Katie Cleary

Born and raised on the North Shore of Chicago, Katie Cleary is an only child who was raised by her mother. Cleary's strength, confidence, and drive came from her mom's hard work, love, and determination as a parent. Cleary says if it wasn't for her mother's love and strength, she would never have the ambition to do what she is doing today.

Ever since Cleary was a young girl, she dreamed of becoming an actress in Hollywood. After years of balancing high school and modeling in Chicago, she entered a liberal arts college in Wisconsin with a track scholarship. She finished college with a business and marketing degree while working as a model part time.

Cleary has always been very independent and driven to accomplish her goals and dreams in life. In the summer of 2004, after graduation, she took a real estate position in Chicago. In the interim, she enrolled in acting classes and worked on a few movie sets while going to auditions. This was a very busy and enlightening time; she juggled all these activities as her knowledge of the film industry grew exponentially.

One of her many accomplishments was bringing together ten humane societies and organizing a fundraiser, by herself, which raised a huge amount of money to help support animal rescue and abuse centers. Cleary's passion has always been to help rescue animals that have been abused or unwanted and she often visits sanctuaries and volunteers her services. Her goal is to one day start her own rescue center for unwanted and abused exotic and domestic animals.

You may recognize Cleary from season one of the hit television show "America's Next Top Model." Recently, she worked on such movies as "The Break Up" and the "Lake House," which were filmed in Chicago. She has also hosted shows on the TV Guide Channel including "Ripe Live," and co-hosted the show "Get Out," appearing on HDTV.