Katherine Heigl has been hovering around the perhipery of the celebrity pantheon since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, and to some respects she stays just out of the centre of the spotlight. She is easily one of the hottest women around right now, and looks different in almost every photo we see of her! Sometimes, she looks like a more buxom Ashley Judd, other times like a young Gretta Scacci. It's our bet that this chameleon ability could be to her distinct advantage as her acting matures, even if it makes it hard for her PR people to package her for mass consumption.

Born Katherine Marie Heigl in Washington DC on November 24 1978, to parents Nancy and Paul Heigl, she is half Irish and half German, which explains the name. When still very young, the Heigl family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut, where Katherine was to spend the majority of her childhood.

Katherine's first taste of the limelight was as a child model. An aunt, visiting the family in New Canaan, took a number of photographs of her niece, then aged nine, in a series of poses to advertise a hair care product she had invented. Upon returning to New York, and with permission from Katherine's parents, she sent the photos to a number of modeling agencies. Within a few weeks Katherine had been signed to Wilhelmina, a renowned international modeling agency. Almost immediately she made her debut in a magazine advertisement, and soon followed this with an inaugural television appearance in a national commercial for Cheerios breakfast cereal.

In 1994, Katherine beat out Alicia Silverstone (then at the height of her Aerosmith-fuelled fame) for the role of the daughter in My Father The Hero, the US remake of the French comedy. Both versions starred Gerard Depardieu as the father.

In 1995, she was cast as Steven Segal's niece in Under Siege 2 (aka, Under Siege on a train). The original Under Siege was something of a minor classic of the action genre. It featured an unlikely plot concerning a special forces cook who frees a ship that has been hijacked by what appear to be terrorists. It is more often remembered as being the film that featured a memorable topless performance from ex-Baywatch babe Erika Eleniak. The sequel wasn't up to much, and Katherine's role didn't require a whole lot, but she gave it ger all and came across quite well. We all hoped that Segal kept his famously wandering hands to himself backstage, as Katherine was a mere 16 years old at the time. However the photo to the right is a disturbing confirmation of our worst fears. That's not a trick of perspective or light or anything else: Segal has his left hand on Katherine's right breast. At this time, she was 17, and he was 44. The smile on her face screams "this crazy old man is feeling me up... won't anyone do anything?!" It would seem the answer is "no".

At that point it must have seemed that the entertainment world was within grasp of being her oyster, but there followed a few lean years of straight-to-video-dom. But then in 1999 she got a major break with the TV show Roswell. Katherine auditioned for all three main, female roles before being cast as Isabel. This brought her to the attention of the mainstream TV audience, and the celebrity world as a whole. I can do no better than to quote Golem, of The Iconophile: "Who the hottest chick is from the neck up on the WB's Roswell is a matter still open to debate, but from the neck down it's clearly Katherine Heigl's otherworldly proportions that keep the show's ratings afloat." Indeed. As Katherine moves from the world of kid roles into womanhood, it promises to be an interesting ride for us all :-)

If you like Katherine, we recommend: Erika Christensen.

• Katherine's entry on IMDB
• Fan site with comprehensive galleries