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Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American celebrity and
socialite. She is an heiress to a share of the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as to
the real estate fortune of her father Richard Hilton.
Hilton rose to fame when a home-made sex video of her was leaked onto the Internet
in late 2003. The release of the tape, later titled 1 Night in Paris (2004),
attracted worldwide publicity and contributed to the success of Hilton's Fox
reality series The Simple Life. As an actress, she has appeared in several minor
roles, most notably in the horror film House of Wax (2005), and in 2006, she
released the self-titled album Paris which reached number six on the Billboard
200.
In September 2006, she was arrested for driving under the influence and
subsequently sentenced to 36 months probation and had her license suspended. In
February 2007, she was stopped for driving at 70 mph (in a 35mph zone) and charged
with violating her probation. Hilton was sentenced to 45 days in jail.
Born in New York City, New York, Hilton is the oldest of four children of Richard
Hilton and Kathy Richards. Her younger sister is Nicky Hilton, and her younger
brothers are Barron Hilton II, and Conrad Hilton III. On the maternal side of her
family, Hilton is a niece of two popular child stars of the 1970s, Kim Richards and
Kyle Richards. By marriage, she also is related to Zsa Zsa Gabor and Elizabeth
Taylor. Her paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton, and his wife,
the former Marilyn Hawley; Hilton's paternal great-grandparents were Hilton Hotels
founder Conrad Hilton and his first wife, Mary Barron. When Conrad Hilton died in
1979, he left nothing in his will to his children or other descendants. Barron
Hilton contested this decision and prevailed in court in 1988. The value of Paris's
inheritance has been variously estimated at between $30 and $50 million.
Hilton moved between several exclusive homes in her youth, including a suite in the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Hamptons. She attended
her freshman year of high school in Rancho Mirage, California at the Marywood-Palm
Valley School and her sophomore and junior years of high school at the Dwight
School in New York, but dropped out, and eventually earned a GED.
Hilton began modeling as a child, appearing first in charity events. At 19, she
signed with Donald Trump's modeling agency, T Management. Hilton has worked with
modeling agencies such as Ford Models Management in New York, Models 1 Agency in
London, Nous Model Management in Los Angeles, and Premier Model Management in
London. She has appeared in numerous advertising campaigns, including Iceberg
Vodka, GUESS, Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Dior, and Marciano. In 2001, Hilton began
to develop a reputation as a 19-year-old socialite, being identified as "New York's
leading It Girl" whose fame was beginning to "extend beyond the New York
tabloids".
Media
career
The leak of a three-year-old home-made sex video of Hilton with her then-boyfriend
Rick Salomon a week prior to the premiere of her Fox reality series The Simple Life
attracted worldwide attention in late 2003. The release of the tape led to
speculation that it was a deliberate publicity stunt, but Hilton has strongly
denied such claims and stated she was "embarrassed" and "humiliated" by the
publicity brought by the tape. The sex video, subsequently called 1 Night in Paris
(2004) was later released on DVD and Hilton received directorial credit. The film
earned three AVN Awards in 2005, including "Best Selling Title of the Year". Hilton
originally sued Salomon over the release of the tape, but settled out of court in
July 2005. Hilton was reportedly awarded up to $400,000 and planned to donate a
percentage to charity, although in a 2006 interview with GQ magazine she stated
that she never received money from the sale of the video.
The Simple Life premiered on December 2, 2003, starring Hilton and Nicole Richie,
the adopted daughter of Lionel Richie, and it became a mid-season success for Fox.
During the course of the season they lived with a family on their farm in rural
Altus, Arkansas. The show featured Hilton and Richie working at a variety of blue
collar jobs, making out with local men, and performing menial tasks associated with
farm life. The pair's resistance to appreciate and engage in the "simple life" was
a central theme on the series.
Actress
After the success of the first season, The Simple Life was followed by two more
seasons on Fox. The network then canceled the show after a falling out between
Hilton and Richie, but the show was consequently picked up by E! Entertainment
Television for a fourth season, and another season is scheduled to premiere in May
2007 on E!.
