Gisele Bundchen

Biography :

Gisele Caroline Bundchen was born 20 July 1980 in the Brazilian town of Três de Maio and grew up in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul. She is of German-Brazilian heritage from both her parents, Vânia Nonnenmacher, a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bündchen, a university teacher and writer. She has five sisters — Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin Patrícia, Gisele's junior by five minutes. Bündchen is Roman Catholic and speaks Portuguese as her native language. She also speaks Spanish and English. 

Originally, Bundchen wanted to be a professional volleyball player and considered playing for the Brazilian team, Sogipa. While in school, Bundchen was so thin that her friends used to call her "Olívia Palito" (Portuguese for Olive Oyl, Popeye's skinny girlfriend). In 1993, a then-13-year-old Bundchen joined a modeling course with her sisters Patrícia and Gabriela at her mother's insistence. The following year, Bundchen went to São Paulo on a school excursion to give them an opportunity to walk in a big city. In a shopping mall, while eating at McDonald's with her friends, Bundchen was discovered by a modeling agency. She was subsequently selected for a national contest, Elite Look of the Year, in which she placed second — Claudia Menezes, from Bahia, took first place. Bundchen placed fourth in the world contest, held in Ibiza, Spain. In 1996, Bundchen moved to New York City to begin her modeling career, debuting at Fashion Week. 

In the late 1990s, Bundchen became one of the first in a wave of Brazilian models to find success. In 1999, Vogue magazine dubbed her "The Return of the Sexy Model" and she was credited with ending the "heroin chic" era of modeling.

Bundchen was one of Victoria's Secret Angels from 2000 until 2007. Since 2004, she has been the highest-paid model in the world and the sixteenth richest woman in the entertainment industry with an estimated $150 million fortune. Models Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell, have argued that Bundchen is the only true remaining "supermodel." 

As an occasional actress, she had supporting roles in Taxi (2004) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006). From 2000 to 2005, Bundchen was in a much-publicized relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio. She began dating New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in 2006. They married in February 2009.

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