Claudia Schiffer

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Claudia Schiffer is a German model who reached supermodel status during the 1990s. She has also appeared in around ten motion pictures.

Biography

Schiffer was born August 25, 1970 in Rheinberg, North Rhine-Westphalia. She began modelling in 1987, after being spotted in a nightclub in Düsseldorf. Weeks later she appeared in Elle magazine. Within a short time she modelled for Chanel. In the early 1990s she starred in Guess? jeans ads in North America. In more recent years, she has starred in advertising campaigns for brands such as Mango and Accessorize.

From 1994 to 1999, Schiffer was married to the American illusionist, David Copperfield. They first met in 1993, when Schiffer attended one of Copperfield's shows and he invited her on stage to participate in his "Flying" illusion. Later in the same year, she joined Copperfield on an appearance on live German TV. During this appearance, Schiffer assisted Copperfield in a traditional "Thin Model" version of the famous stage illusion, "Sawing a Woman in Half", with Schiffer being sawed in half by Copperfield and the show’s host, who used a large two-person saw to cut her in half. Having sawed Schiffer in half and separated her halves, Copperfield then tickled her feet, causing her to scream with laughter and complain (in German) that she was ticklish. While she was still in two pieces, she was interviewed by the show's host, who asked her what it felt like to be sawed in half. Copperfield then asked her out on a date and, after she agreed, he finally put her back together in one piece. Shortly after this, they became engaged, and married the following year. While they were married, and when not otherwise occupied with her modelling work, Schiffer often joined her husband in his stage shows as a special guest assistant in a number of illusions. During the show, she would be levitated high into the air, made to vanish and re-appear, beheaded by a full-sized guillotine, and finally sawed in half.

"Many have seen the classic magic trick in which a woman in a box is sawed in half onstage. But how many have seen the same trick performed using a glass box? And what if the woman in the glass box is one of the most beautiful and famous in the world? That's exactly what the audience at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa saw yesterday at the climax of the latest show from superstar magician David Copperfield. In addition to his usual bevy of glamorous assistants, Copperfield was joined in the show by his supermodel wife, Claudia Schiffer, and it was she who ended up quite literally beside herself after Copperfield sawed her in half in the most impossible-looking version of the famous illusion the audience had ever seen... Having locked his wife inside a glass-sided box, Copperfield and an audience member sawed her in half and pulled her apart - Much to the amazement of the rest of the audience, who had an unobstructed view of her body within the box at all times throughout the illusion." - The Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1995.

Following the end of her marriage to Copperfield in 1999, Schiffer became romantically involved with the heir to the Green Shield Stamp empire, Tim Jeffries.

On May 25, 2002 she married film producer Matthew de Vere Drummond, né Matthew Vaughn, son of George Albert Harley Drummond (also known as George de Vere Drummond). Because her father-in-law is in the line of succession to the Earldom of Oxford and Mortimer, it is possible that Claudia could one day become the Countess of Oxford.

Claudia and Matthew have two children: a son, Caspar Matthew De Vere Drummond, born in London on January 30, 2003 and a daughter, Clementine, born in London on November 11, 2004.

Filmography

Acting:

Love Actually (2003) .... Carol
In Pursuit (2001) .... Catherine Wells
Life Without Dick (2001) .... Mary
Black and White (1999) .... Greta
Friends & Lovers (1999) .... Carla
Desperate But Not Serious (1999) .... Gigi
The Blackout (1997) .... Susan
Richie Rich (film)|Richie Rich (1994) .... Claudia, the Aerobics Instructor
The Magic of David Copperfield: 15 Years of Magic (1994) (TV) .... The reporter

Playing Herself:

Í skóm drekans (2002) .... Herself (presenter)
666 - Traue keinem, mit dem Du schläfst! (2002) .... Herself
Zoolander (2001) .... Herself
The Sound of Claudia Schiffer (2000) .... Herself
Beautopia (1998) .... Herself
1997 VH1 Fashion Awards (1997) (TV) .... Herself
An Audience with Elton John (1997) (TV) (uncredited) .... Herself
Happy Birthday Elizabeth: A Celebration of Life (1997) (TV) .... Herself
The 68th Annual Academy Awards (1996) (TV) .... Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Costume Design
Catwalk (1996) .... Herself
Perfectly Fit (1996) (V) .... Herself
Around Claudia Schiffer (1995) (TV) .... Herself/Interviewer
Schönsten Frauen der Welt - Claudia Schiffer, Die (1995) (TV) .... Herself
Prêt-à-Porter (film)|Prêt-à-Porter (1994) (uncredited) .... Herself
Noche de tu vida, La (1993) (TV) .... Herself - Hostess

