s, having appeared in several films aimed at a teenage audience. Two decades later, she had an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated role in the 2004 film Sideways.

Early life[link]

Madsen was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Elaine (née Melson), an Emmy-winning poet, producer and playwright who often works for PBS, and Calvin Madsen, a fireman.^[2] Madsen's mother left a career in corporate business to pursue a writing career.^[3] Madsen's brother is actor Michael Madsen. Her paternal grandparents were Danish and her mother has Irish and distant Native American ancestry.^[4] Madsen is a graduate of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois.^[5][6]

Her first effort as an actor was as her brother’s assistant in magic shows the two would concoct for their family. She later attended the Ted Liss Acting Studio in Chicago and Harand Camp Adult Theater Seminar in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Of her experience with Liss, she said: "I had wanted to join his class since I was 12. It was well worth the wait because I don't think I could have got that sort of training anywhere else especially in the United States...I always wanted to make a real career out of acting."^[7]

Career[link]

Film[link]

Audiences first caught a glimpse of Madsen on film in a bit part she landed as Lisa in the teen sex comedy Class, along with an appearance in Kenny Loggins' music video "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)" from the Footloose soundtrack. She portrayed a cellist named Madeline in Electric Dreams (1984), which was the first film release by Virgin Films Production Company.^{[citation needed]} She was cast as Princess Irulan in David Lynch's science fiction epic Dune (1984).^[8]

Madsen first became popular with audiences in 1986 with her portrayal of a Catholic schoolgirl who fell in love with a boy from a prison camp in Duncan Gibbons's Fire with Fire. As beauty queen Dixie Lee Boxx, she was the sexy love interest of minor-league baseball manager Cecil "Stud" Cantrell (William Petersen) in the made-for-cable Long Gone (1987). She played a secretary in the 1988 comedy Hot to Trot and appeared as Maddie Hayes' cousin in the final season of Moonlighting.

She also starred in the 1992 horror film Candyman. During the filming of Candyman, Madsen was hypnotised so that her pupils would remain dilated in certain scenes. The director Bernard Rose wanted the character not to have a typical screaming style when confronted by the villain. Madsen stated in an interview for the DVD in 2004 that there were some days during filming that she did not remember much due to the hypnotism. She told her director that she did not want to be hypnotised after the first few experiences.

A couple of provocative film appearances followed: 1990's The Hot Spot with Don Johnson, directed by Dennis Hopper, and the equally steamy Third Degree Burn with Treat Williams. She was also co-host of the TV series Unsolved Mysteries in 1999, the show's final season on CBS.

Madsen at the 2006 San Francisco International Film Festival

Madsen appeared in a small but key role in the Francis Ford Coppola drama The Rainmaker (1997) starring Matt Damon. Film critic Roger Ebert said that Madsen had a "strong scene,"^[9] while reviewer James Berardinelli noted that "the supporting cast is solid, with turns from... Virginia Madsen as a witness for the plaintiff".^[10] Madsen had spent more than twenty years in minor films before her breakout critically acclaimed performance in Sideways (2004). The role catapulted her onto the Hollywood A-list.^[11] Her first major role after Sideways was opposite Harrison Ford in Firewall. She later appeared in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion, in a key role as the angel. She co-starred with Jim Carrey in The Number 23 and Billy Bob Thornton in The Astronaut Farmer; both films opened in North America on February 23, 2007.

She voiced Queen Hippolyte, mother of Wonder Woman, in the 2009 animated Wonder Woman film.

Television[link]

Madsen has made numerous television appearances including: Star Trek: Voyager, CSI: Miami, Dawson's Creek, The Practice, Frasier, and other series. She starred opposite Ray Liotta in CBS's short-lived crime drama series Smith. She also had a recurring role in the final season of the USA series Monk.

She appeared with Kenny Loggins in the music video "I'm Free", from the Footloose soundtrack (1984).

In 2010, she landed the starring role of Cheryl West in the ABC crime series Scoundrels. In December 2010, it was announced that she will be joining the cast of NBC's science fiction action series The Event.^[12]

Producer[link]

In 2008, she formed her own film production company called Title IX Prods.^[13] Her first project was a film made with her mother called I Know a Woman Like That. The film is a documentary about the lives of older women. On the creation of the film, she said her mother's active lifestyle was an inspiration to start filming.

