Bar Rafaeli

FACTS ABOUT BAR REFAELI
Date of Birth: 04 June 1985
Birthplace: Hod HaSharon
Age: 25
First Name: Bar
Last Name: Refaeli
Build: Slim
Height: 5' 8?" (174 cm)
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Brown - Light
Star Sign: Gemini
Claim to Fame: Sports Illustrated
Occupation: Model, Actress
Religion: Jewish
Occupation Category: Model
Nationality: Israeli



BIOGRAPHY FOR BAR REFAELI
Bar Refaeli (Hebrew: בר רפאלי‎, born Jun. 4, 1985 (25 years ago)) is an Israeli model, known for her modeling work and for her relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio. She is the cover model of the 2009 (last year) Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

EARLY YEARS
Bar Refaeli was born in 1985 (25 years ago) into a Israeli Jewish family in Hod HaSharon, Israel. Her parents, Tzipi and Rafael, own a horse ranch. Her mother was a very successful model herself in the late 1970s, under the name Tzipi Levine. Refaeli has three brothers. She began a modeling career at the age of eight months, appearing in commercials. She had to wear braces in her early years, postponing her modeling. At age 15, Refaeli returned to modeling with the representation of Irene Marie Models.

CAREER
Modeling career
Refaeli began her modeling career before the age of 8 months for a baby commercial. By age 15, she was featured in campaigns for the fashion brands Castro and Pilpel, also starring in a commercial for Milki. Refaeli won the title "Model of The Year" in a beauty contest[which?] in 2000 (10 years ago) and 2001 (9 years ago). She was also chosen to be the home model of Renuar fashion network and appeared in their summer 2002 (8 years ago) and winter 2003 (7 years ago) catalogs.

Refaeli appeared in ELLE (France), Maxim, and GQ (Italy). She debuted in the 2007 (3 years ago) Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, becoming the first Israeli model to appear in the magazine. In the issue, she posed with rock band Aerosmith.

She has been the spokesperson for fashion brand Luisa Cerano. She has modeled for Subaru, Accessorize, Brazilian clothing line, Besni, and Italian jewelry line Marco Bicego. She is signed to Storm Model Management in London, and 1/One Management in New York City.

In 2008 (2 years ago), Refaeli has become the face of clothing line Hurley, and the new Diddy cologne, "I Am King.

On Feb. 9, 2009 (last year), it was announced that Refaeli is the 2009 (last year) Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model. A photo (wallpaper) from the shoot, featuring a bikini-clad Refaeli, was also painted on the side of a Boeing 737 in a promotional deal with Southwest Airlines, leading many passengers to criticize Southwest for using an image (wallpaper) they regarded as inappropriately sexual and "offensive to families".

Film and TV career
Refaeli co-starred the Israeli TV series Pick Up in 2005 (5 years ago). In Oct. 2008 (2 years ago), she co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America, based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by George Lois. She returned as a program host in 2009 (last year), this time for MTV's brief revival of House of Style.

In 2009 (last year), she will star in an English-language film, Session, directed by Israeli Haim Bouzaglo. The movie is a psychological thriller that tells the story of a manipulative psychiatrist, Josh Tellman, who becomes obsessed with a new young patient named "Jibbs."

Philanthropy
Refaeli volunteers for Project Sunshine, a non-profit organization providing free services and programs for children facing life-threatening illnesses. She has also volunteered for organization Ahava, which has been caring for pets abandoned in Northern Israel during the 2006 (4 years ago) Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Bar Rafaeli (28 walls) and movie director Shahar Segal have agreed to do a gratis campaign under the slogan "One Bag Less" to reduce the use of plastic bags.

On Mar. 5, 2009 (last year), Refaeli was awarded in the "World Style" category at the Women's World Awards, an event honouring women for achievements in various fields and for contributions to furthering the elimination of discrimination of women.

PERSONAL LIFE
Previously linked to Baywatch actor David Charvet and Uri El-Natan, Refaeli began a relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio (7 walls) in Nov. 2005 (5 years ago) after meeting him at a Las Vegas party thrown for members of U2. In the course of their trip to Israel in Mar. 2007 (3 years ago), the couple met with Israeli president Shimon Peres and visited Refaeli's hometown of Hod HaSharon. The relationship ended in Jul. 2009 (last year).

In 2007 (3 years ago), a controversy arose when it became widely known that Refaeli had married a family acquaintance and divorced him soon after, thereby avoiding military service in the Israel Defense Forces, which is mandatory for both men and women over the age of 18, with certain exemptions. As a result of the adverse publicity, the Israeli Forum for the Promotion of Equal Share in the Burden threatened to boycott the fashion chain Fox if they hired Refaeli, but the two sides reached a compromise in which the model agreed to visit injured IDF soldiers on visits to Israel and encourage enlistment in the army.