Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American heiress of the Hilton Hotel fortune, a socialite, model and actress. She is commonly described as a celebutante, a portmanteau of 'celebrity and debutante', in other words "famous for being famous."
She was born in New York City, the eldest of four children born to Richard Hilton and Kathy Richards. Her sister is Nicky Hilton, and brothers are Barron Hilton and Conrad Hilton.
On the maternal side of her family, Hilton is a niece of two popular child stars of the 1970s, Kim Richards and Kyle Richards, who appeared in the motion picture Escape to Witch Mountain and TV shows like Nanny and the Professor, Little House on the Prairie, and later, ER.
Her paternal grandparents are Barron Hilton and Marilyn Hawley. He is the second child of Hilton Hotel founder Conrad Hilton and Mary Barron. According to Forbes magazine in 2005, the net worth of Barron Hilton is estimated at just over US$1 billion, of which Paris is expected to inherit over US$50 million.
After attending high school at the Dwight School in New York, Paris decided not to go to college. Instead, she worked as a fashion model for Catherine Malandrino and Marc Bouwer, and on an ad campaign for Italian label Iceberg.
In recent years Paris has gained notoriety by appearing in television, movies, commercials, and modeling. According to Forbes magazine, in 2003-2004 she earned approximately US$2 million for her television and movie roles, but in 2004-2005 her earnings from television, movies, modeling, and personal appearances have earned her an additional $6.5 million. During this period Forbes Magazine has ranked Paris as one top 100 celebrities in the world.
She has had cameo roles in Zoolander (2001) and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004). She also appeared in the short subjects QIK2JDG and L.A. Knights, as well as minor and supporting roles in the feature movies House of Wax, The Hillz, Wonderland, Uptown Girls, Raising Helen, The Cat in the Hat and Nine Lives. She landed her first lead role in a theatrical release with National Lampoon's Pledge This! (2005).
Paris with Nicole Richie, starred in the 2003 FOX hit reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived with a family on their farm in rural Altus, Arkansas. Highlights of the show included the girls performing poorly at various jobs, making out with the local boys, and numerous instances of them shown as "fish out of water." On March 19, 2004, she suffered a horseback riding accident while filming The Simple Life 2, requiring treatment at a hospital. Following the success of the first season of The Simple Life, Paris is now being paid around US$3 million per season for the Simple Life.
She was also the subject of a South Park episode entitled "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" in which she opens a store called "Stupid Spoiled Whore" selling girls everything they need to emulate her.
In November 2004, Paris participated in Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Vote or Die campaign, to encourage youths to vote in the Presidential election. She drew criticism when it was revealed she did not vote, nor had she even registered to do so. Ironically, Paris would somewhat fulfill her theoretical obligation to "die" when the promoters of her film, House of Wax, employed a notorious "See Paris die" advertisement campaign, highlighting the death scene of her character in the film.
An sex video of Paris with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, was leaked onto the Internet, shortly before The Simple Life debuted, causing a sensation. On June 9, 2004 it was released as a DVD titled 1 Night in Paris. Paris sued Salomon for releasing the tape, but the suit was settled, with Hilton receiving US $400,000 and a percentage of the profits, which were donated to charity.
On top of her acting career, she has also helped to design purses for Samantha Thavasa and Toys for Tots and has created her own jewelry line for Amazon.com. Currently, her design work earns Paris around US$250,000 per year. Despite her successes, Hilton's recent attempts to start a modeling company and a makeup line seem to have been unsuccessful. She is the founder of Heiress Records, a label on which she plans to release her debut album in 2005.
Paris is often photographed with her teacup Chihuahua named Tinkerbell.