Biography

Katherine Heigl

by Sammy,

American model, and actress, Katherine Heigl is known for playing Dr. Isobel "Izzie" on American drama series, Grey's Anatomy, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress. In 2007, she was listed twice in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World." Heigl has also worked in hit movies including Killers, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, 27 Dresses and so on. She was also a cover model of ‘Vanity Fair,’ ‘Maxim,’ and ‘Cosmopolitan.’ Heigl married singer Josh Kelley in 2007 and has two daughters, Naleigh  Leigh, and Adelaide Marie Hope.

Washington Born Katherine Heigl Grew Up In Northern Virginia

Katherine Heigl was born Katherine Marie Heigl on 24th November 1978 at Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, DC. She is American and belongs to Mixed ethnicity, her mother Nancy Heigl holds German ancestry and father, Paul Heigl is of Irish descent.

Her mother worked as a film producer and her father worked as a financial executive and accountant. She has three siblings, Meg Heigl, Jason Heigl, and Holt Heigl.

Heigl lived in Northern Virginia and moved to Denver with her family. Later, her family shifted to New Canaan, Connecticut where she spent her childhood. Regarding her education, she dropped out of High School to achive her career in the acting and modeling career.

In 1986, Heigl lost her elder brother, Jason who died because of the injuries from a car accident. Her brother was thrown from the back of pickup truck by some of his high school cla s smates while he was leaving for lunch. Heigl's family donated the organs of Jason after his death.

Jason's death led her parents to convert their religion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, previously her mother was Lutheran and father was Catholic.

At the age of nine, Heigl’s aunt sent several photos of her to the modeling agencies, with the permission of her parents. She signed to Wilhelmina Models and made TV debut from the commercial of ‘Cheerios.’

Heigl then became a child model of Wilhelmina Models. After she signed with the agency, a client chose her for their magazine advertisement, her debut as a model. During the time, she earned $75 per hour posing for Sears and Lord & Taylor catalogs.

Model Turned Actress

Katherine Heigl made acting debuted from the 1992 American coming-of-age romantic drama film, ‘That Night’ as Kathryn. The following year, she appeared in Steven Soderbergh's drama film, ‘King of the Hill.’

In 1994, Heigl was cast as a lead character Nicole Arnel in French-American comedy-drama, 'My Father the Hero,' for which she won a nomination for Best Performance by a Youth Actress Starring in a Motion Picture for Young Artist Awards.

Along with acting and modeling career, Heigl was also managed to continue her study at New Canaan High School. But, after her soph 0re year, she dropped from school to pursue a career in Hollywood.

In 1995, Heigl played Sarah Ryback in the American action film, ‘Under Siege 2: Dark Territory’, starring Steven Seagal, Eric Bogosian, and Morris Chestnut among others.

Subsequently, she also modeled for several magazines from 1996 to 1999. In the 1996 television film, ‘Wish Upon a Star,’ she played one of the lead characters and also stared in the re-worked Shakespearean play, ‘The Tempest’ along with Peter Fonda.

From 1997- 2001, Heigl appeared in the movies, 'Bride of Chucky', 'Stand-ins', 'Bug Buster', '100 Girls', and 'Valentine.' In 2003, she was cast in four television films, 'Critical Assembly,' 'Vegas Dick', 'Love Comes Softly,' and 'Wuthering Heights.'

In 2004, Heigl acted in 'Love's Enduring Promise,' based on a series of books by Janette Oke, a Canadian author. The following year, she played in television film and Backdoor pilot, 'Romy and Michele: In the Beginning.'

From 2005 to 2010, Heigl worked in the popular medical drama series, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ as Isobel Stevens, which is one of her most recognized roles till date. She shared the screen with Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Justin Chambers, T. R. Knight, Chandra Wilson, and James Pickens, Jr. among others.

