Cynthia Ann
"Cindy" Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American supermodel.
Crawford is known for her trademark mole just above her lip, and has adorned
hundreds of magazine covers throughout her career. Her success at modeling made
her an international celebrity that has led to roles in television and film,
and to work as a spokesperson. In 1995, Forbes magazine named her the highest
paid model on the planet. She was named No. 3 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of
the 90s and was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by
Men's Health.
Cindy was born in
DeKalb, Illinois, the daughter of Jennifer Sue Crawford-Moluf (née Walker) and
John Dan Crawford. She also has two sisters,Chris and Danielle. She has stated
that her family has been in the US for generations and that her ancestry is
mostly German, English and French. She was discovered at the age of 16 by a
newspaper photographer who noticed her at work during her summer job of
detasseling corn and took a picture of her. The photo and positive feedback she
received were enough to convince her to take up modeling. She entered the Elite
Model Management's Look of the Year contest at 17 and was the runner-up. The
Elite modeling agency in Chicago then started representing her.
During the 1980s and
1990s, Cindy Crawford was among the most popular supermodels, and a ubiquitous
presence on magazine covers, runways, and in fashion campaigns. She was
repeatedly and frequently featured on the cover of many magazines, including:
Vogue, W, People, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Allure. A partial
count in 1998 totalled over 400 appearances. Crawford also appeared in many
fashion campaigns during her career, including those for Gianni Versace,
Escada, Revlon, and Ink. She has also worked for Omega, Maybelline, Clairol,
and Chilean Retail Stores Ripley (partner of Macys).
In 1987, Crawford
appeared during the opening credits of the Michael J. Fox film The Secret of My
Success. Three years later she appeared in the video for George Michael's
"Freedom '90" alongside other models Christy Turlington, Linda
Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz and Naomi Campbell. Subsequently, Crawford played
the lost love of Jon Bon Jovi in the video for his 1994 version of "Please
Come Home For Christmas" and "John Taylor" in the 2011 video for
Duran Duran's "Girl Panic" (featuring supermodels as the band,
including Naomi Campbell as Simon Le Bon).
The red Versace dress
which she wore to the 63rd Academy Awards in 1991 had a major influence on
fashion, and many copies and fakes of the dress were produced. In 1992,
Crawford—through GoodTimes Home Video and her company Craw Daddy
Productions—made an exercise video with Radu Teodorescu named Cindy Crawford:
Shape Your Body; although criticised by some for being unsafe, it was hugely
successful and led to two equally lucrative followups, Cindy Crawford: The Next
Challenge in 1993 (again with Radu) and Cindy Crawford: A New Dimension in 2000
(the latter, made with fitness expert Kathy Kaehler and produced not long after
Cindy gave birth to her first child, was aimed at new mothers getting back into
shape). In 2001, Cindy also made a shorter fitness video aimed at children,
Mini-Muscles with Cindy Crawford and the Fit-wits, an animated production
featuring the voices of Cindy (who also appears at the beginning in live
action), Radu and Kobe Bryant.
The inaugural issue of
George, a short lived political magazine in the 1990s, featured Crawford
dressed like George Washington on the cover. In 2005, The American Society of
Magazine Editors listed it as the 22nd best magazine cover of the last 40
years.
Crawford is 5 feet 9
inches tall, with brown hair and eyes. Her measurements are
34"-25.5"-36". Crawford's trademark is a mole (or "beauty
mark") above her upper lip. She is so closely associated with this
physical feature that she appeared in an advertising campaign for chocolates
featuring commercials wherein she "licked off" her own mole. During
the beginning of her career, the mole was removed from her earlier modeling
pictures, including her first Vogue cover. Her resemblance early in her career
to model Gia Carangi led her to being known as "Baby Gia".
Crawford has also been
on TV and in films. From 1989 to 1995,
she was host of MTV's House of Style. In the early 1990s, Cindy starred
in the Pepsi and Pepsi Stuff advertising. In 1995, Crawford broke into movies
as the female lead in the movie Fair Game. Her performance was panned by
critics—Leonard Maltin commented "In her acting debut, supermodel Crawford
makes a good jogger." The film was also a financial failure, with expenses
of $50 million and $11 million takings at the box office. In 2001, she
costarred as part of an ensemble cast in The Simian Line. Again the film was
not successful or critically acclaimed, but Crawford's acting was not
criticized. She has had many lesser roles guest starring on TV and as
supporting roles, often playing herself. For example, in 2000, she was one of
the celebrities (along with Victoria Silvstedt, Anna Falchi and Megan Gale)
playing themselves in the Italian comedy Bodyguards – Guardie del corpo.
In July 1988, she posed
nude for Playboy magazine in a shoot by photographer Herb Ritts. In October
1998, Crawford returned to the pages of Playboy for a second nude pictorial,
again taken by Ritts.
Crawford has
consistently ranked highly on lists of the world's sexiest people. She was
ranked number 5 on Playboy's list of the 100 Sexiest Stars of the 20th century.
A 1997 Shape magazine survey of 4,000 picked her as the second (after Demi
Moore) most beautiful woman in the world. In 2002, Crawford was named one of
the 50 Most Beautiful People by People magazine. In her forties, she claimed
No. 26 in the 2006 Hot 100 issue of Maxim magazine.
Fashion designer
Michael Kors
summed up her impact:
“Cindy changed the
perception of the ‘sexy American girl’ from classic blue eyed blonde to a more
sultry brunette with brains, charm, and professionalism to spare.”
Crawford quit modeling
in 2000; however, she still appears from time to time in (and on the covers of)
fashion magazines in new shoots. She continues to provide celebrity endorsement
for a variety of projects. In 2005, Crawford created a line of beauty products
with Dr. Jean-Louis Sebagh called Meaningful Beauty for Guthy-Renker. Crawford
has admitted to regularly receiving certain cosmetic procedures, including
Botox and vitamin injections. She first saw a plastic surgeon at the age of 29.
In 2005, Crawford
launched a new line of furniture under the "Cindy Crawford Home
Collection" name. This collection is manufactured by HM Richards Inc., and
is sold through many retailers including Art Van Furniture and Rooms To Go. She
assisted in the creation of the line by directing the designers to include
certain features, colors, or styles that fit the needs of families or reflected
her own tastes. She also has a furniture line with Raymour & Flanigan and
launched another home goods line with J. C. Penney in late 2009.
Crawford came back to
modeling in May 2011, appearing on the cover of the May 2011 issue of Vogue
Mexico.
Crawford was married to
actor Richard Gere from 1991 to 1995. She has been married to Rande Gerber
since May 29, 1998, with whom she has two children, Presley Walker (born 1999)
and Kaia Jordan (born 2001).
When Crawford was 10
years old, her younger brother Jeff—whom she continues to praise as "the
fourth most influential person in my life"—died of leukemia. Since
becoming a model, Crawford has made childhood leukemia a focal point of her
charity work, donating proceeds of her calendars to medical research. Crawford
has been a long-time supporter of the pediatric oncology program at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Jeff was treated, stating that she
believes he received the best care possible. She is also an honorary board
member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
In 2007, she became an
official supporter of the Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of
their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC. Crawford is on the Honorary
Committee of the California Wildlife Center.
In 2011, Crawford
endorsed Mitt Romney for President of the United States. In 2008 she endorsed
Barack Obama.
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