"My mother’s level of activity, of productivity, was exactly why I thought a project like this would work. Originally, when we put the idea together, she had said, “I’m far too busy. I’m going to Holland, and then I’m going here and there and I’m writing my book.” But that’s really what it’s about."^[14]

Her second project is called Fighting Gravity and is about the inability of female ski jumpers to obtain recognition in Olympic competition.^[15]

Personal life[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2011)

When Madsen arrived in Hollywood, she was engaged to actor Billy Campbell. She married actor Danny Huston in 1989 and they divorced in 1992. Madsen also had a relationship with actor Antonio Sabàto, Jr., with whom she had a son, Jack Antonio (born August 6, 1994).

Madsen has heterochromia, a genetic trait resulting in different pigmentation of the eyes. Madsen has one green eye, and one half-green, half-brown eye.

She was a member of the US Dramatic Jury at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Awards[link]

Nominations: Academy Awards

• Sideways (2004) – Best Supporting Actress

Nominations: Golden Globes

• Sideways (2004) – Best Supporting Actress

Other awards[link]

Wins:

• Candyman (1992) – Best Actress: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.
• Sideways (2004) – Best Supporting Actress: Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards; Chicago Film Critics Association Awards; Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards; New York Film Critics Circle Awards; and others.

Filmography[link]

• 1983: Class as Lisa
• 1984: Electric Dreams as Madeline Robistat
• 1984: Dune as Princess Irulan
• 1985: Creator as Barbara Spencer
• 1986: Fire with Fire as Lisa Taylor
• 1986: Modern Girls as Kelly
• 1987: Slam Dance as Yolanda Caldwell
• 1987: Zombie High as Andrea
• 1987: Long Gone as Dixie Lee Boxx
• 1988: Gotham as Rachel Carlyle
• 1988: Mr. North as Sally Boffin
• 1988: Hot to Trot as Allison Rowe
• 1989: Third Degree Burn as Anne Scholes
• 1989: Heart of Dixie as Delia June Curry
• 1990: The Hot Spot as Dolly Harshaw
• 1991: Victim of Love as Carla Simons
• 1991: Becoming Colette as Polaire
• 1991: Highlander II: The Quickening as Louise Marcus
• 1991: Ironclads as Betty Stuart
• 1992: A Murderous Affair: The Carolyn Warmus Story as Carolyn Warmus
• 1992: Candyman as Helen Lyle
• 1994: Caroline at Midnight as Susan Prince
• 1994: Blue Tiger as Gina Hayes
• 1995: The Prophecy as Katherine
• 1996: Just Your Luck as Kim
• 1996: Just Ask My Children as Brenda Kniffen
• 1996: Ghosts of Mississippi as Dixie DeLaughter
• 1997: The Rainmaker as Jackie Lemancyzk
• 1998: Ballad of the Nightingale as N/A
• 1998: Ambushed as Lucy Monroe
• 1999: The Florentine as Molly
• 1999: The Haunting as Jane
• 2000: Lying in Wait as Vera Miller
• 2000: Children of Fortune as Ingrid Bast
• 2000: After Sex as Traci
• 2001: Crossfire Trail as Anne Rodney
• 2001: Full Disclosure as Brenda Hopkins
• 2001: Almost Salinas as Clare
• 2001: Just Ask My Children as Brenda Kniffen
• 2002: Justice League as Dr. Sarah Corwin (4 episodes, 2002-06)
• 2002: American Gun as Penny Tillman
• 2003: Artworks as Emma Becker
• 2003: Nobody Knows Anything! as Prison Lawyer
• 2003: CSI: Miami as Krista Walker (1 episode)
• 2003: Tempted as Emma Burke
• 2004: Sideways as Maya
• 2004: Brave New Girl as Wanda Lovell
• 2005: Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? as Cleopatra
• 2006: Smith as Hope Stevens (7 episodes, 2006-07)
• 2006: Firewall as Beth Stanfield
• 2006: A Prairie Home Companion as Dangerous Woman
• 2007: The Astronaut Farmer as Audrey 'Audie' Farmer
• 2007: Ripple Effect as Sherry
• 2007: The Number 23 as Agatha Sparrow / Fabrizia
• 2007: Cutlass as Robin
• 2007: Being Michael Madsen as N/A
• 2008: Diminished Capacity as Charlotte
• 2009: The Haunting in Connecticut as Sara Campbell
• 2009: Wonder Woman as Queen Hippolyta
• 2009: Monk as T.K. Jensen (3 episodes)^[16]
• 2009: Amelia as Dorothy Binney (her scenes were cut)
• 2010: Father of Invention as Lorraine
• 2010: Scoundrels as Cheryl West
• 2011: Red Riding Hood as Suzette
• 2012: Long Time Gone as Augusta