Notable TV Guest Appearances:

Corazón de... 19 July 2005 .... Herself
Wetten, dass..? episode: "Wetten, dass..? aus Klagenfurt" (episode # 1.147) 28 February 2004 .... Herself
Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development (uncredited) in episode: "Charity Drive" (episode # 1.5) 30 November 2003 .... Balboa Towers Security
Dharma & Greg episode: "This Diamond Ring" (episode # 5.19) 2 April 2002 .... Gretchen
Dharma & Greg episode: "I Think, Therefore I Am in Trouble" (episode # 5.16) 19 March 2002 .... Gretchen
Wetten, dass..? episode: "Wetten, dass..? aus Braunschweig" (episode # 1.133) 26 January 2002 .... Herself
The Howard Stern Radio Show 7 October 2000 .... Herself
Russell Gilbert Live (episode # 1.11) 17 June 2000 .... Herself
Late Night with Conan O'Brien 13 April 2000 .... Herself
Futurama (voice) in episode: "A Head in the Polls" (episode # 2.7) 12 December 1999 .... Herself
Caiga quien caiga 19 October 1997 .... Herself
Mad TV (episode # 1.17) 6 April 1996 .... Herself
De tú a tú 18 February 1993
Wetten, dass..? episode: "Wetten, dass..? aus Basel" (episode # 1.70) 2 November 1991 .... Herself

Trivia

She didn't get her ears pierced until 1999, when she had them done especially so that she could wear the large hoop earrings worn by her character in the movie Black and White. Later in the same year, she also had the cartilage in her ears pierced for her part in the movie Desperate But Not Serious, for which she also had her nose pierced. After this movie was completed, she then removed all of the piercings and allowed the holes to close up - including the ones in her earlobes. In 2006, at the age of 35, she had her ears re-pierced especially for the photoshoot for her 2006 Accessorize advertising campaign. Her contract for the campaign included an additional payment to cover the need for her to pierce her ears so as to be able to wear the pierced earrings she was required to model during the photoshoot. Since then, she has continued to wear pierced earrings, with her favorites being either a pair of small diamond studs, or a pair of large gold hoops.
The version of the "Sawing a Woman in Half" illusion she performed with Copperfield is called "Clearly Impossible". In this version of the illusion, she would lay down on the "table", and her head and feet would be firmly held by members of the audience. She would then be covered by a special clear-sided box, from which her head and feet projected, and which allowed an uninterupted view of her body throughout the illusion. Once her neck and ankles had been firmly locked in place by stocks, the audience member who had been holding her head would join Copperfield in sawing through her middle using a large two-person saw. After she had been completely sawed through, two large metal divider blades would be inserted through the cut and her two halves separated. As her feet had been firmly held by the second audience member all the time from before she was covered by the box, and because the box allowed her body to be clearly seen throughout the sawing through and separation, the illusion gave the impression that she had indeed been divided into two pieces.

Quotes

(Claiming that supermodels are now extinct) "In order to become a supermodel one must be on all the covers all over the world at the same time so that people can recognise the girls. That is, for now, not least because the advertising industry is very much taken nowadays by pop stars and actresses. Supermodels, like we once were, don't exist any more.
"The first time David sawed me in half, I did feel quite nervous. But it was a lot of fun to do, and I didn't feel a thing as he sawed through me and pulled me apart. Now, being sawed in half is definitly my favorite part of being in David's shows."

"I've met women who have way better bodies in their 40s because they've been working on them for all these years."

"I just love to shock people. Yesterday my friend said, "What a great top, is it Stella?" I said, "No, it's Mango, £25." I'm never head-to-toe in anything. I like to mix things from Prada, things from Marc Jacobs. But, you know, you can spend several thousand pounds on something, wear it for one day and the button falls off. I get really ****** off when you spend so much money."

"I really love working with David in his shows, especially being sawed in half. Feeling the saw go through me is such an amazing sensation, and it’s always such a thrill to look over and see my legs on the other side of the stage and know I’m in two pieces…"

"I love wearing flat shoes, but I am not one of those girls who walks around in sweat pants and sneakers. I think I have something going on with shoes. Flat shoes. I buy them in several colors at once. High heels are for work and they have always been uncomfortable for me. I'm amazed when I see mothers wearing high heels. If your kids run off you can't run after them."

"I'm not really a big jewelry person - never have been. Normally, all I wear is my wedding ring, a watch, and a small cross on a chain around my neck. Of course, now I've got pierced ears, I'll often wear earrings too, but not always. If I do, its usually a pair of diamond studs my husband gave me, although if I'm feeling especially bold, I've got some big hoops I love to wear too."

External links

Claudia Schiffer in Wikipedia