Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American actress and former model. Known for her trademark mole just above her lip, she has adorned more magazine covers than any model in history. She was named #3 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90s.

Early life

Crawford was born in DeKalb, Illinois, the daughter of Jennifer Moluf and John Crawford. Crawford's trademark is a visible mole (or "beauty mark") above her upper lip. She is so closely associated with this physical feature that she appeared in an advertising campaign for chocolates featuring commercials wherein she "licked off" her own mole. During the beginning of her career, the mole was removed from many of her earlier modeling pictures, including her first Vogue cover.

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 1. 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 Success.

Career

Throughout the 80s and 90s, Cindy was repeatedly and frequently featured on the cover of many magazines, including: Vogue, W, People, Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, and Allure. Crawford also appeared in many fashion campaigns during her career, including those for Gianni Versace, Escada, Revlon, Ink. She has also worked for Omega, Maybelline, and Clairol.

Crawford has also been on TV and in films. From 1989 to 1995, Crawford was host of MTV's House of Style. In the mid-1990s Crawford starred in famous Pepsi and Pepsi Stuff advertising. In 1995 Crawford broke into movies as the female lead in the movie Fair Game. Her performance was panned by critics (according to Leonard Maltin, "as an actress, Crawford makes for an excellent jogger" ), and the film was a financial failure, with expenses of $50 million and $11 million takings at the box office. In 2001, she costarred as part of an ensemble cast in The Simian Line. Again the film was not successful or critically acclaimed, but Crawford's acting was not criticized. She has had several other minor acting jobs over the years.