Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American socialite, heiress, media personality, model, singer, author, fashion designer and actress.
Hilton is best known for her appearance on the television series The Simple Life , her several minor film roles (most notably her role in the horror film House of Wax in 2005), her 2004 tongue-in-cheek autobiography, her 2006 music album Paris , and her work in modeling. As a result of several legal incidents, Hilton also served a widely publicized sentence in a Los Angeles County jail in 2007. She is also known for her controversial appearance in a sex tape in 2003.
Early life and background
Born in New York City, Hilton is the oldest of four children of Richard and Kathy Hilton (née Avanzino). She has a sister, Nicky, and brothers, Conrad and Barron.
On the maternal side of her family, she is a niece of two child stars of the 1970s, Kim and Kyle Richards. Hilton was related by marriage to Nicole Richie's godmother, Nancy Davis, when Nancy's brother, Greg, was married to Kim Richards. Hilton's paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton, and his wife, the former Marilyn Hawley; Barron Hilton's parents were Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and his first wife, Mary Barron.
Hilton moved between several exclusive homes in her youth, including a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Hamptons. As a child she was good friends with other socialites as Nicole Richie and Kim Kardashian. She attended her freshman year of high school at the Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, California followed by a short time at Convent of the Sacred Heart (which she attended with Lady GaGa) and the Dwight School in New York for her sophomore and junior years. She was then transferred to the Canterbury Boarding School, in New Milford, Connecticut where she was a member of the ice hockey team. However, in early 1999, she was expelled for violating the school rules. Hilton later earned her GED.
In December 2007, Hilton's grandfather Barron Hilton pledged 97 percent of his estate to a charitable organization founded by his father, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. An immediate pledge of $1.2 billion was made, with a further $1.1 billion due after his death. He cited his father's actions as the motivation for his pledge. According to reports, the potential inheritance of his grandchildren is sharply diminished.
Career
Hilton has worked as a model, actress, singer, and engaged in occasional business pursuits. According to Forbes Magazine , she earned approximately $2 million in 2003–2004, $6.5 million in 2004–2005, and $7 million in 2005–2006.
As a model
Hilton began modeling as a child, initially at charity events. When she was 19, she signed with Donald Trump's modeling agency, T Management. Hilton has also worked with Ford Models in New York, Models 1 Agency in London, Nous Model Management in Los Angeles, and Premier Model Management in London. She has appeared in numerous advertising campaigns, including Iceberg Vodka, GUESS, Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Dior, and Marciano. In 2001, Hilton began to develop a reputation as a socialite, being identified as "New York's leading It Girl" whose fame was beginning to "extend beyond the New York tabloids". She has appeared in several magazines, including the April 2004 issue of Maxim .
As a media personality
Film
Hilton has made cameo appearances in several films, notably Zoolander , Wonderland , and The Cat In The Hat . She landed minor and supporting roles in the feature films Nine Lives , Raising Helen , The Hillz , and House of Wax . Her role as Paige Edwards in House of Wax won the Teen Choice Award for "Best Scream" and earned her a nomination for "Choice Breakout Performance – Female". (It also won her the 2005 Razzie for "Worst Supporting Actress" at the 2005 Golden Raspberry Awards.) She also earned a nomination for "Best Frightened Performance" at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards. She landed her first lead roles in 2006 with the straight-to-DVD releases National Lampoon's Pledge This! and Bottoms Up . She plays the Hottie in the box office bomb romantic comedy The Hottie and the Nottie , released in 2008. She also had a minor cameo appearance as herself in An American Carol .
More recently, Hilton plays Amber Sweet , the surgery- and painkiller-addicted daughter of a biotech magnate in the goth/rock musical Repo! The Genetic Opera . Critics have responded positively to her performance in the film, in which she sings and acts. In an interview Repo! director Darren Lynn Bousman revealed that he had originally refused to audition Hilton for the role of Amber Sweet. "I broke down," says Bousman, "and I met with her, and immediately she charmed everyone in the room." In the same interview, Bousman also revealed that Hilton was so keen to get the part that she had the script smuggled in to her during her much publicized stint in a Los Angeles jail, and used her time inside to work on her role.
Television
Hilton co-starred with her friend Nicole Richie in the Fox reality series The Simple Life , which premiered on December 2, 2003. The Simple Life ran for three seasons on Fox. The show was cancelled by Fox after a dispute between Hilton and Richie, but it was subsequently aired by E! Entertainment Television for the fourth and fifth seasons. Despite talks of a sixth season, the series finished its run at the end of the fifth season. In March 2008, it was reported that Hilton would star in a new MTV reality series tentatively titled Paris Hilton's My New BFF , about her looking for a new best friend. The series premiered on September 30 , 2008 .
