Background

Ethnicity: Pamela Anderson’s great-grandfather’s surname was originally Hyytiainen, but he later changed it to Anderson, he was Finnish, and his wife also had Finnish ancestry. Pamela's other ancestry includes English, German, and Northern Irish. Her maternal grandmother's family, the Friesens, were ethnic Germans from Chortitza Colony, a Mennonite colony in Russia.

Pamela Anderson was born on July 1, 1967, in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, to a working-class family of Barry, a furnace repairman, and Carol Anderson, a waitress. When Pamela was born, she was named the country’s Centennial Baby, having been the first baby born on July 1, 1967, the 100th anniversary of Canada’s official founding. Later, her family moved to Vancouver. She has a younger brother Gerry, born in 1971.

In 2004, Anderson became a naturalized American citizen, more than ten years after she first left Canada for a career down south. However, she retained her Canadian citizenship simultaneously.

Education

Throughout her teens and early life, Anderson was a very physically active person. She was an acrobat and gymnast ages 7-12 and an athlete throughout the school. She was a member of the volleyball team during her years at Highland Secondary School in Comox, British Columbia. Pamela graduated in 1985.

Career

Pamela Anderson was initially discovered when a camera panned to her at a BC Lions Canadian Football League game where she was a spectator when her image was shown on the stadium screen. The crowd cheered her, and she was later brought down to the football field. She received an offer to model for the brewery’s commercials which she accepted.

She moved to Los Angeles to pursue her modeling career and in 1989, an offer from Playboy soon followed. She would go on to appear on numerous covers of the famed men's magazine. She was subsequently chosen as the Playmate of the Month for the February 1990 issue. During her 22 years at Playboy, Pamela appeared on more magazine covers than any other woman.

In 1991, Pamela started working on the ABC-TV sitcom Home Improvement, where she starred as Lisa, the Tool Time Girl. While there, she attracted the attention of casting agents from Baywatch, who were looking to replace actress Erika Eleniak. The hour-long show portraying the lives of Malibu lifeguards was a nearly plotless vehicle for semi-nude video montages and the critics panned it accordingly. However, fueled by frequent shots of the voluptuous Anderson, the show became the highest-rated program worldwide.

In 1996, Pamela made the transition into feature films, starring in Dark Horse Entertainment's action comedy Barb Wire. In addition, she was featured in the CBS movie-of-the-week Come Die with Me: A Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Mystery, which follows the adventures of fictional hard-boiled P.I. Mike Hammer. Anderson's television success did not transfer well to the big screen. Despite mass publicity, including an appearance by Anderson at the Cannes Film Festival clad in a skintight catsuit, her starring effort in the 1996 thriller Barb Wire was both a critical and commercial failure.

Anderson returned to television in 1998 as the executive producer and star of V.I.P., in which she played the public face of a bodyguard agency. While hardly a pop culture phenomenon in the mold of Baywatch, V.I.P. enjoyed enough success to survive for four seasons.

After successfully portraying C. J. Parker in the series Baywatch, she reprised the role in the movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding in 2003. Continuing to leverage her sex-symbol image, Anderson in 2003 took on the leading voice role in the animated Stripperella, as a stripper who moonlights as an undercover superhero. After the show was canceled the following spring, Anderson resurfaced in Stacked, as a former party girl who gets hired at a small bookstore. The series was renewed following a trial run in spring 2005 but was off the air by January 2006.

Pamela made headlines in May 2004 by appearing naked on the cover of Playboy magazine for the first time ever. She went on to pose naked for other magazines like Stuff and GQ, establishing herself as a sex symbol.n She became an author in 2004 by co-writing a book titled Star with Eric Shaw Quinn. The sequel of the book titled Star Struck was published in 2005.

In 2008, she starred in Pam: Girl on the Loose, a documentary series based on her life as an actress, model, activist, and sex symbol. The show received mostly negative reviews from critics. In 2008, Anderson made headlines when she appeared in the mockumentary hit, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. In the film, Anderson played herself in what appeared to be a real-life botched kidnapping. Audiences debated whether or not the appearance was planned or a surprise. Anderson refused to comment, but told MTV that Cohen was "such a nice guy." The film was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.

