About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Pamela Anderson

Encyclopedia : P : PA : PAM : Pamela Anderson

 

Pamela Anderson.
Enlarge
Pamela Anderson.

Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American television actress, glamour model, producer, TV personality and author. She was formerly known as Pamela Anderson Lee. Anderson is popularly known for modeling and television acting in the '90s and most notably for her large breasts. Anderson has been called the sex symbol of the modern era.

Contents

Early life

1992 Playboy Video Centerfold, pre-cosmetic surgery
Enlarge
1992 Playboy Video Centerfold, pre-cosmetic surgery

Anderson was born near Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, of partially Finnish ancestry (her paternal grandfather, Hermanni Hyytiäinen, from Saarijärvi, left Finland in 1908). As the first baby born on Canada's Centennial Day (well past midnight, at 4:08 in the morning), the newborn Anderson won fame as the nation's "Centennial Baby" [[Citing sources citation needed]]. After her birth, her parents Barry and Carol Anderson moved to the town of Comox with Pamela, who was still a baby.

Career birth

In 1985, Anderson graduated from Highland Secondary School. In her high school yearbook, she wrote that she wanted to be a California beach bum. In 1988, Anderson moved to the city of Vancouver, where she got the taste of a city life and worked as a fitness instructor. During the summer of 1989, Anderson and her friends went to a Canadian football game. At some point during the game, Anderson was shown on the stadium screen. The crowd at the game cheered for the young Anderson, then 21. Anderson was taken to the field to get an ovation from the crowd.

During the game, Anderson wore a Labatt's t-shirt. The beer company offered Anderson a modeling contract and she agreed. Soon, Anderson was on posters in every bar in Canada. In late 1989, Pamela decided to model for Playboy magazine. She appeared on the October 1989 cover (credited as Pamela Anderson Ilicic) and decided to move to Los Angeles to continue her modeling career.

Acting and modeling career

After her move to Los Angeles, Anderson dyed her hair blonde and got breast implants to enhance her look. In 1991, Anderson landed a minor role on the United States hit television sitcom Home Improvement (1991-1993). Gaining the attention of viewers, she got the role of C.J. Parker (1992-1997) on Baywatch.

Later, she quit Home Improvement. Anderson was still modeling for Playboy and appearing on the cover of the magazine each year. Her role as C.J. Parker gave Anderson more popularity and attention from international viewers.

Pamela Anderson in Baywatch
Enlarge
Pamela Anderson in Baywatch

In 1996, she appeared in a feature film, Barb Wire, as a character known as Barbara Rose Kopetski, which was mistakenly thought by some to have been her real name. The movie failed to achieve commercial success. During the filming of Barb Wire, Anderson suffered a miscarriage.

In April 1997, Anderson guest-hosted Saturday Night Live. During the beginning of the show, Anderson said, "You know, if you're nervous on stage, you actually should BE naked!" She then began a striptease. Her unmentionables, however, were covered by a small flesh-colored bra and a crotch patch that was also flesh colored (though they were still blurred out for the sake of the joke). The segment became fodder for late-night comedians for the following weeks. She also appeared on one of two covers for the September issue of Playboy; the other cover pictured Jenny McCarthy.

In September 2000, Anderson starred in her produced series V.I.P.. The show was very poorly received and a critical bomb. However, with enough people tuning in to just see Pamela Anderson, the show lasted an impressive four seasons before being cancelled in 2002.

On April 15, 1999, Anderson stunned the world by removing her breast implants. Many were shocked and wondered how Anderson's career could go on without big breasts, as they had been a staple and stepping stone for much of her life. Anderson brushed aside these remarks, stating that she needed to dedicate her time by raising her children and modeling less.

In March 2001, Christine Evelyn Roth pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of trespassing and was deported to her home country, France. The woman had been arrested while sleeping in a guest room of Anderson's home, but she was only charged with trespassing and not the more serious crime of stalking.