Hilton has also guest-starred in episodes of the popular tv-show The O.C. , The George Lopez Show , Las Vegas , American Dreams , Dogg After Dark , and Veronica Mars . Furthermore, she appeared in several music videos, including "It Girl" by John Oates and "Just Lose It" by Eminem. Planning is underway for an eponymous cartoon series following the animated life of Hilton, her sister Nicky, and her dog Tinkerbell, which began filming in September 2007. In April 2008, she guest starred on the My Name is Earl episode "I Won't Die with a Little Help from My Friends". On 29 January 2009, Paris Hilton's British Best Friend , began airing on ITV2 in England. The second season of Paris Hilton's My New BFF premiered on June 2, 2009. In June 2009, Hilton shot "Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF". Runner-up of the British series Kat McKenzie died on July 3, 2009 of a suspected overdose.
Hilton guest-starred in the fifth episode of Supernatural' s fifth season. "Paris Hilton is playing a demonic creature that takes the form of... Paris Hilton," creator and executive producer Eric Kripke said in a statement. "It'll be a fun, irreverent episode and we here at Supernatural are thrilled that Paris agreed to do it."
Recording artist
Further information: Paris (Paris Hilton album)Hilton founded Heiress Records, a sub-label of Warner Bros. Records, in 2004 and released her self-titled debut album, Paris , under that label on August 22, 2006. Although the album reached number six on the Billboard 200 for a week, its total sales volume has been low - but the first single "Stars Are Blind" was a top ten hit in 17 countries. Allmusic commented that the album was "more fun than anything released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, and a lot fresher, too." On the whole, critical reception was mixed. On July 16, 2007 Hilton confirmed that she was working on a new album with producer Scott Storch. In a recent interview with MTV, Hilton decided that her second album is going to be a dance album. She stated that she "loves Bob Sinclar" and wants to create dance-music vibe. Hilton has installed a professional recording studio in her house to work on the album. On September 30, 2008, Hilton premiered her song "My BFF" on KIIS-FM with host Ryan Seacrest. It is the first single from her as yet untitled second studio album and the theme song of her show Paris Hilton's My New BFF . Hilton stated that she finished working on the album. A second song "Paris For President" was released along with a music video late October 2008. Paris Hilton can also be heard singing on the soundtrack to the musical Repo! The Genetic Opera. In an interview, the director, Darren Lynn Bousman, praised her vocal skills. When talking about Paris' vocal audition process for the role, Bouseman said, "We gave her some music and said, 'You have one day to come back and perform this.' She came back the next day, memorized everything, was pitch-perfect, I mean she was awesome."
As an author
Further information: Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose and Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All to MeIn the autumn of 2004, Hilton released an autobiographical book, Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose , co-written by Merle Ginsberg, which includes full color photographs of her and
Best Places to Launch a Career 2008
Best Places to Launch a Career 2008 ... (8) Average salary for engineering positions only; business salaries are $50 ...
The Best Places to Launch a Career - BusinessWeek
The Best Places to Launch a Career Graduates lucky enough to land a job may ... year was down across the board, with at least 50 ... America's Best Place to Raise Your Kids; Toyota Gets Stuck ...
Best Companies to Launch a Retail Industry Career - Business Week ...
50 Kohl's 52 Walgreen 60 Amazon.com 64 Sears 69 Abercrombie & Fitch 2008 Best Companies to Launch A Retail Career (Out of 100 Companies Ranked): ... Moving: Find the Best Place to ...
Investors.com - BusinessWeek Magazine Names Aflac a Best Place to ...
BusinessWeek Magazine Names Aflac a Best Place to Launch a Career Posted 09/04/2009 12:11 PM ... Aflac appears on Hispanic Enterprise magazine's list of the 50 Best Companies ...
UP: Union Pacific Recognized Among Nation's Top 50 "Best Places to ...
Union Pacific Recognized Among Nation's Top 50 "Best Places to Launch a Career" by BusinessWeek ... on having the right training and talent development strategies in place to ...
Abbott: Rankings & Honors
"Outstanding" Place to Work in the UK – Best Companies; Investors in People Standard for 13 straight years – Investors in People; United States. 50 Best Places to Launch a Career for ...
The Best Places to Launch a Career - BusinessWeek
50 Best Internships; The 95 Best Places to Launch a Career; The Best Places to Launch a Career ... much of a future, and the firms certainly no place to launch a career ...
Report: State Dept. is 'best place to launch career' - Washington ...
Report: State Dept. is 'best place to launch career' ... Average starting pay at the Central Intelligence Agency was $45,000 to $50 ...
Best Places to Launch a Career 2009 - BusinessWeek
Best Places to Launch a Career 2009 ... The employer survey counts for 50% of the final ranking, while the career services and student ...
BusinessWeek Magazine Names Aflac a Best Place to Launch a Career ...
BusinessWeek Magazine Names Aflac a Best Place to Launch a Career. Press Release ... Aflac appears on Hispanic Enterprise magazine's list of the 50 Best Companies ...