She appeared on the eighth season of the reality TV show, Big Brother Australia. In 2010, she appeared in the fourth season of Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother. Her presence increased the viewership of the show on both occasions. She participated in the tenth season of Dancing with the Stars (2010), where she was partnered with professional dancer Damian Whitewood and was eliminated after seven weeks. Anderson made her return to the show in 2012, for season 15: Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars. In 2011, she appeared on the Argentinian version of the same show. She was a contestant in the ninth season of French Dancing with the Stars in 2018.

Her latest film credit is the Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron's film Baywatch (2017), based on the hit show she was part of in the '90s.

Achievements

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  Pamela Anderson is well-known for playing the role of lifeguard C. J. Parker in the television drama series Baywatch. The show was very successful and became one of the most-watched television programs in the world. She received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2006 for her contribution as a model and actress, becoming the second model ever to receive a star.
  
  

Works

More photos

• book

  • Lust for Love: Rekindling Intimacy and Passion in Your Relationship

    (An unlikely pair of voices-the world's most recognizable ...)

    2018
  • Star

    (Pamela Anderson is one of the most recognizable women in ...)

    2004
  • Raw

    (Fun, sexy handwritten prose by Pamela expressing herself ...)

    2015
  • Star Struck

    (Take a walk on the wild side... Star Wood Leigh is star-s...)

    2005

• movie

  • Barb Wire

    (A totalitarian government runs the United States, and sex...)

    1996
  • Costa Rican Summer

    (A young surfer attempts to save his aunt's Costa Rican be...)

    2010
  • Baywatch: White Thunder at Glacier Bay

    (The "Baywatch" gang enjoys a cruise to Alaska's scenic Gl...)

    1998
  • Baywatch the Movie: Forbidden Paradise

    (Baywatch the Movie: Forbidden Paradise is a 1995 direct-t...)

  • Snapdragon

    (A homicide detective must nab a prostitute who murders he...)

    1993
  • Raw Justice

    (The mayor of a small town hires a bounty hunter (David Ke...)

    1994
  • Hollywood and Wine

    (An aspiring actress impersonates her celebrity look-alike...)

    2010
  • Superhero Movie

    (Comic book spoof starring Drake Bell as a teenager who is...)

    2008
  • Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

    (Kazakh TV personality Borat is dispatched to the United S...)

    2006
  • Scary Movie 3

    (Everything from 8 Mile to The Ring to Signs is targeted i...)

    2003
  • The People Garden

    (Sweetpea (Dree Hemingway) flies to Japan to break up with...)

    2016
  • Naked Souls

    (Edward is busy trying to unlock the secrets of reading an...)

    1996
  • Pauly Shore Is Dead

    (Hollywood's Pauly Shore loses everything, fakes his own d...)

    2003
  • Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding

    (After recovering from amnesia, Mitch returns to Hawaii to...)

    2003
  • Baywatch

    (When a dangerous crime wave hits the beach, Lt. Mitch Buc...)

    2017

• TV series

  • Home Improvement

    (Power tools, parenting, and the modern male mystique are ...)

    1991
  • Stacked

    (Anderson stars as drop-dead sexy Skyler Dayton, a reforme...)

    2005
  • V.I.P.

    (When Vallery Irons first comes to California, she has no ...)

    1998
  • Baywatch

    (Join the Baywatch lifeguards on their thrilling adventure...)

    1989
  • Stripperella

    (Stripperella is an animated television series created by ...)

    2003

Religion

Pamela Anderson is an atheist.

Politics

Pamela Anderson supported Barack Obama. She also wrote an open letter to Obama in which she urged him to legalize cannabis.

Views

One of Anderson’s main causes throughout her life has been fighting for animal rights. This led her to become a member of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Pamela Anderson won the 1999 Linda McCartney Award for animal rights protectors. To protest against the use of real fur for making clothes, in 2006 she posed naked in Stella McCartney’s store in London. She is also a vegan.

She also founded The Pamela Anderson Foundation, a non-profit foundation, which supports organizations and individuals that stand on the front lines in the protection of human, animal, and environmental rights.