In March 2002, Anderson publicly stated that she had contracted the Hepatitis C virus from Lee (supposedly from sharing tattoo needles), and began writing a regular column for Jane magazine. Lee denies having the disease.

Anderson became the celebrity spokesperson for the American Liver Foundation, and served as the Grand Marshall of the SOS motorcycle ride fundraiser. In October 2003, Anderson jokingly said on Howard Stern's radio show that she does not expect to live more than ten or fifteen years (see [link]), but this was misconstrued and taken seriously by many Internet sites and tabloids.

Pamela Anderson on the May 2004 cover of Playboy
Enlarge
Pamela Anderson on the May 2004 cover of Playboy

In 2004, Anderson returned to the world. In May, Anderson appeared naked on the cover of Playboy magazine. It was the first time she appeared naked on any magazine cover. Later, she posed naked for Stuff magazine and GQ magazines. Many noticed that her breast size was larger than her pictorials from 2003-2004.

Anderson became a naturalized citizen of the United States on May 12, 2004, while retaining her Canadian citizenship, for the purpose of sponsoring her parents (or at least her mother) for a green card. She has lived in southern California since 1989.

Anderson has often spoken revealingly about her private life. On a visit to the David Letterman show in 2004, she said she had not been dating for some time, and when Letterman asked her how she was coping, she responded, "There's not a square corner left anywhere in my house!" Letterman left that comment unanswered while the audience hooted.

In January 2005, Anderson confessed that she got new breast implants. Anderson said that she didn't feel like herself and decided to get them back. Anderson also claimed that the new breast implants were bigger than her old implants that she took out in 1999.

In April 2005, Anderson starred in a new FOX sitcom Stacked as Skyler Dayton, a party girl (with implants) who goes to work at a bookstore.Stacked was cancelled on May 18th, 2006, but the show ran until the end of the 2nd season.

She produced a statement in late 2005 saying "I am the greatest slut..." obviously speaking her openness about sex and her opinions in free sex. During summer 2005, (August 14, 2005) Comedy Central created the Roast of Pamela Anderson to honor the sex symbol for the past decade.

In December 2005, NBC cut off a video of Anderson pole dancing topless on Elton John's The Red Piano. NBC said that the footage was inappropriate for primetime. The video was shown on huge screens during the event, while John was playing a song. Anderson was topless, but stars were painted on her breasts.

In March 2006, it was announced that Anderson would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame thanks to her many years as a model and actress. She is only the second model to receive a star. In April, Anderson hosted Canada's Juno Awards. She became the first non-singer and model to host the awards.

On June 28, 2006, Anderson posed naked on a window display of the Stella McCartney boutique in London, England. It was a PETA gala event before the PETA Humanitarian Awards. Anderson went inside the boutique, and said she would take her clothes off if the event raised enough money for PETA, which it did. She took off her clothes and went to stand on a pedestal at the window display. Of course, Anderson covered her breasts. The event sparked a media frenzy in London.

Pamela Anderson will be making a cameo appearance in the film Borat.

Personal life

In addition to her fame from modelling and acting, Anderson has gotten a great deal of press attention for her flamboyant personal life. She married Tommy Lee, drummer of Mötley Crüe, on February 19, 1995 after knowing him for only 96 hours, and subsequently bore him two sons, Brandon and Dylan.

After reported incidents of spousal abuse and alcoholism on the part of Lee, Anderson filed for divorce twice and reconciled twice, before the couple finally broke up for good. During the period of her marriage, she was known professionally as Pamela Anderson Lee. Today, Anderson and Lee are just friends.

Since her divorce, she has become engaged to both Marcus Schenkenberg and Kid Rock. She broke up with Schenkenberg in 2001, and broke up with Kid Rock in 2003.

Anderson has also had relationships with Scott Baio, "Baywatch" co-star David Charvet, and musician Bret Michaels of the band Poison. She has also allegedly has had affairs with celebrities including Sylvester Stallone, Dean Cain, surfer Kelly Slater, John Travolta's nephew Rikki Lee Travolta, Ben Affleck, Fred Durst, reality TV star Eric Nies, Stephen Dorff, former Formula One driver Eddie Irvine and British presenter Steve Jones. Since 2003, Anderson hasen't dated anyone seriously, but she has said that she wants another baby.

