Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She came to public prominence after being selected as the February 1990 Playboy Playmate of the Month following her appearance on the cover of the magazine's October 1989 issue. She went on to make regular appearances on the magazine's cover, holding the record for the most Playboy covers by any individual. Anderson became known to a wider audience with her role on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement, before gaining international recognition for her starring role as "C.J." Parker on the action drama series Baywatch, which further cemented her status as a sex symbol. In 1995, home videos of Anderson with her then-husband, Tommy Lee, were stolen, spliced together, and sold as a sex tape, which resulted in a legal fight and made her the subject of controversy.
Anderson starred as Vallery Irons in the syndicated series V.I.P. and as Skyler Dayton in the Fox sitcom Stacked. Her film credits include Barb Wire, Scary Movie 3, Borat, Baywatch, and City Hunter. She starred in the reality series Pam: Girl on the Loose and appeared as a contestant on the Dancing with the Stars franchise. She saw a career resurgence in the 2020s after her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago and the 2023 releases of the Netflix documentary Pamela, a Love Story and her autobiography, Love, Pamela. For starring in the independent drama film The Last Showgirl, she received nominations for the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. She then starred in the comedy film The Naked Gun.
Anderson has supported various charitable causes, particularly animal rights and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and endorses plant-based cooking. She hosts Flavour Network's plant-based cooking show Pamela's Cooking with Love, and released a plant-based cookbook I Love You: Recipes from the Heart, which was nominated for a 2025 James Beard Award, for the work of her photographer, Ditte Isager.
Early life and education
Anderson was born in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, the daughter of Barry W. Anderson, a furnace repairman, and Carol, a waitress. Her great-grandfather, Juho Hyytiäinen, was a Finnish native of Saarijärvi, and left the Grand Duchy of Finland for Canada in 1908. He changed his surname to Anderson when he arrived as an immigrant. Pamela's grandfather Herman Anderson, who was a logger and a poet—who believed in folklore, fairies, and trees that whispered secrets to each other—taught her to speak Finnish. Anderson also has Volga German ancestry on her mother's side; her grandmother, Rose Friesen, ethnically German, was born in Russia in a Mennonite village and immigrated to Canada in 1901. Anderson received press coverage right after her birth as a "Centennial Baby", having been born on July 1, 1967, the 100th anniversary of Canada's official founding via the Constitution Act, 1867. She has a younger brother, Gerry, an actor and producer who worked in some of her films and television shows.When she was in grade 8, Anderson was a "scat soloist" for her middle school jazz band, where she played the saxophone. Decades later, she would draw on this talent for a solo in The Naked Gun. Anderson attended Highland Secondary School in Comox, British Columbia. In high school, she played on the volleyball team, and graduated in 1985.
In 2014, Anderson discussed suffering sexual abuse as a child. She mentioned being molested by a female babysitter from ages 6 to 10, raped by a 25-year-old man when she was age 12, and gang-raped by her boyfriend and six of his friends when she was 14.
Career
1988–1999: Modelling and acting breakthrough
In 1988, Anderson moved to Vancouver and worked as a fitness instructor. The next year, she attended a BC Lions Canadian Football League game at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, where she was featured on the jumbotron while wearing a Labatt's Beer T-shirt. The brewing company hired Anderson briefly as a spokesmodel. Inspired by the event, her then-boyfriend Dan Ilicic produced a poster of her image, entitled the Blue Zone Girl.Anderson was flown to Los Angeles for a photo shoot; she appeared as the cover girl on Playboy magazine's October 1989 issue. She subsequently moved to the United States, settling in LA to further pursue a modelling career. Playboy subsequently chose her as Playmate of the Month in their February 1990 issue, in which she appeared in the centrefold portrait. Anderson then elected to have breast implant surgery, increasing her bust size to 34D. She increased her bust size again, to 34DD, several years later. Her Playboy career spans 22 years, and she has appeared on more Playboy covers than any other model. She has also made numerous appearances in the publication's newsstand specials. Anderson wrote the foreword to the Playboy coffee table book Playboy's Greatest Covers. After Anderson moved to Los Angeles, she won a minor role as Lisa, the original "Tool Time Girl", on the ABC comedy series Home Improvement.
