Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian/American
actress,
sex symbol,
glamour model,
producer,
author,
activist, and former
Showgirl.
Anderson is best known for her roles on the television series
Home Improvement,
Baywatch, and
V.I.P. She was chosen as a
Playmate of the Month for
Playboy magazine in February 1990.
[Pam, Uncensored] For a time, she was known as
Pamela Anderson Lee (or
Pamela Lee) after marrying
Mötley Crüe drummer
Tommy Lee. She holds both
American and
Canadian citizenship.
Early life
Anderson was born in , the daughter of Carol, a waitress, and Barry Anderson, a furnace repairman.
[Pamela Anderson Biography (1967-)] Her great-grandfather, Juho Hyytiäinen, was
Finnish, a native of
Saarijärvi, and left Finland in 1908,
[Pamwatch : News] changing his name to Anderson when he arrived as an immigrant. Pamela Anderson has
Russian ancestry on her mother's side.
[Bang Showbiz. "Pamela Anderson's mom wish", The Boston Globe, 19 June 2008.]
The newborn Anderson won fame as Canada's "Centennial Baby", because she was thought to have been the first baby born on Canada's
Centennial Day (she was born at 4:08 in the morning). However, the
Campbell River Upper Islander of July 5, 1967 reported a baby born two hours earlier on the same Canada Day.
Career
After graduating from
Highland Secondary School in 1985, Anderson moved to
Vancouver and worked as a fitness instructor. During the summer of 1989, Anderson went with her friends to a
BC Lions game at
BC Place; during the game she was shown on the stadium screen wearing a
Labatt's t-shirt, causing the crowd to cheer for the 21-year-old Anderson. She was taken down to the field to receive an ovation from the crowd. Labatt's immediately offered Anderson a modeling contract and she accepted. In late 1989, Anderson decided to model for
Playboy magazine. She first appeared as their October 1989 cover girl. At this stage in her modeling career, she had decided to live in
Los Angeles to further pursue her career ambitions. She became a centerfold for
Playboy when the magazine chose her to be their Playmate of the Month for their February 1990 issue. Anderson has since appeared in
Playboy several times
in the 1990s and
the following decade.
Acting and modeling
After her move to
Los Angeles, she won a minor role as the original "Tool Time girl" on the hit television
sitcom,
Home Improvement. She left the show after two seasons and won the role of
C. J. Parker on
Baywatch. Anderson was still modeling for
Outdoor Life and appearing on the cover of the magazine each year.
In 1996, she acted in the film
Barb Wire playing Barbara Rose Kopetski, which was thought by some to be Anderson's real name. The movie, a thinly-veiled futuristic remake of
Casablanca, was not a commercial success. In April 1997, she guest-hosted
Saturday Night Live. She also appeared on one of two covers for the September issue of
Playboy.
In September 1998, Anderson starred as Vallery Irons in the
Sony Pictures Entertainment hit syndicated show
V.I.P. created by
J. F. Lawton.
Blending action and humor in a fast-paced adventure series, with Anderson often poking fun at her tabloid image,
the show explored the exciting and sometimes treacherous lives of the rich and famous.
The series lasted through a successful four year run.
In 1999, she appeared as a
giantess in the music video for "
Miserable" by California alternative rock band
Lit.
Her role as C.J. Parker gave her more popularity and gained her attention from international viewers. She returned to
Baywatch for the 2003 reunion movie,
Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding. She also appeared on
The Nanny as Fran's rival, Heather Biblow.
[
], (2004)]]
In 2004, Anderson returned to the spotlight. In May, she appeared naked on the cover of
Playboy magazine. It was the first time she had appeared naked on any magazine cover. Later, she posed naked for
Stuff and
GQ magazines.
Anderson became a
naturalized citizen of the
United States on May 12, 2004, while retaining her Canadian citizenship. She has lived in Southern
California since 1989.
In 2004, she released the book
Star, co-written by Eric Shaw Quinn, about a teenager trying to become famous. After this, she began touring the United States, signing autographs for fans at
Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Her second book, the sequel
Star Struck, released in 2005, is a thinly veiled look at her life with Tommy Lee and the trials of celebrity life.
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. It was canceled on May 18, 2006, after two seasons, although some episodes had not been aired. On August 14, 2005,
Comedy Central created the
Roast of Pamela Anderson to honor the
sex symbol for the past decade. During her final speech at the Roast, Anderson referred to her breasts as "Pancho and Lefty".