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Virginia Madsen

• Virginia Madsen
• Virginia Madsen at the Internet Movie Database
• Virginia Madsen at AllRovi
• Virginia Madsen at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Virginia Madsen interview regarding The Astronaut Farmer-The Number 23
• Virginia Madsen discusses A Haunting in Connecticut with Knight at the Movies

Linda Martin (born 17 April 1947) is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known in Europe as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, with the song "Why Me?", and in Ireland as a member of the 1970s/1980s band, Chips.^[1]

Family[link]

Martin was born in Omagh, County Tyrone on 17 April 1947. She is of Irish, Scottish and Italian ancestry. Her surname was originally Martini. Her paternal great-grandfather Francis Martin was born in Dublin to immigrants from Lombardy, Italy. Martin's maternal great-grandparents, William Green and Elizabeth Nangle had a coal-mining background; they had transferred to Belfast from Larkhall, Scotland.^[2]

Career[link]

Chips[link]

Martin started off her musical career when she joined the band Chips in Omagh in 1969. They quickly became one of the top bands in Ireland on the live circuit and released hit singles "Love Matters", "Twice a Week" and "Goodbye Goodbye" during the mid to late 1970s.^[3] In 1972, Martin broke away from Chips to be a vocalist with new band Lyttle People, but rejoined Chips the following year.^[1] The group appeared on Opportunity Knocks in 1974 and appeared a number of times on British television promoting their singles, but never scored a UK hit.^[1] With multiple entries to the Irish National finals of the Eurovision Song Contest, the band carried on into the 1980s. They scored a final Irish hit in 1982 with "David's Song", after which Martin broke away when she won the Castlebar Song Contest with "Edge of the Universe" in 1983. From this point she concentrated on a solo career as well as occasional live appearances with Chips until they recruited a new lead singer (Valerie Roe) in the late 1980s.

Eurovision Song Contest[link]

She participated in the National Song Contest four times as a member of Chips, however they did not score successfully. She participated another four times in the contest as a soloist and once more as part of the group "Linda Martin and Friends".^[4] With nine participations, she has been the most frequent entrant in the National Song Contest's history. She won the contest twice, going on to represent Ireland twice at the Eurovision Song Contest. The first of these victories was in 1984 with the song "Terminal 3", written by Johnny Logan (under his real name Séan Sherrard). The song came 2nd in the final, being beaten by 8 points. "Terminal 3" reached No.7 in the Irish charts.^[5] The second victory was in 1992 when her song "Why Me" (also written by Logan) went on to win the final in Sweden. This became Ireland's 4th victory in the Eurovision Song Contest and the song reached No.1 in the Irish charts as well as becoming a hit in many European countries.^[5]

According to John Kennedy O'Connor in the book, The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, Martin was, at the time, one of only three artists to finish both first and second at Eurovision, behind Lys Assia and Gigliola Cinquetti. Since then, only Elisabeth Andreassen and Dima Bilan have achieved this, raising the number to 5.^[6]

Television[link]

She has presented the RTÉ quiz show The Lyrics Board, one of the broadcaster's more popular formats. She served as one of Louis Walsh's behind-the-scenes team on the first series of ITV's The X Factor.

