Iman

Iman was a Somali-American model, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist who best known as one of the world's most recognizable supermodels of the 1980s and 1990s. Although she was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in 1955, Iman, whose birth name was Zara Mohamed Abdulmajid, spent the majority of her formative years in Egypt, where she attended boarding school. Her father was a Somali diplomat, and moved the family to Kenya when Iman was still a teen. It was there that Iman briefly attended the University of Nairobi, where she majored in political science. Her stay at the University of Nairobi would be short-lived, however, as it was during her freshman year that Iman was discovered by the American photographer Peter Beard. Convinced she could have a thriving career as a fashion model, Iman dropped out of school and moved to the U.S. to embark on a career in modeling. Within a year she was appearing in Vogue, and before long Iman was landing on the cover of some of the most prestigious fashion magazines of the day. As a runway model in the 1980s, Iman was also a favorite of such fashion design icons as Calvin Klein, Yves Saint-Laurent, and Gianni Versace. Already one of the world's most famous supermodels, Iman branched out in the early 90s and launched her own successful cosmetics company. Launched in 1994 Iman Cosmetics quickly became made Iman millions of dollars a year, and grew to become one of the most successful cosmetic lines in stores like Walgreens. In addition to her modeling and business ventures, Iman also began acting professionally in the mid-1980s. She appeared in films like "Out of Africa" (1985) and "No Way Out" (1987), as well as a small recurring role on the cop drama "In the Heat of the Night" (NBC/CBS, 1988-1995). Having already been married and divorced twice, Iman married the English rock musician David Bowie in 1992. They had one daughter together, and remained married until Bowie's death from liver cancer on January 10, 2016. When she's not focusing on her cosmetic line, Iman is also active in philanthropy and numerous charitable organizations, including the Keep a Child Alive program, the Enough Project, and the Save the Children organization, in which she served as an Ambassador.