Katherine Elizabeth Upton (born June 10, 1992) is an American model and actress. She first appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2011, and was the cover model for the 2012, 2013, and 2017 issues. In addition, she was the subject of the 100th-anniversary Vanity Fair cover. Upton has also appeared in the films Tower Heist (2011), The Other Woman (2014), and The Layover (2017).
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Early life
Katherine Elizabeth Upton was born in St. Joseph, Michigan. She is the daughter of Shelley (née Davis), a former Texas state tennis champion, and Jeff Upton, a high school athletic director. Her uncle is former U.S. Representative Fred Upton. Upton's great-grandfather, Frederick Upton, was co-founder of appliance manufacturer and marketer Whirlpool Corporation.
In 1999, Upton moved with her family to Melbourne, Florida, where she was a student at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy, a private Christian school, although she did not graduate.
As a young equestrian, she showed at the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) and competed at a national level. With her horse Roanie, she won three APHA Reserve World Championships – 13 and Under Western Riding, 13 and Under Horsemanship, and 14–18 Western Riding. She was named the 13 and Under Reserve All-Around Champion, giving her a total of four reserve championships (second place). In addition, Upton ended up third overall on the APHA youth Top 20. With a second horse, Colby, she won 14–18 Western Riding and was included in the top five in 14–18 Horsemanship and 14–18 Western Pleasure in 2009.
Career
Upton attended a casting call in Miami for Elite Model Management in 2008 and was signed the same day. She eventually moved to New York City, where she then signed with IMG Models. Upton first modeled clothing for Garage and Dooney & Bourke. She was the 2010–11 face of Guess. In 2011, Upton appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was featured in the body paint section and named Rookie of the Year for the issue. She has since modeled for Beach Bunny Swimwear, and has appeared in Complex, as well as Esquire as "The Woman of the Summer". Upton wore one of the Beach Bunny suits in the 2014 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
In April 2011, an Internet video of her doing the dougie hip-hop dance at a Los Angeles Clippers game went viral and served to increase her popularity. Guy Trebay of The New York Times observed that this served to illustrate the power of social media to bestow stardom upon a model, which had previously been the domain of top designer runway shows. In April 2012, Upton appeared in a video of herself performing the Cat Daddy dance to the song of the same name by The Rej3ctz, which also went viral.
Upton made an appearance in a June 2011 episode of Tosh.0 and participated in the 2011 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, in July 2011. Upton's acting debut was in the film, Tower Heist, as Mr. Hightower's mistress. It was released in November 2011. She also appeared in The Three Stooges as Sister Bernice.
In April 2012, she faced criticism for her raunchy portrayal the kind-hearted Sister Bernice, one of the sisters in the Sisters of Mercy Orphanage, in The Three Stooges, where according to Vanity Fair, towards the end of the film she emerges from a pool "in a nun habit, a rosary, and little else". The Catholic League criticised Upton's performance as "crudity", claiming that it was symptomatic of a willingness to "[trash] Christianity, especially Catholicism". However, the scene of Upton emerging from the pool in the revealing bikini only appears in the film's trailer. In the final film, her swimsuit only appears briefly in a couple of scenes.
Upton appeared on the cover of the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, released in February 2012. Upton has also recounted the negative aftereffects of the 2012 Sports Illustrated cover, as she was subjected to criticism and felt she had been objectified.
Personal life
Upton is a committed Christian, who has been outspoken in defending her faith from critics who have suggested that her modelling career is incompatible with religious values.
During an interview with Elle magazine in 2013, she reflected on the importance of Christian faith to her life and career. Upton recalled an occasion during a photoshoot when someone joked about her cross necklace, saying "Why are you wearing a cross? Like you would be religious" and then removing the necklace from her for the shoot. She says the incident "really affected" her and galvanized her commitment to expressing her faith. As a result, she tattooed a cross on the inside of her finger so that she could have "a cross with me, at all times".
In 2014, nude photographs of Upton and several other female celebrities were illegally leaked to the Internet. Upton started dating then-Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander in early 2014, and they were engaged in 2016. In 2017, the couple married in Tuscany, Italy. They have a daughter, born in 2018, and a son, born in 2025.
