Paris Hilton Biography

Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American celebutante, businesswoman, singer, model, actress, author, and television personality.

Paris Hilton’s best-known acting work is in the television series The Simple Life with her friend Nicole Richie. She has also appeared in several minor film roles, most notably in the horror film House of Wax in 2005. In 2006, she released her self-titled debut album Paris. As a result of several legal incidents, Hilton served a widely publicized sentence in a correctional institution in 2007.

Early life and background
Born in New York City, New York, Hilton is the oldest of four children of Richard and Kathy Hilton. Paris has a younger sister, Nicky, and younger brothers Barron Nicholas Hilton and Conrad Hughes Hilton.

On the maternal side of her family, Paris is a niece of two child stars of the 1970s, Kim Richards and Kyle Richards. Paris was related by marriage to Nicole Richie’s godmother, Nancy Davis, when Nancy’s brother, Greg, was married to Kim Richards.

Paris’ paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton, and his wife, the former Marilyn Hawley; Barron Hilton’s parents were Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and his first wife, Mary Barron.

Paris 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 Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, California her freshman year of high school; Dwight School in New York for her sophomore and junior years; then a few months at Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut before dropping out. Hilton eventually earned a GED.

The value of Paris’ inheritance is estimated at between $30 and $50 million.

As a model
Hilton began modeling as a child, appearing first at charity events. At 19, she signed with Donald Trump’s modeling agency, T Management. Hilton has also worked with Ford Models 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 socialite, being identified as “New York’s leading It Girl” whose fame was beginning to “extend beyond the New York tabloids”. She has since appeared in several magazines, including the April 2004 issue of Maxim magazine.

As an actress

Hilton became famous when she co-starred with Nicole Richie, the adopted daughter of Lionel Richie, in the Fox reality series The Simple Life, which premiered on December 2, 2003. After the success of the first season, The Simple Life was followed by two more seasons on Fox. The network canceled the show after a dispute between Hilton and Richie, but the show was subsequently aired by E! Entertainment Television for the fourth and fifth seasons, with talks of a sixth season to follow suit. Hilton has also guest-starred in episodes of The O.C., The George Lopez Show, Las Vegas, American Dreams and Veronica Mars. Furthermore, she appeared in several music videos, including It Girl by John Oates and Just Lose It by Eminem. Hilton has made cameo appearances in several films, notably Zoolander (2001), Wonderland (2003), and The Cat In The Hat (2003). She landed 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 MTV Movie Awards. She landed her first lead roles in 2006 with the straight-to-DVD releases National Lampoon’s Pledge This! (2006) and Bottom’s Up (2006). Hilton is currently scheduled to appear as the lead in several upcoming theatrical releases, including an as yet untitled superhero movie involving Stan Lee, and as the lead in a romantic comedy called The Hottie and the Nottie. Plans for an eponymous cartoon series following the animated life of Paris, her sister Nicky, and her dog Tinkerbell are also in production. As of August 2007, Hilton is part of the cast of Repo! the Genetic Opera, scheduled to begin filming in September 2007.

As a recording artist
Hilton founded Heiress Records, a sub-label of Warner Bros. Records, in 2004 and released her self-titled debut album, Paris, under that label on August 22, 2006. Although the album reached number six on the Billboard 200 for a week, its total sales volume has been low. All Music Guide commented that the album was “more fun than anything released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, and a lot fresher, too.” On the whole, critical reception was mixed. On July 16, 2007 Hilton confirmed that she is working on a new album, to be released in late 2007.

As an author
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 her advice on life as an heiress. Hilton reportedly received a $100,000 advance 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. 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.