Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton was born into the wealthy Hilton Hotel family on February 17, 1981. Paris began a modeling career as a child and signed with Donald Trump’s T Management modeling agency in 2000. She had appeared in advertisement campaigns for GUESS, Tommy Hilfiger, and Christian Dior among others. Early on, this young socialite seemed to be most famous for…being famous. Paris started popping up at all the hot parties and became an overnight It Girl in both New York and Los Angeles. In fact, there were five birthday parties for her 21st birthday, held in New York, Las Vegas, London, Hollywood, and Tokyo.
A homemade sex video of Paris with then boyfriend Rick Salomon was leaked on the Internet in 2003, but it just seemed to make her more popular. In fact, it seemed to be strategically leaked just one week before her new Fox reality show, “The Simple Life” premiered. The show, now in its fifth season (having moved to the E! network in 2005), was based on the lives of its stars, Paris and her best friend Nicole Richie (adopted daughter of singer Lionel Richie). It was a takeoff on the sixties hit show “Green Acres,” this time with two socialites living outside their element rather than one. The first season had the pampered pair roughing it on a farm family in Altus, Arkansas. Seeing Paris and Nicole in a rural setting and trying to adjust to “the simple life” made the show a mid-season hit.
However, with success came trouble. For some unknown reason, a rift came between Paris and Nicole, threatening the show. However, since both were under contract, they continued filming, even when they were not speaking to each other. The two have since made up and season five was ready to go when disaster hit again (Nicole had to enter rehab for an eating disorder), and again (Paris was arrested for drunk driving in September 2006), and again (Nicole was arrested for DUI in December 2006). Paris was placed on 36 months probation, but she violated that when she was caught speeding with no headlights on and driving with a suspended license in March 2007. She was sentenced to do 45 days in jail on May 4th, but whether she actually does jail time remains to be seen. Currently, it looks like she will not serve her full sentence do to a prison overcrowding problem.
After the success of “The Simple Life,” Paris found many outlets for her talents. She landed small roles in a few movies (Nine Lives, Raising Helen, and House of Wax). She has also appeared in several music videos and the risqué Carl’s Jr.’s Spicy Burger commercial. Paris released a self-titled album in 2006. She has written two books: an autobiographical book titled Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, which features both photographs and advice and the follow-up, titled Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All To Me. She helped design a line of purses with Japanese designer Samantha Thavasa and a jewelry line to be sold on Amazon. She also created a line of perfume for Parlux Fragrances. She has even ventured into the business that originally made her famous, lending her name to Club Paris nightclubs in Orlando and Jacksonville, FL. However, she was fired by the owner in January 2007 when she failed to make scheduled promotional appearances at the clubs.
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