Her breakthrough role was as C.J. Parker on Baywatch, which she played for five seasons between 1992 and 1997, making her one of the longest-serving cast members. The series has gained her popularity from international viewers and the character of Parker became one of her best-known roles, having been reenacted by multiple high-profile people since. Anderson was paid US$1,500 per episode during the first season. She reprised her role in a reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding, and also appeared in commercials for DirecTV in 2007. Anderson was still modelling for Outdoor Life and appearing on the cover of the magazine each year. In 1993, Anderson appeared in a music video "Can't Have Your Cake" by Vince Neil to promote his first solo album, Exposed.
In 1994, she was cast in her first starring film role, in Raw Justice, also known as Good Cop, Bad Cop, co-starring with Stacy Keach, David Keith, and Robert Hays. Under the alternate title, the film won the Bronze Award at the Worldfest-Charleston in the category for dramatic theatrical films. In 1996, she played Barbara Rose Kopetski in the film Barb Wire. The movie, a thinly veiled futuristic remake of Casablanca, was not a commercial success. During filming, she had barbed wire tattooed on her left upper arm instead of having it painted on by make-up artists every day, but she had it removed in 2016. In April 1997, she guest-hosted Saturday Night Live. She appeared on one of two covers for the September issue of Playboy. In September 1998, Anderson starred as Vallery Irons in the Sony Pictures Television syndicated action/comedy-drama series V.I.P. created by J. F. Lawton. The series had a successful four-year run. In 1999, she appeared as a man-eating giantess in the music video for "Miserable" by California alternative rock band Lit. She appeared on The Nanny as Fran Fine's rival, Heather Biblow.
2000–2009: Rise to media prominence
House, a pop architecture building constructed in 2001 in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia, has a large image of Anderson's face. Sam Newman commissioned local architect Cassandra Fahey to design the building, and used the image with Anderson's permission. Permits were issued retroactively when it became a major local landmark and won the award for Best New Residential Building in the RAIA Victorian Architecture Awards. Later that year, Anderson played herself in the Miller Lite TV commercial "Pillow Fight", the sequel to the brand's earlier commercial "Catfight", with models Tanya Ballinger and Kitana Baker reprising their roles.In May 2004, Anderson appeared nude on the cover of Playboy magazine. Later, she posed naked for Stuff and GQ magazines. Anderson was also featured on the cover of the fashion magazines W, British Marie Claire, Flare, and Elle Canada and in editorials for Russian Elle and V.
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 nationwide. Her second book, Star Struck, released in 2005, is a thinly veiled look at her life with Tommy Lee and the trials of celebrity life. In 2005, Anderson starred in a new Fox comedy series Stacked as Skyler Dayton, a party girl who works at a book store. It was cancelled on May 18, 2006, after two seasons. On August 14, 2005, Comedy Central aired the Roast of Pamela Anderson.
In December 2005, NBC cut a video of Anderson pole dancing to Elton John's "The Red Piano", saying that the footage was inappropriate for prime time. The video was shown on huge screens during the event, while John played "The Bitch is Back".
In March 2006, Anderson received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. In April 2006, she hosted Canada's Juno Awards, becoming the first non-singer and model to do so. She also appeared in the 2006 mockumentary Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, in which the title character becomes obsessed with her and plans to abduct and marry her. She appears as herself at a book-signing at the end of the film, confronted by Borat in a staged botched abduction.
Anderson performed on February 13–14, 2008, in a Valentine's Day strip-tease act at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris. Anderson then starred in the reality series Pam: Girl on the Loose.
In December 2009, Anderson guest-starred as Genie of the Lamp in the pantomime Aladdin at the New Wimbledon Theatre in Wimbledon, in southwest London. Anderson took over the role from comedian Ruby Wax, with former EastEnders actress Anita Dobson and comedian Paul O'Grady also booked for the role.