Paulina Porizkova

Paulina Porizkova Biography(Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

'Paulina Porizkova (born ' () on 9 April 1965) is a Czech-American model and actress. At the age of eighteen years, she became the first woman from Central Europe to be on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She was the second woman (after Christie Brinkley) to be featured on the swimsuit issue's front cover consecutive times (1984 and 1985). Porizkova also joined judging in America's next top model From cycle 10-12.

Early life

Born in Prost"?jov, Czechoslovakia, Paulina Porizkova was still a toddler when her parents left Czechoslovakia, fleeing the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968, and moved to Lund, Sweden, leaving young Paulina in the care of her grandmother in Czechoslovakia, believing that their daughter could be brought out later.

However, the Czechoslovakian authorities would not allow this, and the ensuing battle for Porizkova was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre. After a failed rescue attempt, in which her mother was detained by the national police, international political pressure led by Olof Palme caused the communist government to allow the Po?ízek family to be reunited after seven years. Porizkova acquired Swedish citizenship. The reunion was soon ended when Porizkova's father left the family, and her parents filed for divorce. Porizkova and her father have been estranged since.

Career

Modeling

An aspiring photographer friend took pictures of Porizkova and sent them to the Elite modeling agency in 1980, hoping they would notice her own photography skills. However, instead of taking the photographer on board, Elite head John Casablancas noticed Porizkova's physical beauty and potential, and offered her a ticket to Paris.

She quickly rose to become a top model in Paris during the early 1980s, and her fame spread to the United States when she posed in swimwear for Sports Illustrated. She appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 1984 and again in 1985 (her first appearance as a model in the magazine was in 1983). She appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine in August 1987 to preview her new (non-nude) swimsuit calendar. Both of her calendars in 1988 and 1989 by photographer Marco Glaviano sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

Porizkova was chosen twice by People as one of the Fifty Most Beautiful People in the world, in 1990 and 1992. Harper's Bazaar named her one of its ten most beautiful women in 1992. American Photo in its first issue declared her to be the model of the 1980s. She appeared on the covers of numerous magazines around the world during the 1980s and 1990s, including Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Self, Cosmopolitan and Glamour. She was also featured in advertising for Diet Sprite. Porizkova was the cover model for the 20th Anniversary issue of Cosmopolitan magazine in November 1985.

In 1988, Porizkova won what was then the highest-paying modeling contract: a six million dollar contract with Estée Lauder cosmetics, replacing the model Willow Bay. The black-and-white television and print advertising campaign won praise from critics. The Estée Lauder makeover transformed Porizkova's public image from a swimsuit model to that of European sophisticate and she remained the company's face until 1995. She was presented on the November 1999 Millennium cover of American Vogue as one of the "Modern Muses".

Porizkova's photos appeared in the books Models and Sirens, by Marco Glaviano, and in Fashion Photography by Patrick Demarchelier. The latter includes some of the noted LIFE magazine swimsuit pictures from several years ago. She was in Women by Herb Ritts.

After having her first baby in 1993, Porizkova devoted less time to modeling, and she moved into acting in independent films. She soon got a new contract as the lead model for Escada. In early 2001, she was the hostess for a television show on the E! network's Style Channel.

Television work

Porizkova was part of the panel of judges on America's Next Top Model, starting on Cycle 10 replacing the fashion icon, Twiggy. Porizkova continued to conduct regular weekly evaluations of Top Model participants on the show until she announced she'd been fired from Top Model during a 12 May 2009 appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS. Though Porizkova maintained she was told by producers that she had an "ego problem", especially when she "consistently complained" about Tyra Banks' "lateness to the set, ANTM executive producer Ken Mok as well as Tyra Banks released a statement saying her firing was due to "the current state of the economy", forcing ANTM to "make major budget cuts...unfortunately, Paulina was a casualty of these cuts." When questioned by ABC's Cynthia McFadden about the firing of Porizkova as well as former ANTM colleague, Janice Dickinson, both of whom have complained Banks is "difficult", Tyra Banks refused to address the issue.

Porizkova was a participant on the Spring 2007 series Dancing with the Stars, but she was voted off on the first results show which aired 27 March 2007. In January 2010, she played the minor role of Clarissa, in the CBS Daytime soap opera, As The World Turns. Porizkova appeared in the fourth episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories' second season.

Porizkova also had a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom Ned & Stacey in 1995.

Acting

Porizkova's film debut was in the 1983 modeling mockumentary, Portfolio. Only 17 years old, she managed to look more mature and intelligent than the other more-established models, and became "covergirl" for the film. She appeared in the 1987 film Anna, receiving good reviews from her patrons at Vogue magazine. It was in 1989 that she had her largest, and best-known role to date, co-starring with Tom Selleck (who was rumored to not get along with her at all) in the film Her Alibi. However, she was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for worst actress for her appearance in the film.

Porizkova appeared in Emir Kusturica's 1993 film Arizona Dream, with Johnny Depp and Jerry Lewis, in a minor role as Lewis's young Polish fiancee. She turned down an opportunity to be a Bond Girl in the 1995 film GoldenEye because of better earnings available to her in modeling at the time, as well as not wishing to take time away from her family. In 1998 she featured in the film Thursday.

She also appeared in a 6th season episode of Desperate Housewives, Chromolume No. 7 alongside model Heidi Klum.

Porizkova wrote and directed the 2001 film, Roommates. In 2004, she starred in the romantic comedy Knots. Her recent television work includes an 18 April 2007 appearance on The Colbert Report after remarks that she found Colbert "extremely attractive." She appeared on the Starz comedy series Head Case which aired on 24 April 2009. She most recently appeared on the ABC Family drama-comedy series Jane by Design which aired on 06 March 2012.

Writing

Porizkova co-authored a children's book, The Adventures of Ralphie the Roach (ISBN 978-0385424028) with Joanne Russell and illustrated by stepson Adam Ocasek, that was published in September 1992.

She published her first novel, A Model Summer (ISBN 978-1401303266; Modellsommar in Swedish), in 2007. It is about a 15-year-old Swedish girl (Jirina) chosen by a modeling agent to spend a summer working in Paris in 1980.

Porizkova is currently a blogger for Modelinia and the Huffington Post.

Personal life

On 23 August 1989, Porizkova married Ric Ocasek, lead singer for the rock band The Cars. They had first met in 1984 during the filming of The Cars' music video "Drive" (directed by Timothy Hutton) in which she stars. Porizkova was 19 years of age and Ocasek was already married at that time. The couple has two children.

Porizkova is the subject of the song "Friends of P" by The Rentals on their 1995 album Return of the Rentals, written by lead singer Matt Sharp. She is also the subject of the song "Paulina" on No Doubt's eponymous first album and "Dear Paulina", written and performed by Luna for the film Thursday, in which she stars.