Amber Valletta life and biography

Amber Evangeline Valletta is an American actress and model. She began her career as a model for fashion agencies, and appeared on cover pages of internationally recognized magazines. She made her film debut in Drop Back Ten (2000). She then starred in the hit film Hitch (2005). She has since appeared in films such as Man About Town (2006), Dead Silence (2007), Gamer (2009) and The Spy Next Door (2010).

Supermodel-cum-Hollywood actress Amber Valletta hit the runway in her late teens, and, though a frequent presence in fashion ads for several years prior, first made national headlines in July 1993. That summer, under representation by Boss Models, the svelte 19-year-old Oklahoman blonde upstaged heavyweight Cindy Crawford as the primary spokeswoman for Capezio handbags -- and turned more than a few heads in the process. Not long after, Valletta also signed on as the chief spokeswoman for Elizabeth Arden. In 1996, Valletta succeeded Crawford again -- this time as the co-host (alongside Shalom Harlow) of MTV's hit documentary series House of Style. The by-now-familiar program found Valletta and Harlow carrying viewers behind the scenes of the fashion world, and (in the process) covered everything from runway preparation to before-the-camera apparel to anorexia nervosa. In 1999, Valletta's modeling intersected with social work when she helped raise over 350,000 dollars for the St. Jude Royal Gala Benefit in Monte Carlo, and later parlayed that effort into a promotional tour for Elizabeth Arden Splendor perfume that had Valletta and other company reps giving terminally ill children heartstring-tugging "moments of splendor."

Although hosting duties on House of Style represented Valletta's first broad leap into filmed entertainment, she delayed her cinematic work for another four years. In 2000, the model debuted onscreen as the spirit of a murdered coed in Robert Zemeckis' Hitchcock retread, What Lies Beneath, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford. Valletta's roles -- given the actress' off-camera motherhood and intermittent magazine work -- accumulated slowly over the next several years (in films such as the Nicolas Cage holiday vehicle The Family Man and the Danny DeVito-directed black comedy Duplex); as a result, Valletta only ascended gradually to top billing. In 2005, however, she attained her highest-profile exposure to date (and gained much-deserved respect as an actress) in the Andy Tennant-directed romantic comedy Hitch. As Allegra Cole, the city's most eligible bachelorette, who falls for the least likely candidate (overweight and self-conscious klutz Kevin James), Valletta played an admirable straight man to both James and "date doctor" Alex "Hitch" Hitchens (Will Smith). After a noticeable onscreen absence in 2006, Valletta returned to cinemas the following year, with two back-to-back roles in supernatural thrillers. She first received second billing as a nubile young bride in the James Wan-directed Saw follow-up Dead Silence -- a slasher picture about a quiet little town plagued by the spirit of an evil ventriloquist. And later that year, Valletta portrayed Claire in the Mennan Yapo-directed Premonition, starring Sandra Bullock.

Personal :
She was married in 1994 to Hervé Le Bihan. They divorced in 1996. Valletta is married to Olympic volleyball player Chip McCaw. They have a son, named Auden.

In August 2006, the New York Daily News reported that Valletta completed a stint at The Meadow rehabilitation facility in Wickenburg, Arizona, for stress and non-substance-related issues. Valletta told People magazine, "As was correctly reported earlier this week, my stay at The Meadows had nothing to do with substance abuse or addiction; I am pleased to say I have seven years' sobriety. But I continue every day to heal and grow as a person".

In January 2008, she participated in a video for Barack Obama produced by Will.I.Am called "Yes We Can" along with her son Auden, whom she was holding in her arms.

