Education
Wanting to be a dancer, Elizabeth Hurley went to ballet boarding school at 12, but soon returned home.
When it came time to go to college, Hurley won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre which taught courses for dance and theater.
Wanting to be a dancer, Elizabeth Hurley went to ballet boarding school at 12, but soon returned home.
When it came time to go to college, Hurley won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre which taught courses for dance and theater.
Actress (films) Die Tote Stadt, 1987, Rowing with the Wind, 1988, Bloody Atlantic, 1991, The Orchid House, 1991, Passenger 57, 1992, El Largo Invierno, 1992, Beyond Bedlam, 1993, Goldeneye, 1995, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, 1995, Dangerous Ground, 1997, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, 1997, Permanent Midnight, 1998, Edtv, 1999, My Favorite Martian, 1999, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, 1999, The Weight of Water, 2000, Bedazzled, 2000, Double Whammy, 2001, Serving Sarah, 2002; (TV movies) Act of Will, 1989, Death Has A Bad Reputation, 1990, The Orchid House, 1991, Sharpe's Eneny, 1994, The Shamrock Conspiracy, 1995, Samson and Delilah, 1996, Harrison Cry of the City, 1996; (TV series) Aria, 1987, Inspector Morse, 1988, Cristabel, 1989, Rumpole and the Barrow Boy, 1989, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, 1992, Sharpe II, 1995; host (TV special) The World of James Bond, 1995; actor, executive producer (films) Method, 2004; producer (films) Extreme Measures, 1996, Mickey Blue Eyes, 1999.
Hurley has been active in Estée Lauder's Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, as part of which the company created an "Elizabeth Pink" lipstick whose sales benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Hurley, whose grandmother died of breast cancer,was the mistress of ceremonies at "The Hot Pink Party" that marked the tenth anniversary of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Hurley supported The Prince's Trust by co-presenting the 2003 Fashion Rocks event in its aid and helping launch the Get Into Cooking youth initiative in 2004. She has also helped raise funds for End Hunger Network, ARK children's charity, and the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre.
She believes that religion is for people who believe in hell; Spirituality is for those who've been there.
Quotations: «I'd kill myself if I was as fat as Marilyn Monroe.»
Hurley always wanting to be a dancer so She went to ballet boarding school at 12, but soon returned home. When it came time to go to college, Hurley won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre which taught courses for dance and theater. Soon, Hurley wore the punk rock look with pink hair and a nose ring, but to get work, she had to change her image to one that was castable. After college, Hurley worked in the theater and made her screen debut in Aria (1987).Roles in Television and a film, Rowing with the Wind (1988), which included a young actor named Hugh Grant, soon followed. European films followed her appearance in the BBC serial Christabel (1988) (TV). Her film debut in a Hollywood movie was in the Wesley Snipes action drama Passenger 57 (1992). When Hugh Grant was picked up with Divine Brown, Hurley became headline news. Added to this was the fact that she was the model representing top cosmetics house Estée Lauder, and there was nowhere Hurley could go to get away from the press. In 1994, Hurley and Hugh Grant set up Simian Films in partnership with Castle Rock Entertainment. As Head of Development, Hurley found the script and produced her first film Extreme Measures (1996), which stars Hugh Grant.
Damian Charles, has seven godparents, including Elton John and Patsy Kensit.
Elizabeth, who was born on June 10, 1965, had met the actor in 1987 while they were both shooting Rowing With The Wind in Madrid. "At the time I had an offer to do a serious BBC project," Hugh said later, adding: "I couldn't decide between that and this absurd, career-damaging Spanish thing. Then I saw Elizabeth and went for the absurd Spanish film."
The pair soon became an item. Despite weathering the storm surrounding Hugh's highly public 1995 encounter with an LA prostitute, the relationship hit the rocks five years futher down the line, however.
While they never formalised their 13-year union, the two did establish a business venture together - the production company Simian Films. Among its output were Bedazzled, starring the pretty brunette, plus two films for which she acted as producer - the medical thriller Extreme Measures and mob comedy Mickey Blue Eyes, starring Hugh.
An astute businesswoman, the actress-model has also made a splash on the fashion scene with her eponymously named swimwear line, Elizabeth Hurley Beach.
A role in the first Austin Powers flick increased her profile in Hollywood as an actress, but Elizabeth is perhaps best known as the face of Estée Lauder, a lucrative contract she picked up at the age of 28 with zero modelling experience. Suddenly the face of the hard-working girl from Basingstoke was everywhere.
And, despite the fact that the beauty industry is one in which youth reigns supreme, Liz's English rose charm has proved enduring. "It's hard not to love her," says Estee Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder, adding: "I think she is beautiful, and she is just coming into her own." The covergirl has also branched into the fashion business, launching her luxury range of swimwear, called Elizabeth Hurley Beach, at Harrods in April 2005.
Following her amicable break-up with Hugh - the two remain firm friends - Elizabeth was linked to executive Ted Forstmann, Friends actor Matthew Perry and Hollywood producer Steve Bing. The latter became the focus of a high-profile dispute over the paternity of her son Damian Charles, who was born in April 2002 following a relationship with the American multimillionaire.
It was to wealthy Indian businessman Arun Nayar that she finally lost her heart, though. And after becoming a regular fixture at red carpet events, the couple tied the knot in March 2007 with lavish ceremonies in the UK and India.
By December 2010 the fairytale was over, though - and the star's alleged 'affair' with cricket ace Shane Warne was exposed in a British tabloid. Elizabeth was quick to tweet about the scandal - informing her followers that her marriage had been over for a number of months on the same day the story broke. "Not a great day," she told fans, who voiced their support for the actress.
"Thank you for all your very, very nice messages," she wrote later.
a former Australian international crickete