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 played "The Bitch is Back".
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 2006, Anderson hosted Canada's
Juno Awards, becoming the first non-singer and model to do so.
Anderson was repeatedly referenced in the 2006 comedy film
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan as the
title character seeks to
kidnap and marry her. Anderson appears in person at the end of the film confronted by Borat in a staged botched abduction.
[Marchese, David; and Willa Paskin. "What's real in 'Borat'?", Salon.com, 10 November 2006.]
She performed on February 13-14, 2008 in a Valentine's Day
striptease act at the
Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris.
["Pamela Anderson to perform at nude revue", Reuters, 1 February 2008.]
On July 9, 2008, Anderson entered the
Australian Big Brother house for a three day visit.
[Ellis, Mark. "Pamela Anderson enters Australian Big Brother house", The Daily Mirror, 7 October 2008.] Her appearance on this show also marked Anderson's foray into
reality television with a series of her own,
Pam: Girl on the Loose, which debuted on August 3, 2008 on
E! in the United States.
Personal life
In addition to her fame from modeling and acting, Anderson has received a great deal of press attention for her well-publicized personal life. Her relationships have made headlines in gossip magazines for years. Anderson married
Tommy Lee, drummer of
Mötley Crüe, on February 19, 1995 after knowing him for only 96 hours and the couple eventually had two sons, Brandon Thomas Lee (b. June 6, 1996) and Dylan Jagger Lee (b. December 29, 1997) named after Pamela's great grandfather Dale Jagger Grosco who fought in World World II. During this time, she was known professionally as
Pamela Anderson Lee. Anderson filed for divorce from Lee twice and reconciled with him twice, before the couple finally broke up for good. 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. 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,
[web.archive.org/web/20041029141238/www.pamelaanderson.com/news/news.asp?item=2056] but this was misconstrued and taken seriously by many Web sites and
tabloids. However, she admitted to newspapers that she still often had sex with him since their divorce.
A
home sex video of Anderson and Tommy Lee on their honeymoon was stolen from their home, and made a huge stir on the
Internet. Anderson sued the video distribution company
Internet Entertainment Group. Ultimately, the courts awarded Anderson and Lee
$1.5 million plus attorney fees for their share of the profits. Thereafter, the company sold copies of the stolen honeymoon tape across the country. It was very popular.
A second tape, which was made before the Tommy Lee tape, involving Anderson and musician
Bret Michaels from
Poison was later announced, and an abridged version of less than 60 seconds appeared on the internet. Frames of the video first appeared in
Penthouse magazine in March 1998. The tape was successfully blocked by Michaels, but a four-minute sex tape is still available on the Internet.
[
Anderson and Kid Rock.jpg|thumb|Anderson and [[Kid Rock] in 2003]]
Since her divorce, she was engaged to the model
Marcus Schenkenberg and to the singer
Kid Rock (Robert J. Ritchie). She broke up with Schenkenberg in 2001 and with Kid Rock in 2003. It was announced on July 18, 2006 that she would marry Kid Rock on July 29, 2006 on a yacht near St Tropez, France. "Feels like I've been stuck in a time warp," said Anderson in her
blog entry. "Not able to let go of MY family picture ... it's been sad and lonely and frustrating ... I've raised my kids alone in hope of a miracle. Well my miracle came and went. And came back and back because he knew that I'd wake up one day and realize that I was waiting for nothing." "I'm moving on," she declared. "I feel like I'm finally free ... I'm in love." There was extensive unconfirmed media speculation that the marriage was pregnancy-related, but the theory was based only on Anderson's representative's refusal to comment on the question.
She sold her home in
Malibu, California to move to a more private location. In an interview with Gavriel Maynard, Anderson stated "I don't know why people consider me stupid, I'm actually really smart."
On November 10, 2006, it was announced that Anderson
miscarried while in
Vancouver shooting a new film,
Blonde and Blonder.
[Pamela Anderson loses baby - Pregnancy - Parenting - AOL Lifestyle] Seventeen days later, on November 27, 2006, Anderson filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court from
Kid Rock, citing irreconcilable differences.
Some news reports have suggested that Kid Rock's outrage during a screening of
Borat, in which she plays a cameo role, led to the filing for divorce two weeks later.