A pornographic home video of Anderson and Lee was stolen from their home, and made a huge stir on the Internet. Anderson sued the company, the Internet Entertainment Group, that was distributing the video. Ultimately the courts awarded Anderson and Lee $1.5 million plus attorney fees for their share of the profits.[link]

A second porn tape made it to the Internet involving Anderson and musician Bret Michaels from Poison. This tape was made before the Tommy Lee tape. The popularity and profitability of the Anderson and Tommy Lee video sparked a miniature genre within the porn film industry, and since then many homemade porn videos of celebrities or celebrity porn have been released to the public through home video and Internet channels (either with or without the participants' co-operation). Frames of the video first appeared in Penthouse magazine in March, 1998.

A third porn video was found and released on the Internet involving Pamela Anderson and James Clappison (another musician). This tape was discovered and found in may of 2006. The musician denies any further relationship with Pamela Anderson, although rumours have recently sparked that the two may officially become an item.

She just put her Malibu, California, home up for sale in order to move to a more private location. In a recent interview with Gavriel Maynard, Anderson stated "I dont know why people consider me stupid, I'm actually really smart."

Novelist

In 2004, Pamela Anderson released the book Star, co-written by author Eric Shaw Quinn, in which she describes a young teenager doing different things in order to reach fame. After this, she began touring across the States, signing autographs to fans at Wal-Mart stores nationwide.

Her second book, a sequel, Star Struck, released in 2005, is a thinly veiled look at her life with Tommy Lee and the travails of celebrity life.

Animal rights

Anderson is a vegetarian, an advocate for animal rights, and an active member of the animal protection organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

In 1999, Anderson received the first Linda McCartney Memorial Award for animal rights protectors. The award was given to Pamela for her campaign against fur.

In 2001, Anderson released a letter in support of PETA's campaign against Kentucky Fried Chicken; stating, "What KFC does to 750 million chickens, each year, is not civilized or acceptable." She later made a video about KFC's treatment of chickens. [link]

In 2003, Anderson stripped down for PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" advertising campaign.

In January 2006, Anderson requested that the Governor of Kentucky remove a bust of Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC, from display but her request was denied, even when she offered her own bust in exchange.

In February 2006, Anderson decided to boycott the Kentucky Derby because of its support for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

In March of 2006, Anderson asked to speak to Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the annual seal hunt. Her request was denied.

In May of 2006, Pamela Anderson petitioned random individuals on the street for their opinion on the Canadian Seal Hunt.

On June 28, 2006, Pamela Anderson protested against fur by stripping down in the window of Stella McCartney's London boutique along with other protestors. They wore a banner that read:We'd rather bare skin than wear skin." [link]

Filmography

Pamela Anderson as Barbara 'Barb Wire' Kopetski in the 1996 film Barb Wire
Enlarge
Pamela Anderson as Barbara 'Barb Wire' Kopetski in the 1996 film Barb Wire

TV work

Appearances in Playboy special editions

Disappearing labia: In the original Playboy spread, one of Pamela's poses was a little more revealing than Playboy normally provides. In subsequent reprintings in Newstand Specials, as well as in a mass-market poster, that area was airbrushed.

Pro wrestling

Quote

Trivia

Nude scenes

Anderson appeared nude in:

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
[}}}] at [Yahoo! Movies]
  • [}}}] at NNDB
  • [] at TV.com
  • [Pamela Anderson] Video
  • [Rock Star Go Home - Play Along With Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted, Gilby Clark During Rock Star Supernova]

    •  

    From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
    All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

    Search Titles
    0123456789
    ABCDEFGHIJ
    KLMNOPQRST
    UVWXYZ?

    E-mail this article to:

    Personal Message: