Vendela Maria Kirsebom (born 12 January 1967) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

model,

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

, and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Early life

Kirsebom was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to a Norwegian mother and a Turkish father. At the age of 13, she was discovered in a Stockholm restaurant by

Eileen Ford Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to: People Artists * Eileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer *Eileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer * Eilee ...

. At 18, she graduated from the Oslo Waldorf School (''«Rudolf Steinerskolen i Oslo»'') and moved to Italy to pursue a modeling career under the guidance of

Ford Models Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. Company Ford Models was started in 1946 by Eileen ...

Career

Contracted with

Elizabeth Arden Elizabeth Arden (born Florence Nightingale Graham; December 31, 1881 – October 18, 1966) was a Canadian-American businesswoman who founded what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and built a cosmetics empire in the United States. By 1929, s ...

, she moved to the United States to work as Almay's spokesperson. Kirsebom has appeared on the magazine covers of ''Bride's'' (US), ''Flare ''(Canada), ''Shape ''(US), ''FHM ''(UK), and ''Zest ''(US) and has been featured multiple times in the pages of the ''

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted co ...

''. She appeared in '' Batman and Robin'' in 1997 as

Nora Fries Nora Fries, also known as Mrs. Freeze, is a fictional character appearing in media published by DC Entertainment, commonly in stories featuring the superhero Batman. She is married to Batman villain Mr. Freeze, and was introduced in the DC Animate ...

; and (as Vendela K. Thomessen) in 1998 played the bridal gown model in '' The Parent Trap'', which starred Lindsay Lohan,

Natasha Richardson Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was an English actress of stage and screen. A member of the Redgrave family, Richardson was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaug ...

, and

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...

. She was also featured in the Disney Channel's '' Model Behavior'' with Justin Timberlake and

Maggie Lawson Margaret Cassidy Lawson (born August 12, 1980) is an American actress who is best known for her role as Detective Juliet "Jules" O'Hara in the TV show '' Psych''. From 2018 to 2019, she held the recurring role of Nathalie Flynn on Fox's ''Leth ...

. She appeared as herself in 1995 episodes of ''

The Larry Sanders Show ''The Larry Sanders Show'' is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. The series was created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein and aired from August 15, 1992, to May 31, 1998, on the HBO ...

'' and '' Murphy Brown'', as well as the 2005 TV-movie sequel '' Romy and Michele: In the Beginning''. Kirsebom made a cameo as a "space villainess" in a "Pigs in Space" skit on ''

Muppets Tonight ''Muppets Tonight'' is an American live-action/puppet family-oriented television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. Much like the "MuppeTelevision" segment of ''The Jim Henson Hour'' (1989), the show was a contin ...

''. She also lent her voice to a fictionalized version of herself on ''

Johnny Bravo ''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired fr ...

''. In 1999, she hosted the Swedish music competition

Melodifestivalen 1999 Sweden was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1999, held in Jerusalem. Before Eurovision Melodifestivalen 1999 Melodifestivalen 1999 was the selection for the 39th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 38 ...

. From 2006 to 2008, she hosted the Norwegian version of ''

Top Model ''Top Model,'' also called ''Next Top Model,'' is a fashion-themed reality television show format produced in many countries throughout the world and seen in over 120 countries producing over 200 seasons, which are referred to as "cycles". T ...

'', and also hosted the fourth cycle of the Swedish version in 2007.

Personal life

In 1996, Kirsebom married Norwegian politician Olaf Thommessen, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

of French and Norwegian descent. They separated in 2007 after 11 years of marriage and Kirsebom moved to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

with their two daughters, Julia and Hannah. In addition to

and

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

, she speaks German, Italian and English fluently. She remains active in modeling and is a Goodwill Ambassador for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

. In 2019, boyfriend Petter Pilgaard proposed to Kirsebom. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

the wedding was postponed, but they finally married in June 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
''Aftonbladet'', "Jag vet inget om min pappa"
11 December 2006
''Aftonbladet'', "Vi måste alla hjälpa barn"
18 June 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirsebom, Vendela 1967 births Living people Actresses from Stockholm Swedish female models Norwegian female models Norwegian people of Turkish descent Swedish people of Norwegian descent Swedish people of Turkish descent Waldorf school alumni Spouses of Norwegian politicians Models from Oslo