66 Facts About Katherine Heigl

Katherine Marie Heigl is an American actress and former fashion model.

Katherine Heigl played Dr Izzie Stevens on the ABC television medical drama Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2010, a role that brought her recognition and accolades, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2007.

Katherine Heigl then landed the role of Isabel Evans on The WB television series Roswell, for which she received nominations for Saturn and Teen Choice Awards.

Katherine Heigl then starred in commercially successful romantic comedy films such as Knocked Up, 27 Dresses, The Ugly Truth, Killers, Life As We Know It and New Year's Eve.

Katherine Heigl appeared in Zyzzyx Road, One for the Money, The Big Wedding, and Unforgettable.

Katherine Heigl is executive producer on her leading television roles, which include the short-lived NBC television series State of Affairs from 2014 to 2015, the Netflix series Firefly Lane and the upcoming limited series Woodhull.

Katherine Heigl has lent her voice to the animated film The Nut Job and its 2017 sequel.

Katherine Heigl had a main role in the final two seasons of the USA Network series Suits.

Additionally, Katherine Heigl has established herself as a cover model, appearing in numerous publications including Maxim, Vanity Fair, and Cosmopolitan.

Katherine Heigl was born in Washington, DC, in Columbia Hospital for Women.

Katherine Heigl is the youngest of four children of Nancy, a personal manager, and Paul Heigl, a financial executive and accountant.

Katherine Heigl's father is of Irish and German ancestry, and her mother is of German descent.

Heigl lived in Northern Virginia and then Denver, before her family moved to the town of New Canaan, Connecticut, when Katherine was five, and where she lived the rest of her childhood.

When Katherine Heigl was nine, her aunt, along with her parents, sent photos of her to a modeling agency.

The first time Katherine Heigl appeared in a national television ad was for Cheerios cereal.

Katherine Heigl began studying acting and made her film debut in That Night.

Katherine Heigl played Christina Sebastian 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.

Katherine Heigl dropped out of New Canaan High School after her sophomore year to pursue her career in Hollywood.

Katherine Heigl portrayed a 16-year-old named Sarah traveling by train through the mountains with her uncle Casey Ryback, an ex-SEAL counter-terrorist expert, in order to visit the grave of her deceased father.

Katherine Heigl landed the lead role in Disney's made-for-television film Wish Upon a Star in 1996, portraying two body-swapping characters along with Danielle Harris.

That year Katherine Heigl's parents divorced, and her mother was diagnosed with cancer.

Katherine Heigl starred in the horror film Bride of Chucky.

In 1999, Katherine 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.

Katherine Heigl had auditioned for all three of the show's female leads before she was finally cast as Isabel, an alien-human hybrid.

Katherine Heigl was frequently featured in photo essays in magazines such as Life, TV Guide, and Teen as well as FHM.

Katherine Heigl accepted a role in Ground Zero, a television thriller scheduled to be telecast that fall which was based on the bestselling James Mills novel The Seventh Power, in the spring of 2001.

Katherine Heigl co-starred as a brilliant and politically-concerned college student who helps to build a nuclear device to illustrate the need for a change in national priorities.

In 2003, Katherine Heigl appeared in three television movies, including the horror genre Evil Never Dies, a modern-day variation on the Frankenstein story co-starring Thomas Gibson; and Love Comes Softly for Hallmark Entertainment as Marty Claridge, a young, newlywed traveling west, and reprised her role in the sequel Love's Enduring Promise the next year.

Katherine Heigl played Isabella Linton in MTV's modern revamp of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

In October 2003, Katherine Heigl was cast opposite Johnny Knoxville in The Ringer, a Farrelly brothers comedy that was released in December 2005.

Katherine Heigl starred as Romy in the 2005 television film Romy and Michele: In the Beginning, a prequel to the 1997 film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.

In 2005, Katherine Heigl was cast in what would become her highest-profile role to date, as medical intern Dr Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

Katherine Heigl starred in Zyzzyx Road; filmed in 2004 and not released until 2006; it has been cited as the lowest-grossing feature film of all time.

On September 16,2007, Katherine Heigl won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy.

Katherine Heigl was announced the Most Desirable Woman of 2008, according to AskMen.

Katherine Heigl had disagreements with the character's direction in the fourth season, deeming the storyline involving Izzie's affair with George a "ratings ploy" that served to be "shocking" and others speculated she would leave due to the time devotion in producing a film version of Carolyn Jessop's book Escape.

Katherine Heigl said publicly that she'd opted out of the Emmy race that year because she felt the material she'd received didn't warrant Emmy consideration.

Katherine Heigl starred with Gerard Butler in The Ugly Truth.

Speculation as to whether Katherine Heigl would leave Grey's Anatomy persisted through most of season six.

Katherine Heigl said that she left the show to focus not on her film career, but on her family.

In June 2010, Katherine Heigl starred in the Lionsgate comedy-thriller Killers, with Ashton Kutcher.

Katherine Heigl next starred in and produced the big-screen drama Life As We Know It, directed by Greg Berlanti, which revolved around a woman and a man whose respective best friends die in a car accident.

In 2011, Katherine Heigl appeared in the ensemble romantic comedy New Year's Eve, directed by Garry Marshall.

Katherine Heigl next had the lead role in One for the Money.

In January 2012, Katherine Heigl disclosed her enthusiastic desires to reprise her role on Grey's Anatomy and wrap up Izzie's storyline, conceiving an idea of her success in another hospital after floundering in the fictional Seattle Grace hospital where she was 'one step behind the eight ball'.

Katherine Heigl voice-acted the squirrel Andie in the animated film The Nut Job which was released on January 17,2014.

Katherine Heigl reprised her role in its 2017 sequel, The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature which was released theatrically on August 11,2017.

Katherine Heigl next starred as a rejected and jealous housewife in the dark comedy Home Sweet Hell, alongside Patrick Wilson and Jordana Brewster.

Katherine Heigl received a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actress.

In 2015, Katherine Heigl starred as the titular role in the independent film Jenny's Wedding, about a woman who finally decides to get married, but her choice of partner tears her conventional family apart.

Katherine Heigl starred opposite Rosario Dawson and Geoff Stults in the erotic thriller Unforgettable, portraying a divorcee who torments the new fiancee of her ex-husband.

Katherine Heigl returned to form when she was cast in the USA Network legal drama series Suits, playing the role of Samantha Wheeler, a new partner at the fictional law firm of Zane Specter Litt.

Katherine Heigl remained on the show for its final two seasons.

Katherine Heigl was later cast in the leading role opposite Sarah Chalke and Ben Lawson for the Netflix show Firefly Lane, released in 2021.

Also that year, Katherine Heigl co-starred in Fear of Rain, a psychological thriller written and directed by Castille Landon.

Katherine Heigl is set to portray the first female candidate for the presidency of the United States, Victoria Woodhull.

In January 2021, Katherine Heigl declared in an interview with The Washington Post promoting Firefly Lane that she was "done apologizing" for her past reputation and criticized being labelled as "difficult" in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

In 2022, her former co-star Ellen Pompeo stated in a podcast that Katherine Heigl would have been branded a "hero" today for her 2009 remarks about their 17-hour workday.

In June 2006, Katherine Heigl became engaged to singer Josh Kelley, whom she had met a year earlier on the set of his music video for "Only You".

Katherine Heigl was born with a heart defect and underwent open-heart surgery before leaving Korea.

Katherine Heigl has worked with Best Friends Animal Society on several projects, including their Pup My Ride program.

Katherine Heigl gave a grant to Best Friends to fund a year of the program.

In 2010, Katherine Heigl was honored with the "Presidential Service Award" by ASPCA for her work and dedication to animal welfare.

The initiative features a Public Service Announcement starring Katherine Heigl and produced by Funny or Die.

Katherine Heigl is a strong proponent of organ donation, working as a spokesperson for Donate Life America.

Katherine Heigl was inspired by these events to later work as an activist for organ donation.