Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (born July 7, 1945; Rio de Janeiro), better known as Helô Pinheiro (Portuguese pronunciation: [eˈlo piˈɲejɾu]), is a Brazilian model and businesswoman.
Pinheiro is the real-life "Girl from Ipanema", a Carioca whose strolls through the fashionable Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil inspired the lyrics to the song "The girl from Ipanema" (originally titled, in Portuguese, "Garota de Ipanema"), the music of which was originally written for a musical comedy.
Helô Pinheiro became a Brazilian Playboy Playmate in 1987 and once again in 2003, when she did a pictorial along with her daughter, Ticiane Pinheiro.[1]
She also appeared in the second season of The Amazing Race, for the Beach portion of the first Detour clue, and on America's Next Top Model, Cycle 12, for a modelling challenge in Brazil.
In 2001, the song's copyright owners (heirs of their composer fathers) sued Pinheiro for using the title of the song as the name of her boutique (Garota de Ipanema). In their complaint, they stated that her status as The Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) does not entitle her to use a name that legally belongs to the heirs.
Public support was strong in favor of Pinheiro. A press release by Jobim and Moraes, the composers, in which they had named Pinheiro as the real Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) was evidence that they had intended to bestow this title on her. The court ruled in favor of Pinheiro.[2]