Heather Mills on AllMovie

Though she sustained a long and healthy career as a fashion model before she met Paul McCartney, Heather Mills is perhaps best known as the second wife of the former Beatle -- and thus, a cause for endless tabloid gossip and paparazzi flutter. The two met at a 1999 London charity event about a year after Paul's wife Linda died of breast cancer, married around three years later, and filed for divorce approximately four years after that, in early 2006. The separation drummed up a maelstrom of controversy given Mills' allegations of her husband's egregious misbehavior, reprinted in The Daily Mail from court records.

Mills established herself as a much-sought-after model in the late '80s. In 1993, she was struck by a motorcycle cop and permanently lost one leg, in addition to other injuries. The incident, and life as an amputee, inspired her to begin campaigning against land mines. In 2007, Mills joined the cast of the competitive reality series Dancing with the Stars in the program's fourth season, as a "charity campaigner." She and dance partner Jonathan Roberts were eliminated in the sixth week of competition (out of ten), but impressed both the judges and viewers with her dancing skills, especially given her handicap.