Cindy Crawford
Cindy Crawford was born on February 20, 1966 in DeKalb, Illinois, the daughter of Jennifer Moluf and John Crawford. She was discovered at the age of 16 by a newspaper photographer. He noticed Cindy 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.
Crawford graduated from DeKalb High School in 1984, as valedictorian. 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, Cindy moved to Manhattan in 1986; she was signed with the Elite New York modeling agency.
In 1987, she briefly appeared during the opening credits of the Michael J. Fox film The Secret of My Succe$s.
Crawford quit modeling in 2000. 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, collagen, and vitamin injections. She first saw a plastic surgeon at the age of 29.
Crawford recently 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 will launch another home goods line with J. C. Penney in late 2009.
She was married to the actor Richard Gere between 1991 and 1995. She has been married to Rande Gerber since May 29, 1998, with whom she has two children, Presley Walker (born July 2, 1999) and Kaia Jordan (born September 3, 2001). She currently resides in Malibu, California.
Her brother died at a young age from leukemia, and Crawford has made childhood leukemia a focal point of her charity work, donating proceeds of her calendars to medical research. She is also an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
In 2007, Cindy 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.