She also served as a judge on the first, second and fourth seasons of RTÉ's You're a Star and on Charity You're a Star in Summer 2005 and Summer 2006. She was dismissed from the 2007 season, however, speaking on Saturday Night with Miriam on RTÉ television on 28 July 2007, she insisted that she was "open" to being invited back on to the show. Martin has not ruled out a return to Eurovision following Ireland's dismal performance in the 2007 contest finishing last with only five points.

She was a guest performer at Congratulations, the 50th anniversary Eurovision concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October 2005. Martin was also the Irish spokesperson for Eurovision Song Contest 2007 and was one of the five judges for Eurosong 2009 (Irish Selection for Eurovision).

In 2012, she will be the mentor of Jedward in the Irish Eurovision final "Eurosong 2012".^[7]

Twitter Controversy[link]

On January 3, 2012, it was reported in the Irish Independent that Linda Martin called in Gardai after a fake Twitter account was created to impersonate her. The fake account then verbally abused singer Sinéad O'Connor. The user posted a message on O'Connor's Twitter saying "We've been through it all and back again and stayed close, I do be worried you've gone off the rails, fame does that, I'd know x,". O'Connor unaware it was not the real Linda Martin responded: ""Would u ever shove your RTE attitude to what is 'sanity' where it belongs. She's calling it 'help' but it's actually abuse." The bogus user then replied :"It's not my marriage which ended in the blink of the eye, it's no wonder your still single with that attitude Sinead". Ms O'Connor tweeted to claim to have "woke up to more abuse from Linda Martin" and "It's the RTE make-up department. It messes up the presenter's heads. "The awful orange foundation. The lip-liner. It's hell in there. The 1970s orange foundation turns the presenters' minds boring," she wrote.^[8] The fake Twitter account was then removed and Sinead O'Connor apologized to Linda Martin.

Theatre[link]

Martin has also appeared in pantomime, in Dublin. She starred in Cinderella as the Wicked Stepmother, Snow White as the Evil Queen and Robin Hood as herself, at the Olympia Theatre.

She toured Menopause the Musical with Irish entertainer Twink. While on tour, Twink described Martin as a "cunt" during a tirade in May 2010. The two had been friends for 30 years but both said afterwards that they had no plans to speak to each other again.^[9][10]

Selected discography[link]

Singles with Chips[link]

Singles (solo)[link]

• "Why Me?" also reached #59 in the UK Singles Chart and #29 in the Dutch Singles Chart.^[13][14]

See also[link]

• List of people on stamps of Ireland (1997)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Linda Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• "Why Me? lyric
• "Terminal 3" lyric

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Carola with "Fångad av en stormvind"	Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1992	Succeeded by Niamh Kavanagh with "In Your Eyes"
Preceded by The Duskeys with "Here Today Gone Tomorrow"	Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984	Succeeded by Maria Christian with "Wait Until The Weekend Comes"
Preceded by Kim Jackson with "Could It Be That I'm In Love"	Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992	Succeeded by Niamh Kavanagh with "In Your Eyes"
Preceded by Gay Byrne	Eurovision Song Contest Ireland Commentator 1985	Succeeded by Gerry Ryan

Linda Evangelista
Linda Evangelista, August 12, 2004.
Born	(1965-05-10) May 10, 1965 (age 47) St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Years active	1984–1998 (retired), 2001–present
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Hair colour	Dark brown
Eye colour	Blue-green
Measurements	86.5-61-89 (EU); 34-24-35 (US)[2]
Weight	55 kg (121 lbs)
Dress size	36-38 (EU); 6 (US)
Manager	DNA Model Management Models 1 Agency

Linda Evangelista (born May 10, 1965) is a Canadian model. She has been featured on over 600 magazine covers. Evangelista is mostly known for being the longtime muse of photographer Steven Meisel. She holds the record for her multiple appearances on the cover of Vogue Italia, all of which were photographed by Meisel.

Early years[link]

Evangelista was born to Italian parents^{[citation needed]} who emigrated to Canada and was raised in a working-class, traditional Roman Catholic family in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada near Niagara Falls, where she attended Denis Morris Catholic High School.^[3] Her father worked for GM and her mother, Marisa, was a bookkeeper.^[4] She has two brothers. Linda knew she wanted to become a model when she was 12 years old. Evangelista began modelling when she was discovered by an agent from Elite Model Management at the 1988 Miss Teen Niagara beauty pageant.

