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Katherine Marie Heigl (born November 24, 1978) is an American actress.

Heigl started her career as a child model with Wilhelmina Models before she turned her attention to acting. She made her debut in the coming-of-age film, That Night. Heigl appeared in the television series Roswell and movies including My Father the Hero before landing her break out role in Grey's Anatomy. Over the years, Heigl has established herself as a sex symbol and cover model appearing on numerous publications including Maxim, Vanity Fair and Cosmopolitan.

She was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Nancy, a personnel manager, and Paul Heigl, a financial executive/accountant. Heigl has German and Irish ancestry, and was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is the youngest of five children. Heigl lived in Virginia and then Denver before her family settled in Connecticut, where they moved into a large, old Victorian-style farmhouse in the wealthy town of New Canaan, where she spent most of her childhood.

In 1986, her older brother Jason died of injuries suffered in a car accident. Afterward, their parents converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When Heigl was nine, an aunt visiting the family decided to take a number of photographs of her. After returning to her home in New York, her aunt sent the photos to a number of modeling agencies, with the permission of Heigl's parents. Within a few weeks, Heigl was signed with Wilhelmina Models as a child model.

She made her acting debut in the 1992 movie That Night. Heigl appeared in Steven Soderbergh's Depression-era drama King of the Hill before being cast in her first leading role in the 1994 comedy My Father the Hero.

In 1996, Heigl's parents divorced and her mother was diagnosed with cancer. After her high school graduation in 1997, she moved with her mother in Malibu Canyon, Los Angeles, and her mother became her manager.

In 1998, she starred in a re-working of the classic Shakespearian The Tempest, set during the American Civil War. In 1999, Heigl turned her attention to television when she accepted the role of Isabel Evans on the science fiction TV drama Roswell, a role that was expanded in the show's second and third seasons.

In 2003, Heigl appeared in three television movies. She returned to the horror genre with Evil Never Dies, a modern-day variation on the Frankenstein story.

In 2005, Heigl was cast in what would become her most high-profile role to date, as medical intern Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on Grey's Anatomy, an ABC medical drama.  On September 16, 2007, Heigl won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzie Stevens.

She starred in the film, 27 Dresses which was released in January 2008.

She has been on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" list twice as of 2007. Katherine Heigl was announced the Most Desirable Woman of 2008, according to AskMen.com.

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