She starred in Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau’s romantic comedy film, ‘Side Effects’ in 2005. She was also the executive producer of the movie. In 2005, she appeared in 'The Ringer and Romy' as Lynn Sheridan and 'Michele: In the Beginning' as Romy White.

In 2006, Heigl starred in two movies, 'Zyzzyx Road' and 'Caffeine.' The following year, she worked in a romantic comedy film, 'Knocked Up' starring Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann. The movie was a commercial success. 27 Dresses is a 2008 romantic comedy film, where Heigl starred with Jane Nichols

In 2009, Heigl starred opposite Gerard Butler in an American romantic comedy film, 'The Ugly Truth.' For her role she won a nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for Satellite Awards. 

In 2010, Heigl’s two movies hit the big screen, 'Killers' and 'Life as We Know It'. The next year, she played in American romantic comedy film, 'New Year's Eve', along with Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Ludacris.

In 2012, she was cast as one of the leads in American crime comedy film, 'One for the Money'. She then appeared in an American comedy film, 'The Big Wedding', directed by Justin Zackham.

'The Nut Job', is a 3D computer-animated heist-comedy film, Heigl shared the screen with Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham, and Liam Neeson. The movie won the Audience Award under Best Children's Animation at the 2015 Anima: The Brussels Animation Film Festival.

In 2014, Heigl acted in an American romantic drama film, 'Jackie & Ryan'. Between 2014 and 2015, she was cast as Officer Charleston "Charlie" Whitney Tucker in American espionage thriller series, 'State of Affairs'.

After this, she starred in American dark comedy horror, 'Home Sweet Hell' along with Patrick Wilson. The movie received negative reviews from critics. She then played in the 2015 American independent film, 'Jenny's Wedding'.

In 2017, she starred opposite Rosario Dawson in American drama thriller film, 'Unforgettable'. The same year, she was in 3D computer-animated comedy, 'The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature'. Heigl was last seen in American television drama series, 'Doubt', replaced KaDee Strickland in the lead role of Sadie Ellis. 

Married To Josh Kelly; Mother Of Three

Katherine Heigl is happily married to singer Josh Kelly since December 23, 2007. They tied the knot in  Park City, Utah. The duo first met on the sets of Kelly's music video, Only You in 2005 and after a year they got engaged at an intimate ceremony. 

They avoided live-in relationship before their marriage, and she shared her point of view on the matter,

"I think I just wanted to save something for the actual marriage... I wanted there to be something to make the actual marriage different than the dating or the courtship."

In September 2009, the pair adopted a daughter, Naleigh (Nancy Leigh) from South Korea. Nancy Leigh was born with a heart defect and before leaving Korea, she underwent open-heart surgery.

After three years, the duo again adopted a second daughter, Adalaide from the US. The pair finally welcomed their biological child, Joshua Bishop Kelley, Jr. on 20th December 2016.

In 2017 December, Heigl shared her topless pregnancy photo which was taken right before her cesarean section in 2016 on Instagram. She is the sister-in-law of the singer, Charles Kelly, a popular country musician.

In the 2007 interview with Vanity Fair, Heigl called her blockbuster movie, 'Knocked Up,' 'a little sexist,' claiming the movie, "paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys."

But her interview rolled her into controversy, and she received many hatred reactions and comments. She was even called," an ungrateful traitor," a "hypocrite," and an "a s sertive, impatient go-getter who quickly got tired of waiting for her boyfriend to propose."

Later, she clarified her remarks in an interview with People Magazine,

"My motive was to encourage other women like myself to not take that element of the movie too seriously, and to remember that it's a broad comedy".

She added,

"Although I stand behind my opinion, I'm disheartened that it has become the focus of my experience with the movie".

In 2006, Heigl listed as one of the"100 Sexiest Women in the World" by FHM Magazine. She voted #1 in the "Top 99 sexiest women in the world 2008" by Askmen.com.

