Katherine Heigl was born November 24, 1978, in Washington D.C. Katherine is of German and Irish extraction, and is the youngest of four children.

Katherine got her start as a child model in Sears catelogs. She then did commercials, moving on to That Night and King of the Hill.

Following a number of modeling assignments for Sears and Lord & Taylor, Katherine made her big screen debut in "That Night" which starred Juliette Lewis and C. Thomas Howell. Katherine soon realized that acting, rather than modeling, was her passion.

In 1993, Katherine Heigl appeared in Steven Soderbergh's critically acclaimed depression-era drama King of the Hill (1993), before landing her first leading role as a rebellious teenager alongside Gérard Depardieu in My Father the Hero (1994). During this time, Katherine continued to attend New Canaan High School, balancing her academic studies with work on films and modeling.

Along with her mother Nancy, she also appeared on an episode of the Sci-Fi Television talk show _Crossing Over with John Edward (1999)_ , during which she spoke with John Edward, a psychic medium, about her late brother, Jason.

Katherine has recently graced the covers of magazines such as TV Guide and Maxim and has been interviewed on "Later with Cynthia Garrett" and "The Craig Kilborn Show".