Films:
2000 Drop Back Ten ; What Lies Beneath ; The Family Man
2001 Perfume ; Max Keeble's Big Move
2003 Duplex
2004 Raising Helen
2005 Hitch ; Transporter 2
2006 Man About Town ; The Last Time
2007 Dead Silence ; Premonition ; My Sexiest Year
2008 Days of Wrath
2009 Gamer
2010 The Spy Next Door
2011 Girl Walks Into a Bar

Career Highlights:
1991: Signs contract with Calvin Klein’s Eternity fragrance
1993:
- Becomes the face of Giorgio Armani
- Walks the Valentino couture show in Paris
- Lands on the covers of Elle, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar
1994:
- Marries male model Hervé Le Bihan
- Appears in Calvin Klein Escape ad campaign with husband Hervé Le Bihan
- Appears on the cover of British Vogue
1995:
- Becomes the face of Gucci and Versace
- Organizes charity fashion-show Supermodels Stepping Out Against Hunger
- Makes film debut as herself in fashion film Unzipped (11 AUG)
- Lands on the cover of Vogue alongside Shalom Harlow
1996:
- Divorces Hervé Le Bihan
- Lands on cover of Italian Vogue, photographed by Steven Meisel
- Lands on the cover of British Vogue three times (February, May, December)
- Appears in print ads for Versace
- Co-hosts MTV’s House of Style with friend and model Shalom Harlow
1997:
- Face of Elizabeth Arden in an exclusive worldwide campaign
- Lands on the cover of Vogue alongside Amber Valletta
- Lands on the cover of Vogue alongside Carolyn Murphy and Shalom Harlow
- Lands on the cover of British Vogue, photographed by Mario Testino
1998:
- Appears in Prada, Armani, Calvin Klein, and Fendi campaigns
- Appears on cover of British Vogue
1999:
- Appears in an editorial for Italian Vogue dressed as Edith Bouvier Beale in Grey Gardens
- Gives up alcohol
- Lands on the cover of i-D, photographed by Richard Burbridge
2000:
- Pregnant with first child, takes modeling hiatus
- Plays role of the ghost that haunts a Vermont lakeside home in What Lies Beneath (21 JUL)
2001:
- Opens and closes the Anna Sui fall show in New York
- Opens and closes the Versace fall couture show in Paris
2003: Begins dating Christian McCaw
2004: Plays Martina alongside Kate Hudson in Raising Helen (28 MAY)
2005:
- Gets punked when a choking man in a restaurant threatens to sue her after she tries to save him
- Becomes the spokesperson for Oceania’s Seafood Contamination Campaign after a friend gets mercury poisoning
2006: Goes to Meadows rehab center in Arizona for stress-related problems
2007:
- Signs on to play anchorwoman in Days of Wrath
- Cast as a top international model in My Sexiest Year
- Walks in the epic Dior couture 60th-anniversary collection in Paris
- Named Vogue's third best dressed of the week in a navy Ossie Clark dress (25 AUG)
2008:
- Renews contract with Stella McCartney
- Appears in a W editorial, March 2008. Photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
- Escorts David Yurman to the Costume Institute Gala
- Appears in British Vogue editorial, photographed by Tom Craig
- Steven Meisel photographs Valletta for DSqaured2 with Boyd Holbrook
- Replaces Mischa Barton as the face of Iceberg for fall, photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott
- Appears in Vogue editorial, photographed by Steven Klein
- Sebastian Faena photographs Valletta for the fall cover of POP
- Appears in Vogue editorial, photographed by Steven Meisel
- Sebastian Faena photographs Valletta for the winter issue of Pop
2009:
- Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott photographs Valletta for Iceberg
- Appears in Italian Vogue editorial, photographed by Steven Klein
- Appears in Italian Vogue editorial, photographed by Steven Klein
- Appears in Vogue editorial, photographed by Steven Meisel
- Launches clothing line with L.A. clothing company Monrow
- V magazine features Valletta as an up-and-coming actress
2010:
- Appears in Marie Claire editorial, photographed by Simon Burstall
- Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott photographs Valletta for the spring cover of LOVE
- Featured on the cover of Italian Vogue, photographed by Steven Meisel
- Appears in Vogue editorial, photographed by Steven Meisel
- Replaces Angela Lindvall as the face of Jimmy Choo
- Appears in Vogue editorial, styled in Tom Ford

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