Career[link]

Evangelista later moved to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management. She then moved to Paris to further her career. She worked extensively with fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh who encouraged her to consider a short do. Top hairdresser Julien Dy's then cut her hair into what she described as "a bowl cut with sideburns". She cried during the haircut but it turned out to be the defining moment of her career.

Evangelista once uttered the quote, "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day",^[5] (often misquoted as: "We don't get out of bed for less than..." or "I don't get out of bed for less than...") Spoken in Vogue (1990) to Jonathan van Meter, talking about money and how she and a few other models were calling the shots and changing the game.

In 2007, she signed a multiple-year exclusive contract with the cosmetics company L'Oreal Paris. It was announced in early 2008 that she would be featured in the Prada Fall 2008 campaign seen in magazines internationally.^[6]

She is signed to DNA Model Management in New York City, and Models 1 in London.

In June 2010, the New York Post reported that Evangelista will be the new face of Talbots.^[7]

Personal life[link]

At the age of 22, Evangelista married Elite executive Gerald Marie.^[8] They were married from 1987 to 1993. After separating from Marie, she began a 6-year relationship with actor Kyle MacLachlan, and then divorced Marie.^[9]

In 1999, she became pregnant by French football player, Fabien Barthez. At 6 months pregnant, she delivered a stillborn baby. The couple then broke up and Evangelista left modelling for several years to recuperate.^[10]

On October 11, 2006, Evangelista gave birth to a boy, Augustin James, refusing to name his biological father, which sparked numerous rumours.^[9] While pregnant, she appeared on the August 2006 issue of Vogue. In late June 2011, Evangelista filed court papers that revealed her son was fathered by billionaire Frenchman François-Henri Pinault, by then the husband of actress Salma Hayek.^[11][12] After several court appearances aimed at establishing a child support agreement, on August 1, 2011, Evangelista formally filed for a child support order in Manhattan Family Court, seeking $46,000 in monthly child support from Pinault. It was reported that if granted, this amount "would probably be the largest support order in the history of the family court".^[13][14] A heavily-publicized^[15] child support trial began on May 3, 2012,^[16] and included testimony from both Pinault and Evangelista with Evangelista's attorney claiming that Pinault had never supported the child.^{[17] [18]}Several days into the trial, on May 7, 2012, Evangelista and Pinault reached an out-of-court settlement.^[19]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Linda Evangelista

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Linda Evangelista

• Linda Evangelista at the Internet Movie Database
• Linda Evangelista at the Fashion Model Directory

Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Schiffer, June 2007
Born	(1970-08-25) 25 August 1970 (age 41) Rheinberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Occupation	Creative director Model
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Measurements	34-24-36 (86-61-92 cm)[1]
Weight	58.7 kg (129.40 lbs or 9.24 st)
Spouse	Matthew Vaughn (m. 2002) «start: (2002)»"Marriage: Matthew Vaughn to Claudia Schiffer" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Claudia_Schiffer)
Children	Caspar (b. 2003) Clementine (b. 2004) Cosima Violet (b. 2010)
Website
www.claudiaschiffer.com

Claudia Schiffer German pronunciation: [ˈklaʊ̯dɪa ˈʃɪfɐ] (born 25 August 1970) is a German model and Creative Director of her clothing label.^[2]. Schiffer rose to popularity and became a household name during the early 1990s as one of the world's most successful models. In her early career, there were many comparisons drawn to her resemblance to Brigitte Bardot. She has appeared on over 700 magazine covers and continues to front global campaigns for luxury fashion and fragrance houses. In 2002, Forbes estimated her net worth at about US$55 million (£38 million).

Background[link]

Schiffer was born in Rheinberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, a small town 15 km northwest of Duisburg. She is the daughter of Gudrun and Heinz Schiffer, a lawyer.^[3] She has two brothers, Stefan and Andreas, and one sister, Ann Carolin.^[2]

Schiffer said she was popular in high school but has revealed that because she was so tall she became very shy and did not want to be noticed. She was also subjected to jealousy by others as she came from a wealthy family that was well-known locally.^[2]. Schiffer is fluent in 3 languages – German, English and French.

