Pamela Anderson

Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Finnish Canadian/American actress, sex symbol, glamour model, producer, author, activist, and former show girl.

Anderson is best known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990. For a time, she was known as Pamela Anderson Lee (or Pamela Lee Anderson) after marrying Mötley Crüe drummer, Tommy Lee. She holds both American and Canadian citizenship.

Anderson was born in Ladysmith, British Columbia, the daughter of Carol (nee Grosco), a waitress, and Barry Anderson, a furnace repairman. Her great-grandfather, Juho Hyytiäinen, was Finnish, a native of Saarijärvi, and left Finland in 1908 changing his name to Anderson when he arrived as an immigrant. Pamela Anderson has Russian ancestry on her mother's side.

The newborn Anderson won fame as Canada's "Centennial Baby", because she was thought to have been the first baby born on Canada's Centennial Day (she was born at 4:08 in the morning). However, the Campbell River Upper Islander of July 5, 1967 reported a baby born two hours earlier on the same Canada Day.

After graduating from Highland Secondary School in 1985, Anderson moved to Vancouver and worked as a fitness instructor. During the summer of 1989, Anderson went with her friends to a BC Lions game at BC Place; during the game she was shown on the stadium screen wearing a Labatt's t-shirt, causing the crowd to cheer for the 21-year-old Anderson. She was taken down to the field to receive an ovation from the crowd. Labatt's immediately offered Anderson a modeling contract and she accepted. In late 1989, Anderson decided to model for Playboy magazine. She first appeared as their October 1989 cover girl. At this stage in her modeling career, she had decided to live in Los Angeles to further pursue her career ambitions. She became a centerfold for Playboy when the magazine chose her to be their Playmate of the Month for their February 1990 issue. Anderson has since appeared in Playboy several times in the 1990s and the following decade.

After her move to Los Angeles, Anderson bleached her brunette hair blonde and enlarged her breasts to 32.5 cm in diameter. In 1991, she won a minor role as the original "Tool Time girl" on the hit television sitcom, Home Improvement. She left the show after two seasons and won the role of C. J. Parker on Baywatch. Anderson was still modeling for Outdoor Life and appearing on the cover of the magazine each year. Her role as C.J. Parker gave her more popularity and gained her attention from international viewers. She returned to Baywatch for the 2003 reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding. She also appeared on The Nanny as Fran's rival, Heather Biblow.

In 1996, she acted in the film Barb Wire playing Barbara Rose Kopetski, which was thought by some to be Anderson's real name. The movie, a thinly-veiled futuristic remake of Casablanca, was not a commercial success. Anderson had a miscarriage during the filming. In April 1997, she guest-hosted Saturday Night Live. At the beginning of the show, Anderson said, "You know, if you're nervous on stage, you actually should be naked!" She then stripped. Her breasts, however, were covered by a small flesh-colored bra and she also wore a crotch patch that was also flesh colored (though they were still blurred out for the sake of the joke). The performance was used as material by late-night comedians in following weeks. She also appeared on one of two covers for the September issue of Playboy; the other cover pictured Jenny McCarthy.

In September 1998, Anderson starred as Vallery Irons in the Sony Pictures Entertainment hit syndicated show V.I.P. created by J. F. Lawton. Blending action and humor in a fast-paced adventure series, with Anderson often poking fun at her tabloid image, the show explored the exciting and sometimes treacherous lives of the rich and famous. The series lasted through a successful five year run.

On April 15, 1999, Anderson decided to remove her breast implants. The main reason was that her modeling career was in decline. She needed to raise her children and possibly retire, but about a year later, Anderson reversed her decision. She claimed the new implants were bigger than ever. The following year she appeared as giantess in the music video for "Miserable" by California alternative rock band Lit.

In March 2001, Christine Evelyn Roth was arrested while sleeping in a guest room at Anderson's home. She was charged with the misdemeanor of trespassing and not the more serious crime of stalking. Roth pleaded guilty and was deported home to France. In 2004, Anderson returned to the spotlight. In May, she appeared naked on the cover of Playboy magazine. It was the first time she had appeared naked on any magazine cover. Later, she posed naked for Stuff and GQ magazines. Many noticed that her breast size was larger than her pictorials from 2003.

Anderson became a naturalized citizen of the United States on May 12, 2004, while retaining her Canadian citizenship. She has lived in Southern California since 1989. Anderson has often spoken revealingly about her private life. On a visit to the David Letterman show in 2004, she said she had not been dating for some time, and when Letterman asked her how she was coping, she responded, "There's not a square corner left anywhere in my house!" Letterman left that comment unanswered while the audience hooted.

In 2004, she released the book Star, co-written by Eric Shaw Quinn, about a teenager trying to become famous. After this, she began touring the United States, signing autographs for fans at Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Her second book, the sequel Star Struck, released in 2005, is a thinly veiled look at her life with Tommy Lee and the trials of celebrity life.

In January 2005, Anderson confessed that she had new, bigger breast implants, claiming not to feel like herself without them.

In April 2005, Anderson starred in a new FOX sitcom Stacked as Skyler Dayton, a party girl (with implants), who goes to work at a bookstore. It was canceled on May 18, 2006, after two seasons, although some episodes had not been aired. On August 14, 2005, Comedy Central created the Roast of Pamela Anderson to honor the sex symbol for the past decade. During her final speech at the Roast, Anderson referred to her breasts as "Pancho and Lefty".

In December 2005, NBC cut off a video of Anderson pole dancing topless on Elton John's "The Red Piano." NBC said that the footage was inappropriate for primetime. The video was shown on huge screens during the event, while John played The Bitch is Back.

In March 2006, it was announced that Anderson would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame thanks to her many years as a model and actress. She is only the second model to receive a star. In April 2006, Anderson hosted Canada's Juno Awards, becoming the first non-singer and model to do so. In May 2006 Anderson and Swedish model Sigrid Åhs met during a television show, Åhs is notable as one of the worlds most famous Pamela Anderson look-a-likes.
Artistic rendering of Anderson

Anderson was repeatedly referenced in the 2006 comedy film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan as the title character seeks to kidnap and marry her. Anderson appears in person at the end of the film confronted by Borat in a staged botched abduction.

She performed on February 13-14 2008 in a Valentine's Day striptease act at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris.

On July 9, 2008, Anderson entered the Australian Big Brother house for a three day visit. Her appearance on this show also marked Anderson's foray into reality television with a series of her own, Pam: Girl on the Loose, which debuted on August 3, 2008 on E! in the United States. Pam also was featured in a film about ants and aligators.