Sophie Dahl  

As a British actress, model, and author, Sophie Dahl proves she’s the whole package: the looks, the presence, and the brains. She is most known for her successful modeling career, her flourishing writing, and one particularly racy ad for Yves Saint Laurent.

Sophie Dahl was born September 15, 1977 in London, England. Her parents are Tessa Dahl and Julian Holloway, an established author and actor respectively. Born into a family with famous lineage on both sides, her maternal grandfather was beloved children’s author Roald Dahl, while her paternal grandfather was prolific actor Stanley Holloway.

Dahl received her first big break when she was just eighteen. Sitting on her stoop in London, she caught the eye of legendary magazine editor and all around fashion icon Isabella Blow. At the time, Dahl was a particularly curvy woman, and Blow loved her seamless redefinition of beauty. It stood in direct opposition to the ultra-skinny trend so prolific in the modeling world.

Although Dahl subsequently made a name for herself as a plus size model, she lost the weight and now conforms to a more standard conception of the model figure.

During her modeling career, Dahl found herself in the middle of a controversy. When she posed for an Yves Saint Laurent spread advertising the new perfume Opium, she appeared entirely naked, lying on a bed of black velvet. Although the high end shot was taken in an edgy, artistic manner, many believed it crossed the line from art to something more offensive. It was subsequently removed from UK hoardings. There were even enough complaints that France banned the ad entirely.

On the literary front, Dahl was her grandfather’s inspiration for the character of Sophie in The BFG. With writing so firmly established in her family tree, it wasn’t long before Dahl caught the bug as well. She published many short stories and her culminating work, a novella entitled The Man with the Dancing Eyes, was released in 2003. In 2007, her first full length novel, Playing with the Grown-ups, hit the book store shelves.

In terms of her acting career, Dahl made her onscreen debut in 1999 with a bit part in Mad Cows. Other notable roles include Revengers Tragedy with Christopher Eccleston and Eddie Izzard and the silent short Standing Room Only with Michael Gambon, Hugh Jackman, and Andy Serkis. She also took a very small role in the star-studded film People I Know opposite Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, Ryan ONeal, and Tea Leoni.

Most recently, Dahl graced the cover of the UK version of Vogue.

In her personal life, she dated director and actor Griffin Dunne from 2000 to 2001. There were even rumors that she was romantically involved with the Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger.