Date of Birth:
17 February 1981, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name:
Paris Whitney Hilton
Nickname :
Star
Princess
Height:
5' 7½" (1.71 m)
Socialite Paris Hilton was born on February 17, 1981 in New York City into the Hilton family and, along with her three younger siblings, is heir-apparent to the vast Hilton hotel and real estate dynasty. Her childhood was spent in palatial dwellings in the priciest neighborhoods on both coasts and featured a brief flirtation with the educational system, including high schooling at the ultra-exclusive Dwight School, from which she dropped out and ultimately earned her high school GED.
Living the glitzy socialite life from a relatively early age, attending exclusive parties and being covered by the gossip press, Hilton apparently became hooked on obtaining celebrity status, which was perhaps furthered by the example of her mother, Kathy Richards, who had a brief acting career herself, mostly on TV. Hilton began a remarkable and well-financed campaign to put herself in the public eye, on screen, on television and in music. This effort has included a substantial amount of physical alteration. A naturally pleasant-looking girl, Hilton underwent extensive plastic surgery, hair coloring and tinted contact lenses in her attempt to reinvent herself as "hot". Sadly, money could not buy alteration of the physical attribute she most dislikes about herself: her exceptionally-large feet.
Some skeptics have guessed that the endless parade of inane inter-celebrity feuds centering around Hilton are, in fact, publicity stunts, another front in the campaign to keep her exposure level high. It has even been argued that the infamous home video of Hilton with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, in which Hilton performs explicit romantic activities with Rick Salomon, was part of this campaign as well. If it was, it worked. For better or for worse, it made Hilton a household name overnight, and was even widely marketed as a video, 1 Night in Paris (2004) (V).
Eventually Hilton's efforts paid off and she got some modeling work, the designers presumably relying on her notoriety. She has been an increasing presence on-screen too, in TV commercials, on TV series and in the movies, at first bit parts in movies such as Zoolander (2001), Wonderland (2003), The Cat in the Hat (2003) and guest-star roles on TV shows such as "The O.C." (2003) and "George Lopez" (2002), but later more substantial roles in horror flick House of Wax (2005), the direct-to-DVD _Bottom's Up (2006)_ and her own TV show, the fish-out-of-water reality series "The Simple Life" (2003).
Hilton also has plans to become a player in the music business, has recorded an album and even started her own music label, Heiress Records, in order to release it.
Hilton is widely scorned for what some see as her narcissism, shallow intellect and materialism and for other things besides, but she seems to be aware of the old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity and it should be evident even to her detractors that she is ambitious and driven to achieve, rather than simply basking in her family's vast fortune, as do so many other socialites. In fact, performing is only part of her many activities and she has dabbled in designing, writing (one hastens to add, with a professional writer on the team), nightclub management and even marketing video games - all of which feature Paris Hilton, front and center.
I don't want to be known as the grand-daughter of the Hiltons. I want to be known as Paris. I went to Wal-Mart for the first time. I always thought they sold wallpaper. I didn't realise it has everything. You can get anything you want there for really, really cheap. I think the biggest misconception about me is that I'm this spoiled brat. But I'm not. I'm the total opposite. If you have a beautiful face you don't need big fake boobs to get anyone's attention. I desperately hate one thing about my body. I have size 11 feet. Yeah, it sucks, because I see all these super cute shoes in the stores: Guccis, YSLs, Manolos. And when they bring them out in my size, they look like clown shoes. People think I'm stupid. But I'm smarter than most people. The Backstreet Boys were so ten years ago. Whatever. No matter what a woman looks like, if she's confident, she's sexy. The only person who really knows me is Nicky (Nicky Hilton). And not many people know this, but my sister is one of the funniest people you'll ever meet. [Newsweek interview, June 2005]: I thought it was cute to play a dumb blonde. On TV, I do it because it's funny. I consider myself a businesswoman and a brand. I don't enjoy going out anymore. It's such a pain. It's everyone saying, "Let's do a deal! Can I have a picture?" I'm just, like, "These people are such losers. I can't believe I used to love doing this". I have always had a voice and always known I could sing, but I was too shy to let it come out. I think that is the hardest thing you can do, to sing in front of people. When I finally let go and did it, I realised it is what I am most talented at and what I love to do the most. Once you hear the music, you can't knock it. I go to clubs and I play it and don't tell anyone it's me. If everyone knew "This is Paris Hilton", they'd stop and judge. I've had a lot of stalker incidents and I usually can handle them, but the scariest one was when a guy turned up at my dad's office and said he was my fiancé. I'm the nicest, most loyal person in the world when it comes to my friends. I would really do almost anything to make sure they're happy.But I only want friends who are there for me just like I'm there for them. Otherwise it's too painful. I brought Nicole (Nicole Richie) on to _"Simple Life, The" (2003) and, all of a sudden, she became this different person. She dropped her old friends and she's someone else. Nicole (Nicole Richie) and I are not enemies, but I can't be friends with someone who doesn't want good things for me. I'm serious about acting and I have a bunch of movies lined up. I think I can become a good actress. It's something I want to prove to myself and to other people. I feel I'm getting better and feeling more confident about what I can do as an actress. There's nobody in the world like me. I think every decade has an iconic blonde, like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana and, right now, I'm that icon. I can't walk the streets. It's too embarrassing. I don't want to go out anymore. I don't want to party. I take my dog Tinkerbell seriously. I take my job seriously. But I don't take myself all that seriously. I talk in that baby talk voice when I'm on TV, it's a put on. "One of my heroes is Barbie. She may not do anything, but she always looks great doing it." "I haven't seen it, but when people copy you, that's like the most flattering thing, so whatever people can say, I just laugh about it. It doesn't matter to me." (On "South Park: Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset (#8.12)" (2004)) "The best thing about having your own nightclub is that everything's free and you can tell the DJ to play whatever you want." "The root of all evil is not money, it's boredom." '"If you want to make the camera your friend, pretend it's a cute boy!"
:Where Are They Now:
(December 2004) Missed the opening for her new exclusive nightclub "Club Paris" in Orlando, Florida on New Year's Eve 2005. (February 2005) Celebrating her 24th birthday with a dinner at the Ivy. (February 2005) Promoting her perfume launch called "Paris Hilton". Release date was Valentine's Day 2005. (March 2005) Helping younger sister, Nicky Hilton, 21, promote her clothing line "Chick". (May 2005) Promoting her fragrance in Paris, France. (May 2005) Now in London, England for promotional reasons concerning her perfume line. (June 2005) Making a guest appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992) with her mother, Kathy Richards. (March 2006) Promoting her album, "Paris Is Burning", due out in June 2006. (March 2006) Filming the fourth season of "The Simple Life" (2003). (May 2006) Made an appearance on the "Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show" (2003) with her four pet dogs. (May 2006) Filming her first ever music video for the release of her debut album, due out in late summer. (June 2006) Made an appearance on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" (1989) to talk about her newest season of "The Simple Life" (2003) and her fall out with former friend, Nicole Richie. (June 2006) Travelled to London to do a radio interview regarding her upcoming album, "Paris", due out in late summer. (August 2006) Preparing for the release of her first album, "Paris", by doing promotional work. (August 2006) Released her debut album, "Paris", worldwide. (November 2006) Promoting her new fragrance, Heiress. (June 2007) Serving 45 days in jail for probation violations. (August 2007) Launching her clothing line at Kitson in Los Angeles.
