Heather Stewart-Whyte (born 25 September 1968) is a British

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

. She is the former wife of

Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer. Noah won the French Open in 1983, and is currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams. During his nearly two-decade ...

Early life

Born in the UK, Heather Stewart-Whyte is the daughter of Doug Stewart-Whyte, a notable

Tory Party The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed ...

activist, but was raised, along with her sisters, and by her mother. Her younger half-brother Don Stewart-Whyte, who was raised by Doug, was suspected of terrorism. She was raised on an English farm.

Career

Stewart-Whyte got her first modelling job by replying to an ad by

Elite Model Management Elite Model Management (MM) refers to two independent chain modeling agencies that originated as one in Paris, France in 1972 with subsequent locations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London and Toronto. In 2004, the agencies in New York, Miami, ...

at age 17 after becoming a

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

. She did not begin modelling full-time until age 21. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Stewart-Whyte performed runway shows for

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

, Saint-Laurent and Lagerfeld. She also modeled for

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ...

, Christian Dior, and

Maybelline Maybelline New York (formerly The Maybelline Company and Mabelline and Co.), trading as Maybelline ( ), is an American multinational cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company, based in New York City. It was founded in Chicago ...

. Stewart-Whyte also landed magazine covers such as back-to-back September ''

Vogue Paris The French edition of ''Vogue'' magazine, formerly called ''Vogue Paris'', is a fashion magazine that has been published since 1920. History 1920–54 The French edition of ''Vogue'' was first issued on 15 June 1920, the first editor-in-chief b ...

'' in 1991 and 1992, and the British and Italian editions of both ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' and '' Marie Claire'' and French ''Elle''.

Personal life

Stewart-Whyte became

's second wife in 1995, but they divorced in 1999. They had been married in Saussay. At first Stewart-Whyte was awarded custody of their two daughters in 2000, but after pregnancy-induced hospitalization during her second marriage to British record executive Dan Koonoo, Noah gained custody of their two daughters. Koonoo was known by many aliases, including Franck Ferrando and was an off and on prison detainee. Stewart-Whyte's son Stephane was born in August 2001 and Noah gained custody of the daughters in November. Noah and Stuart-Whyte lived in Europe, and custody was adjudicated in the British Courts. Daughters Elijah and Jénayé were born in 1996 and 1997, respectively. She was stepmother to Noah's children from his prior marriage to

Cécilia Rodhe Cécilia Catharina Björnsdotter Rodhe (surname sometimes spelled Rhode; formerly Rhodes-Noah; born 1 September 1961) is a Swedish beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Sweden 1978. She competed in the Miss Universe 1978 pageant, held in Mexico ...

Joakim Noah Joakim Simon Noah ( ; born February 25, 1985) is an American-born French-Swedish former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida Gators, winning back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007. The Chicago B ...

and Yelena Noah. In 2003, she complained in the press that Noah had not respected her court-ordered visitation rights with daughters Elyjah and Jennaye and that he was using them to promote his album, ''Les Lionnes''. She demanded that her children's faces be blurred in the trailer for a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

about Noah. In March 2004, she was reported as kidnapped in Paris with a $60,000 ransom demand by her mother and sister, but upon her reappearance, the

French Police Law enforcement in France has a long history dating back to AD 570 when night watch systems were commonplace.Dammer, H. R. and Albanese, J. S. (2014). ''Comparative Criminal Justice Systems'' (5th ed.). Wadesworth Cengage learning: Belmont, ...

said that she had not actually been kidnapped. Ferrando/Koonoo died at the Marcel-Cerdan boxing gym in

Noisy-le-Grand Noisy-le-Grand () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune of Noisy-le-Grand is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one of the four sectors of the "new town" of Marne-la-Vallée ...

at the beginning of a boxing match in July 2004. At first the cause of death was described as a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

, but was later determined to be a

pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema, also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive liquid accumulation in the tissue and air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause hypoxemia and respiratory failure. It is due t ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart-Whyte, Heather English female models Living people 1968 births