Born on August 25th 1970, Claudia was raised in Dusseldorf, Germany by her mother, Gudrun Schiffer and her lawyer father Heinz Schiffer. As a child growing up, Claudia did not wish to become a model, rather she wanted to be a lawyer and work in her father’s successful law firm.
claudia is spotted
Claudia’s aspirations of becoming a successful attorney came to a halt when she went to a nightclub for a night on the town with her friends in October 1987. A modeling agent, Michel Levaton, spotted Claudia and was instantly taken with her. A few weeks later, after her mother’s insistence that she finish high school, Claudia flew off to Paris for her first test shoot and indubitably a star was born.
Claudia’s initial emergence came from the popular cover shot for Elle magazine, after which she began receiving unbelievable recognition by magazines in Europe and was later selected to be the new Guess? girl in 1989. While she was fulfilling her Guess? ad campaign duties, Claudia managed to appear on five magazine covers in the U.S. and seven in Europe.
claudia gives to charity
At 5’11″ with long, flowing blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, she has appeared on over 500 magazine covers and her annual calendar, which she designed herself and donated the proceeds to such charities as the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, was always one of the hottest selling items around.
Other charities that Claudia has been involved in include the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the National Breast Cancer Coalition Signature Drive and many others to help cure disease.
claudia does tv and film
She has made many television appearances throughout her successful career on shows such as Larry King Live, The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Dharma & Greg, and Arrested Development.
Besides her television stints, Claudia has also appeared in a number of feature films including, Richie Rich (1994), Black & White (1999), which starred everyone from Mike Tyson to Robert Downey Jr., Friends & Lovers (1999), Life Without Dick (2002), and Love Actually (2003).
Claudia has even made a personal exercise video and is also quite the entrepreneur, considering she was one of the original founders of the trendy Fashion Cafe (with fellow supermodels Elle MacPherson, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell).
claudia now and later
As for her hobbies, Claudia likes to ride horses, paint, play tennis, read, ski, and dance. As well, this beauty is also fluently trilingual – she speaks German, French and English.
Claudia remains a presence in the public: During the 2006 World Cup she helped Pele carry the trophy, during the opening ceremonies, into the stadium in Munich. Also, in 2002 she presented a polo trophy to Prince William Windsor.
Claudia has two children, Casper Matthew and Clementine, with her husband, film producer Matthew Vaughn, whom she married on May 25, 2002. Though we are happy for her, especially after her prolonged engagement to David Copperfield, we are somehow disappointed.