Hilton has appeared in minor and supporting roles in the feature films Nine Lives
(2002), Raising Helen (2004), The Hillz (2004), and House of Wax (2005). Her role
as Paige Edwards in House of Wax won the Teen Choice Award for "Best Scream" and
earned her a nomination for "Choice Breakout Performance – Female". She also earned
a nomination for "Best Frightened Performance" at the 2006. Hilton landed her first
lead roles in 2006 with the straight-to-DVD releases National Lampoon's Pledge
This! (2006) and Bottom's Up (2006). She also appeared in cameo roles in films such
as Zoolander (2001) among others.
Hilton has several upcoming theatrical releases in which she is the lead role,
including The Hottie and the Nottie (2008), and an untitled superhero movie
involving Stan Lee. Plans for Hilton to lend her name, and also star in a cartoon
series which follows the animated life of herself, her sister Nicky, and her dog
Tinkerbell are in production. Hilton has also guest starred in episodes of The
O.C., The George Lopez Show, Las Vegas, American Dreams and Veronica Mars.
Hilton has also appeared in several music videos, including It Girl by John Oates
and Just Lose It by Eminem.
Recording
artist
Hilton began working on an album in 2004 and her self-titled debut, Paris, was
released on August 22, 2006 and debuted at number six on the Billboard 200.
Producers for Paris include Greg Wells, Kara DioGuardi, Jane Wiedlin and Scott
Storch. Hilton collaborated with Fat Joe and Jadakiss on the song "Fighting Over
Me". The first single from Paris, "Stars Are Blind", produced by Fernando Garibay,
was released for download on June 20, 2006 and peaked at number eighteen on the
Billboard Hot 100; "Turn It Up" and "Nothing in This World" followed as worldwide
singles. All Music Guide commented on the album, "it's more fun than anything
released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, and a lot fresher, too."
In August 2006, it was revealed that underground artists Banksy and Danger Mouse
replaced 500 copies of Hilton's debut album in various UK record stores with their
own parody remixes and cover art. Along with completely reworked liner notes that
included topless photos of Hilton slathered with slogans like "Every CD you buy
puts me even further out of your league", Danger Mouse has replaced Hilton's
original songs with his own remixes.
Hilton is the founder of Heiress Records, a sub-label of Warner Bros. Records,
which she created in 2004. Heiress Records' only release as of yet has been Paris,
though Hilton has said that she plans to sign new artists in the future.
Other
business ventures
In the autumn of 2004, Hilton released an autobiographical book, Confessions of an
Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, co-written by Merle Ginsberg, which
includes full color photographs of her and gives her advice on the life as an
heiress. Hilton reportedly received a $100,000 in advanced payment for this book.
Some in the media panned the writing as amateurish, and the book was parodied by
Robert Mundell on The Late Show with David Letterman. Nonetheless, the book became
a New York Times bestseller. Hilton followed it up with a designer diary, also with
Ginsberg, called Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All To Me.
Hilton has helped design a collection of purses for Japanese label Samantha
Thavasa, and has also been involved in the design of a jewelry line for Amazon.com.
In 2004, Hilton was involved in the creation of a perfume line by Parlux
Fragrances. Originally set to be a small release, demand was high and necessitated
a wider release before Christmas of 2004. The launch was followed by a 47% increase
in sales for Parlux, which was predominantly due to sales of the Hilton-branded
perfume. After the success of Hilton's perfume, Parlux Fragrances released several
more perfumes with Hilton's name, including fragrances lines for men.
Hilton lent her name to a chain of nightclubs known as Club Paris in 2005. The
first of which in Orlando, Florida has been a success, and a second club located in
Jacksonville, Florida opened in July 2006.
Hilton was fired in January 2007 by the owner of Club Paris, Fred Khalilian,
after she had failed to attend several scheduled promotional appearances.
According to Forbes Magazine, Hilton earned approximately $2 million in 2003–2004,
$6.5 million in 2004–2005, and $7 million in 2005–2006.
Source : Some of the
information on this page came from a Wikipedia article and is
licensed under the GNU Documentation License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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