Heidi Klum: Snapshot
- Name
- Heidi Klum
- Birth Date
- June 01, 1973
- Birth Place
- Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
While still in high school, Klum won a modeling competition that launched her career in Europe. In the '90s, she went on to conquer the American market beside fellow supermodel Tyra Banks, but wasn't content on banking on her looks. She expanded her portfolio as the host, judge and producer of Project Runway and launched her own fragrance, jewelry and clothing lines.
Klum, who was previously married to Ric Pipino and had a daughter with Italian entrepreneur Flavio Briatore, has since married pop star Seal, with whom she has two children.
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Heidi Klum: Five Fun Facts
- When she travels, Heidi Klum carries her baby teeth in a pouch as good luck charms.
- As part of German tradition, Heidi Klum yodeled at her wedding to first husband Ric Pipino.
- When Heidi Klum came to America, she jokingly gave her breasts German nicknames. "It started because I was from Germany, and people always make fun of ze Germans, yah?" she told the UK's The Independent in 2007. "So when I began modeling I used to say 'These are German breasts, one is called Hans and one is called Franz'."
- During her childhood, Heidi Klum took jazz and ballet lessons and still finds time to squeeze in an occasional class.
- A supermodel feud ignited over ownership of the nickname "The Body" between Elle Macpherson and Heidi Klum in 2005 when Klum boasted in Victoria's Secret commercials, "They call me The Body – and now I have a bra named after me." But Macpherson claims she was given the moniker first in the 1980s.
Heidi Klum: Biography 
- 1992
A Model is Born
At 18, Klum wins a national modeling contest after she and a friend send Polariods of themselves to a German magazine ad. Sporting a bikini and teased hair in her picture, Klum wins the top prize: a three-year modeling contract, $300,000 and the title of Ms. Model 1992. She signs with International Metropolitan Agency and kicks off her modeling career in Hamburg, Paris and Milan. The following year, Klum moves to the U.S to pursue modeling, living and working in Manhattan.
- 1997
A Traditional Wedding
After dating celebrity hairstylist Ric Pipino and accepting his proposal atop the Empire State Building, Klum weds him in front of 100 guests on a 50-acre estate in Stone Ridge, N.Y. At the nuptials, the couple engages in German traditions: Pipino climbs a ladder to retrieve a doll from a wooden stork placed in the window of their bridal suite (to guarantee children) and, together, Klum and her groom saw a log in half using a two-handled blade (to symbolize working together).
- 1998
Swimsuit Pinnacle
Klum snags the coveted cover spot on Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, becoming the first German to do so. The voluptuous, 5' 9 1/2" Klum is known for her killer body, but tells PEOPLE, "My smile is my favorite thing."
Photo Credits
Top Left: CBS
BIOGRAPHY (top to bottom): DAN HERRICK/DMI/Rex USA; Robert Erdmann/Sports Illustrated