Katherine Heigl is also known as a pa s sionate dog-lover. She is a s sociated with ‘Best Friends Animal Society.’ Later Heigl co-founded her own organization, ‘Heigl's Hounds of Hope’ and "Just One'' which rescues street dogs and involved in dog adoption.

Heigl also starred in a video on the website of Shelter Me to encourage the dog adoption. In 2014, she owned 8 dogs, 4 cats, 2 donkeys, 9 horses, 8 chickens, and 2 goats. 

She is a huge fan of TV series, Glee and she admits her worst vices is smoking. Currently, she resides in Utah and enjoying a blissful married life along with her husband and three kids. 

Charity Work 

Heigl has worked with an American nonprofit animal welfare organization, Best Friends Animal Society on several projects, including the Pup My Ride program.

She co-founded Heigl's Hounds of Hope along with her mother, Nancy, that operates as part of the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation. The foundation was established in honor of her brother. 

She was awarded the "Presidential Service Award" for her work and dedication to animal welfare in 2010, by ASPCA. The following year, she worked on the "I Hate Balls" Campaign which focused on promoting spay/neuter of pets and to save the lives of millions of companion animals.

Heigl was recognized by the "Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI)" for her dedication and loyalty to adoption. She was also honored by the American Cancer Society for her work in helping to increase awareness regarding cancer-related issues-she publicly supported her mother's journey with the disease.  
Heigl is also a supporter of organ donation, working as a spokesperson for Donate Life America.  

One Of Highest-Paid Actress; Know Her Salary and Properties

Katherine Heigl is one of the highest-paid female actresses in Hollywood who charged $12 million per movie. Heigl's estimated net worth is $25 million, as per some online sources but no official confirmation has come about it. She earned $18 million from Grey's Anatomy.

According to Forbes her annual earning in 2007-08 was $13 million, 2008-09 ($18 million), 2009-10 ($15.5 million), 2010-11 ($19 million).

Her first income was $75 per hour which she earned from Sears and Lord & Taylor catalogs. In 2007, she starred movie, Knocked Up grossed $219.1 million at the box office, made under the budget of $30 million. She earned $300,000 from the movie.

Heigl has given many hit movies to audiences,

Movies 

 Budget(USD)

 Box Office Collection

Life as We Know It 

 $38 million

 $105.64 million

Unforgettable

 $12 million

 $17.8 million

The Big Wedding

 $35 million

 $46.5 million

New year Eve  $56 million  $142 million
Bride of Chunky   $25 million  $50.7 million
The Ringer   $20 million  $40.4 million
The Nut Job  $43 million  $120.8 million
The Ugly  Truth   $38 million  $205 million
 Killers   $75 million  $98 million
 Dresses  $30 million  $160.3 million

Heigl owned a luxury house in Utah in 2005, estimated market value is $2.5 million. In 2011, Heigl and her husband sold their LA property for $965,000. Later, she brought a new house in California in 2013 which she put for sale in 2017 at $2.622 million. 

In 2014, Katherine Heigl filed a civil lawsuit of $6 million against New York Pharmacy Duane Reade for using her name for advertisement and unauthorized paparazzi photography.

Heigl is active as a philanthropic activist also, she donated millions to charities. She donated $1 million to PETA. 

She has an impressive collection of cars like Audi Q5 costing $40,900 to $53,300, Range Rover ($83,495-$186,495), BMW and Mercedes.

Height, Weight, And Body Measurement

  • Height: American model and actress Katherine Heigl stands at a height of 5 ft. 9 inches (175 cms)
  • Weight: As of 2019, Heigl has a well-maintained body weight of 58 kg (128 lbs)
  • Body Measurement: Katherine Heigl possesses a well-maintained slim figure with a measurement 36-25-36 inches
  • Bra Size: 34 B
  • Shoe Size: 5 (US)
  • Dress Size: 6 (US)
  • She is an avid dog lover and has an American pit-bull which she has named Apollo.