Actors - Paulina Porizkova

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	Actors - Paulina Porizkova

Paulina Porizkova (born April 9 1965) is an actress and former supermodel. She was born as Pavlína Pořízková in Prostějov, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic).

Early life

When Paulina Porizkova was very young, her father and mother left Czechoslovakia after the Soviet invasion in 1968 and moved to Lund in the south of Sweden. They left Paulina and her younger brother Joachym (nicknamed "Kym") under the care of her grandmother, believing the children could be brought out later. However, the Czech authorities would not allow it, and the ensuing battle for Paulina made headlines in Sweden. The young couple pleaded with the media using pictures of young Paulina clutching a teddy bear to make her a cause célèbre.

After a failed rescue attempt where her mother ended up detained by Czech police, political pressure caused the government to finally allow the Porizkova family to be reunited after seven years. The joy was soon ended when Paulina's parents divorced when her father left the family. Father and daughter have been estranged since then, even after Paulina's rise to celebrity. This left Paulina's mother busy supporting her children and funding her own medical school education, leaving a ten year old Paulina to fend for herself and her brother. Paulina hated living in Sweden, as she was harassed as a political refugee. She associated her self with other outcast and had no luck attracting members of the opposite sex making her identify with Dumbo.

Modelling career

A photographer friend took pictures of Paulina and sent them to Elite modeling agency in 1980. Elite head John Casablancas saw Paulina's potential and offered her a ticket to Paris. It was an extremely tempting offer for a teenage Paulina who was eager to get out of Sweden and support herself. She quickly rose up to become a top model in Paris during the early '80s. She had a wild life with other young ladies of her age, and picked up street talk. The first few interviews she gave were not to her liking because of this (she would later say that she came across as a truck driver).

Her stardom exploded across the pond with winning the coveted spot on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 1984 and then again in 1985. (Her first appearance was in 1983.) A third consecutive run as covergirl was dashed when she appeared on the cover Life in a swimsuit.

Paulina appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine in August 1987 to preview her new (non-nude) swimsuit calendar. Paulina a few years earlier appeared in an infamous nude spread in GQ magazine which left her feeling deceived and exploited.

Both of her calendars in 1988 and 1989 by famed photographer Marco Glaviano sold hundreds of thousands of copies, setting a standard that paved the way for other models like Cindy Crawford for their own pin-up calendars.

Paulina Porizkova is considered the most beautiful model of her era by many photographers and magazine editors. She was chosen twice by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world, in 1990 and 1992. Harper's Bazaar magazine named her one of the ten most beautiful women in 1992. American Photo magazine in its premiere issue declared her to be the model of the 1980s. She appeared on the covers of countless magazines around the world during the 1980s and 1990s, including numerous appearances on Vogue, ELLE, Harper's Bazaar, Self, and Glamour. One estimate determined that she has appeared on 350 magazine covers. Paulina was also the model featured in advertising for Diet Sprite.

In 1988, Paulina won what was then the highest-paying modeling contract. A $6 million-a-year contract as the face of Estee Lauder. Estee Lauder's strategy in the late 80's was to move away from the working class women and market to the young, sophisticated, upper-class women. She replaced Willow Bay. The classy black-and-white television and print campaign won plaudits from critics and Estee Lauder makeover transformed Paulina's public image from a sexpot to the epitome of European sophistication. Paulina headlined the first ad campaign for Knowing perfume. Estee Lauder replaced Paulina with Elizabeth Hurley in 1995 as they aimed for a younger, less sophisticated market.

After having her first child, Paulina devoted less and less time to modeling and concentrated on acting in independent films. She quickly got a new gig as lead model for Escada. In early 2001, she hosted a show on E!'s Style Channel. In 2005, she made her first appearance in the famous Victoria's Secret catalog.

Although she had an illustrious career, Paulina was never one to fall into the glamour associated with being a model. Despite the perks that modeling provided, she was not proud or happy about her job, mostly because of the connotations that are associated with modeling; consequently she sought other outlets in which she could express herself more creatively. She was known to make disparaging remarks about the fashion industry, infuriating many.

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Actors - Paulina Porizkova

Early life

Modelling career

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