Anderson told talk show host
Ellen DeGeneres in September 2007 that she was engaged. On September 29, Anderson and
Paris Hilton's ex
Rick Salomon applied for a marriage license in Las Vegas.
[Anderson to marry Paris Hilton ex BBC News - October 1, 2007] Anderson married Salomon between her two nightly appearances at the Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino in
Hans Klok's magic show in a small wedding ceremony at
The Mirage on October 6, 2007.
[Pamela Anderson Weds Rick Salomon - Weddings, Pamela Anderson, Rick Salomon : People.com] However, on February 22, 2008, Anderson has requested through the courts that the marriage be annulled citing fraud.
[Anderson seeks to annul 2-month marriage Yahoo News - February 27, 2008]
Charitable work and activism
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), taking part in several campaigns for animal rights.
[I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur, retrieved on May 28 2007.] She became a vegetarian in her early teens when she saw her father cleaning an animal he had hunted.
One of Anderson's campaigns as a member of PETA has been against the use of
fur. In 1999, Anderson received the first
Linda McCartney Memorial Award for animal rights protectors, in recognition of her campaign. In 2003, Anderson stripped down for PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" advertising campaign. On June 28, 2006, Anderson posed naked with other protesters 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 has also campaigned against
Kentucky Fried Chicken. 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.
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 refused 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.
She has also campaigned against
seal hunting in Canada. In March 2006, Anderson asked to speak to
Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the
annual seal hunt but she was refused. In May 2006, she
petitioned random individuals on the street for their opinion on the Canadian Seal Hunt.
More recently she joined forces with
PETA in a campaign for the boycott of fruit-juice maker
POM. The "Pom Horrible Campaign"
has resulted in the company halting
animal tests.
In March 2005, Anderson became a
spokesmodel for
MAC Cosmetics's MAC AIDS Fund, which helped people affected by
AIDS and
HIV. After becoming the official spokesmodel, Anderson raised money during events in
Toronto,
Tokyo,
Dublin, and
Athens.
Anderson became the celebrity spokesperson for the
American Liver Foundation, and served as the Grand Marshal of the SOS motorcycle ride fundraiser.
She wrote an open letter to
President Barack Obama urging the legalization of
marijuana.
[Playboy magazine; February 2009; Page 112.]
Work
Filmography
Television
Playboy career
Anderson's
Playboy career spans approximately two decades (1989–2007), and she has appeared on more
Playboy covers than anyone else.
She has also made appearances in the publication's newsstand specials.
Pro wrestling
- During an appearance at the World Wrestling Federation's Royal Rumble in 1995, Anderson promised that she would accompany the winner of the Royal Rumble to WrestleMania. Anderson returned for her appearance at the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania XI on April 2, but as the guest valet for WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel and not the Royal Rumble winner, his opponent Shawn Michaels; Michaels ended up being accompanied to the ring by Jenny McCarthy. After pinning Michaels, Diesel left with both Anderson and McCarthy.
- In anticipation of her appearance at the Royal Rumble, several skits were produced featuring wrestlers fawning over Anderson. One commercial featured Anderson coming home and checking her answering machine. As Anderson strips down behind a curtain, messages from wrestlers such as Shawn Michaels, Diesel, and Doink the Clown can be heard.
- At the 2006 Canada's Walk of Fame induction ceremony, Anderson shared a kiss with WWE diva Trish Stratus.
- She appeared on former Pro Wrestling commentator Mark Madden's Pittsburgh-based sports talk radio show in October, 2006.
In popular culture
[
anderson house st kilda.jpg|thumb|right|'Newman House' in the [[Melbourne] suburb of
St Kilda,
Australia]]
Newman House is a
pop architecture icon built in 2003 in
St Kilda, Victoria,
Australia which features a large effigy of Anderson's face. Built by local celebrity
Sam Newman (an admirer and personal friend of Anderson), he commissioned local architect Cassandra Fahey to design the building and was able to use the image with Anderson's permission. However, permits were issued retroactively when it became a major local landmark and won the award for Best New Residential Building in the
RAIA Victorian Architecture Awards.
[Pavilions for New Architecture, Monash University Museum of Art]
Pamela is also seen on the television series,
Invader Zim, appearing in
Walk of Doom,
Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom,
Mortos de Soulstealer, and
The Girl Who Cried Gnome. However, she did not speak in her appearance on the show.