She originally wanted to become a lawyer and used to work in her father's law firm.^[4] She later dropped these aspirations when, in October 1987 at seventeen, she was spotted in a nightclub in Düsseldorf by Michel Levaton, the boss of Metropolitan Model Agency who signed her up to become a model.^[5]

Modelling[link]

At the César Awards in Paris, 1993

At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival

Schiffer completed her education and then began to work as a model. She flew out to Paris for a trial photo shoot and soon after she appeared on the cover of French Elle after being well received in Paris. In the early 90's she starred in the highly publicised Guess? Jeans campaigns. Paul Marciano said in E! Forbes Top 15 Supermodel Beauties Who Made Bank, "Guess name became really much more known around the world because [of] Claudia". After several other magazine appearances including the cover of British Vogue shot by Herb Ritts^[6], Schiffer quickly achieved supermodel status and was selected by Karl Lagerfeld to become the new face of Chanel.^[7] She went on to become world-famous, instantly recognisable with her blue eyes, blonde hair and tall figure, standing at 1.81m (approx. 5 ft 11 in.).

Schiffer appeared on the November 1999 Millennium cover of American Vogue as one of the "Modern Muses".^[8]. Named as one of the most beautiful women in the world, her ability to appeal to a global audience has assured an internationally successful career spanning over 24 years. Schiffer was the first model to make the covers of Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The New York Times and People and has appeared numerous times on covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Time. Schiffer has appeared on the catwalk for fashion house including Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel and Valentino.

As well as endorsing luxury brands Schiffer has appeared as the face of high street retailers including Mango and Accessorize, and had her ears pierced for the first time especially for the 2006 Autumn/Winter Accessorize campaign.^{[9][10][11][12]} She has also featured in commercials for Pepsi and Fanta. From her appearances in a 1998 Citroën advertisement she allegedly earned £3 million. Schiffer still holds a contract with L'Oréal and is one of their longest standing ambassadors.

Karl Lagerfeld photographed Schiffer for a Dom Pérignon campaign, around 17 years after her first appearance for Chanel.^[13]. Schiffer has appeared in recent campaigns for Chanel, YSL, Salvatore Ferragamo and Dolce & Gabbana. Most recently she appeared as the face of the Chanel A/W11 Eyewear Campaign^[14]

She is signed to a few agencies solely for her modelling interests including d'management group in Milan, 1/One Management in New York City and Marilyns in Paris. Her mother agency is Model Management in Hamburg.^[11]

Schiffer was a judge on Fashion Fringe 2011.^[14]

In 2012, she posed again for Guess black and white ads marking the brand's 30th anniversary.^[15]

Claudia Schiffer Cashmere – Creative Director[link]

Recognised as a global fashion icon with her style appreciated by women around the world,^[16] Schiffer launched her eponymous cashmere collection during Paris Fashion Week in March 2011.^[5] The Autumn–Winter 2011 season saw her fashion design debut and has been followed by a successful Spring–Summer 2012 collection.^[5] The collection is sold globally in key department stores and high-end boutiques. Schiffer is the Creative Director of the brand and the driving force behind its design.^[17][2]

Media appearances[link]

Schiffer has appeared in a number of films and music videos. Her first appearance in film was in the children's movie Richie Rich in 1994 and then starred opposite Dennis Hopper and Matthew Modine in The Blackout. She then went onto appear in Friends & Lovers, Black and White in 1999, In Pursuit and Life Without Dick in 2001, and then Love Actually in a semi-cameo role. Schiffer has made several other cameo appearances in films, including Ben Stiller's Zoolander in 2001.^[4]

Schiffer has appeared on several talk shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and sitcoms Dharma & Greg and Arrested Development. She also appeared for Comic Relief in boyband Westlife's music video for Uptown Girl and in 2000, she made a cameo appearance in Bon Jovi's video for "Say It Isn't So".

Schiffer has released four exercise videos, entitled Claudia Schiffer's Perfectly Fit, which were successful and reached the bestsellers list. Schiffer has hosted the French Fashion Awards and the World Music Awards in Monaco.

With fellow models Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, and Elle Macpherson, Schiffer was joint owner of a chain of restaurants called the Fashion Café in 1995.^[4] Schiffer remains a prominent figure in German society and helped present and carry the trophy with Pelé during opening ceremonies at the 2006 World Cup. She also presented Prince William with a polo trophy in 2002.^[3]

When talking about the model profession at present, she said: "Supermodels, like we once were, don't exist any more."^[18]

Charity[link]

Claudia began her involvement with UNICEF by becoming a member of the Arts & Entertainment Support Committee and is currently a UK Good Will Ambassador for the organisation. Claudia was also a spokesperson for Make Poverty History where she appeared in the powerful ’Click’ advertisement. In July 2005, she appeared as a presenter at both the Berlin and Edinburgh Live 8 concerts.

Personal life[link]

Schiffer in 2009

Early in her career, Schiffer was romantically linked to a number of celebrities including Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, Prince Albert of Monaco and singer Peter Gabriel.^[19]

Schiffer was engaged to magician David Copperfield for about five years from 1994 until 1999. They first met in 1993 at one of Copperfield's shows in Germany, where Schiffer was invited on stage to take part in his 'Flying' illusion. While they were engaged, Schiffer sometimes appeared on stage with Copperfield to act as his special guest assistant in a number of illusions including being levitated, guillotined and sawed in half.^[20][21][22] In 1997, Copperfield and Schiffer both sued Paris Match after the magazine claimed their relationship was a stunt, that Schiffer was paid for pretending to be Copperfield's fiancée and that she didn't even like him.^{[23][24][25][26]} In 1999, Schiffer won an undisclosed sum and a retraction from Paris Match when a French court ruled that the magazine's story was false.^[27][28] Copperfield's publicist confirmed that while Schiffer had a contract to appear in the audience at Copperfield's show in Berlin where they met, she was not under contract to be his "consort".^[29]

Following her break-up with Copperfield, she had a short relationship with art dealer and Green Shield Stamp heir Tim Jefferies.^[30][31]

On 25 May 2002, she married the film director Matthew Vaughn in Suffolk.^[5] Schiffer and Vaughn have three children: son Caspar Matthew (born 30 January 2003, Westminster, London), daughter Clementine Poppy (born 11 November 2004, Westminster), and a second daughter, Cosima Violet (born 14 May 2010).^[32]

Schiffer had two significant problems with harassment in the past. In 2002, an Italian kitchen porter was arrested after making nine visits to Schiffer's £5 million Coldham Hall^[33] mansion near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, attempting to see her. Charges against him were dropped however, as he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.^[34] He believed that the Pope had told him to marry Schiffer.^[35] In 2004, a Canadian man was accused of harassing Schiffer, also at her mansion in Suffolk. He called at her mansion in the hope of seeing her. He also repeatedly left letters at her home.^[36]

In 2006, Schiffer and her husband were twice spoken to by officers from the local Suffolk police force after a number of incidents involving their two dogs, an Irish wolfhound and a German shepherd, and local people using the public footpath across the grounds of their Coldham Hall home. These included severely mauling a Jack Russell being walked on the footpath, chasing deer on the estate, intimidating people using the footpath, and biting one of the local postmen.^[37][38]

Filmography[link]

Appearances in documentaries[link]

• Noche de tu vida, La (1993)
• David Copperfield: 15 Years of Magic (1994)
• Die schönsten Frauen der Welt - Claudia Schiffer (1995)
• Around Claudia Schiffer (1995)
• Catwalk (1996)
• The 68th Annual Academy Awards (1996)
• Happy Birthday Elizabeth: A Celebration of Life (1997)
• An Audience with Elton John (1997)
• 1997 VH1 Fashion Awards (1997)
• Beautopia (1998)
• The Sound of Claudia Schiffer (2000)

See also[link]

	Germany portal
	Biography portal

• Fashion Cafe

References[link]

External links[link]

• Claudia Schiffer Official Site

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Claudia_Schiffer

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Claudia Schiffer

• Claudia Schiffer at the Fashion Model Directory
• Claudia Schiffer at the Internet Movie Database

