Cindy Crawford

Cindy Crawford
Crawford in October 2009
Born	Cynthia Ann Crawford (1966-02-20) February 20, 1966 DeKalb, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Model, actress, television personality
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Richard Gere (m. 1991–95) Rande Gerber (m. 1998)
Children	2
Modeling information
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Brown
Measurements	34B"-25.5"-36" (86-65-91 cm)[2]
Website
www.cindy.com

Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American model. 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

Early life and education

Crawford was born in DeKalb, Illinois on February 20, 1966, the daughter of Jennifer Sue Crawford-Moluf (née Walker) and John Dan Crawford.^[5][6] She has two sisters, Chris and Danielle.^[7] She has stated that her family has been in the U.S. for generations and that her ancestry is mostly German, English, and French.^[8] By appearing in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? in 2013, she discovered that her ancestors included English nobility and continental royal families of the Middle Ages, and that she was descended from Charlemagne, 8th century founder of the Holy Roman Empire.^[9]

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. Elite Model Management in Chicago then started representing her.

Crawford graduated from DeKalb High School in 1984, as valedictorian.^[10] She won an academic scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern University, which she attended for only one quarter. She dropped out in order to pursue a full-time modeling career. After working for photographer Victor Skrebneski in Chicago, Crawford moved to Manhattan in 1986 and signed with the Elite New York modeling agency.

Career

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.^[11] 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.^[12][13][14] 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.^[15]

Crawford is 5 feet 9 inches tall,^[1] with brown hair and eyes. Her measurements are 34"-25.5"-36".^[2] 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, Crawford was host of MTV's House of Style. In the early 1990s, Crawford starred in the Pepsi and Pepsi Stuff advertising.^[16][17] 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."^[18] 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.^[19] In October 1998, Crawford returned to the pages of Playboy for a second nude pictorial, again taken by Ritts.^[20]

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.^[21]

Fashion designer Michael Kors summed up her impact:

After modeling

Crawford at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Crawford quit full-time modeling in 2000, and now appears only occasionally in fashion magazines. She continues to provide celebrity endorsement for a variety of projects. In 2005, Crawford created a line of beauty products with 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 28.^[23]

In 2005, Crawford launched a new line of furniture under the "Cindy Crawford Home Collection" name. The collection is manufactured by HM Richards Inc. She assisted in the creation of the line by consulting on the features, colors, or styles that fit the needs of families or reflected her own tastes.^[24] She also has a furniture line with Raymour & Flanigan and launched home goods line with J. C. Penney in late 2009.^[25]

Crawford returned to modeling in May 2011, appearing on the cover of the May 2011 issue of Vogue Mexico.^[26]

Personal life

Crawford was married to actor Richard Gere from 1991 to 1995. She has been married to former model Rande Gerber since May 29, 1998, with whom she has two children, son Presley Walker (born 1999)^[27] and daughter Kaia Jordan (born 2001).^[28]

The TV show Who do you think you are demonstrated that Crawford is a direct descendent of Charlemagne, her 41 times great grandfather.

Activism and charity work

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.^[29] 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.^[30] She is also an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.^[31]

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.^[32] Crawford is on the Honorary Committee of the California Wildlife Center.^[33]

Political endorsements

In 2011, Crawford endorsed Mitt Romney for President of the United States. In 2008 she had endorsed Barack Obama.^[34]

Filmography

Films

Videos

Television

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cindy Crawford.

• Official website
• Cindy Crawford at the Fashion Model Directory
• Cindy Crawford at the Internet Movie Database
• Playboy Interview: Cindy Crawford