Animal rights aren’t the only causes which have drawn Anderson’s attention and clout. In 2005, Anderson joined forces with MAC Cosmetics and became a spokesperson for their AIDS Fund, which provides financial assistance to those suffering from HIV and AIDS. Additionally, she spoke out against gendered violence, sharing her own personal experiences as a victim of abuse.

Quotations: "What I know in life runs the gamut of the "feminist experience". The true meaning of feminism is this: to use your strong womanly image to gain strong results in society."

"We must educate ourselves and our children to understand that porn is for losers, they write, a boring, wasteful and dead-end outlet for people too lazy to reap the ample rewards of healthy sexuality."

"Sexuality is an expression of our spirituality. Sex makes you get real."

Membership

Apart from being a model and actress, Anderson is also a prominent member of the animal protection organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

• 

  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Personality

Anderson’s childhood was far from idyllic. In 2014, Anderson revealed that her childhood had been marked by horrific abuse. When she was only six years old, a female babysitter molested her. This continued until she was ten. Two years later, a grown man assaulted her, only for her to be assaulted again by her then-boyfriend and his friends when she was just 14 years old.

When Pamela Anderson was a teenager, she walked in on her father Barry in a horrifying situation. He was cleaning the carcass of an animal that he’d hunted and killed, and she was viscerally affected by the sight. The memory of that day inspired Anderson to become a vegetarian, though she later came to identify as a vegan. From that day on, Anderson began standing up for animal rights.

Interests

• Playing the saxophone

• Politicians

  Barack Obama

• Writers

  American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegge, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, Common Sense by Thomas Paine, P. D. James, Elizabeth George

• Sport & Clubs

  Volleyball, wrestling

• Music & Bands

  Dougie MacLean, Miley Cyrus

Connections

Pamela was married to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, and they had two children, Brandon and Dylan. In 1996, a pornographic video of Pamela and Tommy was stolen from their home. Both of them sued a website for stealing the video. Their case was not settled and the video is still on the Internet. Two years later Pamela filed for divorce after claiming she had been assaulted by Tommy.

Anderson married rapper Kid Rock on a yacht near Saint-Tropez, France, on July 29, 2006. In November 2006, it was announced that she had miscarried. A few weeks later, she filed for divorce from Kid Rock, citing irreconcilable differences. She began a relationship with socialite Rick Salomon and married him in 2007, but the couple soon got separated and annulled the marriage in 2008. She remarried Salomon in 2014 before divorcing him in 2015.

In January 2020, Anderson married producer Jon Peters, a former boyfriend from when she was a budding model in her young 20s. Just 12 days later, she put the brakes on their union with the announcement that they were taking time apart to "reevaluate what we want from life and from one another."

colleague:

David Hasselhoff

David Hasselhoff and Anderson worked together on their show, Baywatch, for several years.

Ex-husband:

Tommy Lee

Musician and Mötley Crüe drummer, Tommy Lee started dating Pamela on February 15, 1995. On February 19, 1995, the two of these married on a beach, while Pam was in a bikini. Pam’s mom got to know about the marriage from the media. Soon, she was known as Pamela Anderson Lee professionally. This marriage resulted in two sons, Brandon Thomas Lee (born. June 6, 1996) and Dylan Jagger Lee (born. December 29, 1997). The couple got divorced in February 1998.

Son:

Brandon Thomas Lee

Son:

Dylan Jagger Lee

Ex-husband:

Kid Rock

In April 2001, Pam started romancing musician Kid Rock after meeting him at the VH1 Aretha Franklin tribute concert. The next year, in 2002, the couple got engaged. She really liked his company, and finally, on July 29, 2006, the couple married each other. But, the marriage didn’t go through and the couple split within 4 months on November 27, 2006.

Ex-husband:

Rick Salomon

American poker player and celebutant, Rick Salomon dated Pamela for a long time. They started dating in September 2007. the duo got married on January 11, 2014. They called off the marriage soon on July 3, 2014, and filed for divorce, which was finalized on April 27, 2015.

Ex-husband:

Jon Peters

Peters and Anderson's marriage certificate was not filed and the couple separated after 12 days.

colleague:

Jason Momoa

Momoa and Anderson met on the set of Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.

References

• Pamela Anderson on Instagram
• Pamela Anderson on Twitter