Naomi Campbell
Campbell at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008
Born	(1970-05-22) 22 May 1970 (age 42)[1] Streatham, London, England
Ethnicity	British Jamaican
Occupation	Model, actress, singer, writer, designer
Height	5 ft 9.5 in (1.77 m)[2]
Hair colour	Black
Eye colour	Brown
Measurements	34-24-35 in (86-61-89 cm)
Manager	TESS Management (London) Marilyn Agency (Paris) d'management group (Milan) Marilyn Model Mgmt (NYC)

Naomi Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is a British model. Scouted at the age of 15, she established herself among the top three most recognisable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and early 1990s,^[3] and she was one of six models of her generation declared "supermodels" by the fashion world.^[4] As the most famous black model of her time,^[5] Campbell has been outspoken throughout her career against the racial bias that exists in the fashion industry.^[6] Her personal life is widely reported, particularly her relationships with prominent men—including boxer Mike Tyson and actor Robert De Niro^[7]—and several highly-publicised convictions for assault.^[8]

Early life[link]

Campbell was born in the working-class Streatham district of South London, the daughter of Jamaican-born dancer Valerie Morris.^[9] In accordance with her mother's wishes, Campbell has never met her father,^[10] who abandoned her mother when she was four months pregnant,^[9] and who went unnamed on her birth certificate.^[10] She took on the surname Campbell from her mother's second marriage.^[9] Her half-brother, Pierre, was born in 1986.^[11] Campbell is of Afro-Jamaican descent, as well as of Chinese Jamaican ancestry through her paternal grandmother, who carried the family name Ming.^[9]

During her early years, Campbell lived in Rome, where her mother worked as a modern dancer.^[7] Following their return to London, she was left in the care of her maternal grandmother, Ruby, while her mother travelled across Europe with the dance troupe Fantastica.^[11] At five years old, Campbell was enrolled at the Barbara Speake Stage School,^[11] and at the age of ten, she was accepted into the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, where she studied ballet.^[9]

Career[link]

Campbell's first public appearance came at the age of seven, in 1978, when she was featured in the music video for Bob Marley's "Is This Love".^[12] That same year, she played Snow White in two episodes of the Children's Film Foundation television series The Chiffy Kids.^[13] At the age of twelve, she tap-danced in the music video for Culture Club's "I'll Tumble 4 Ya".^[7]

In 1986, Campbell was scouted by Beth Boldt, head of the Synchro model agency, while window-shopping in Covent Garden.^[14] Her career quickly took off—in April, just before her sixteenth birthday, she appeared on the cover of British Elle.^[7] Over the next few years, Campbell's success grew steadily: she walked the runway for such designers as Gianni Versace, Azzedine Alaïa, and Isaac Mizrahi, and posed for such photographers as Peter Lindbergh, Herb Ritts, and Bruce Weber.^[7] By the late 1980s, Campbell was part of a trio of models—the others being Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista—known as the "Trinity",^[7] who became the most recognisable and in-demand models of their generation.^[3]

When faced with discrimination, Campbell received support from her friends; she later quoted Turlington and Evangelista as telling Dolce & Gabbana, "If you don't use Naomi, you don't get us."^[14] In December 1987, she appeared on the cover of British Vogue, as that publication's first black cover girl since 1966.^[6] In August 1988, she became the first black model to appear on the cover of French Vogue,^[7] after her friend and mentor, designer Yves St. Laurent, threatened to withdraw his advertising from the magazine if it continued to refuse to place black models on its cover.^[15] The following year, she appeared on the cover of American Vogue, which marked the first time a black model graced the front of the September issue, traditionally the year's biggest and most important issue.^[7]

In January 1990, Campbell, who was declared "the reigning megamodel of them all" by Interview,^[16] appeared with Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, and Tatjana Patitz on an iconic cover of British Vogue, shot by Peter Lindbergh.^[17] The group was subsequently cast to star in the music video for George Michael's "Freedom! '90".^[3] By then, Campbell—along with Turlington, Evangelista, Crawford, and Claudia Schiffer—formed an elite group of models declared "supermodels" by the fashion industry.^[4] With the addition of newcomer Kate Moss, they were collectively known as the "Big Six".^[4]