Pamela Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, and media personality born on July 1, 1967. You might recognize her from her photos in Playboy magazine or her role as “C.J.” Parker on the TV show Baywatch.
Anderson first gained attention when she appeared on the cover of Playboy in October 1989. She later became the February 1990 Playmate of the Month and held the record for the most appearances on the magazine’s cover. She also starred in the TV show Home Improvement and gained even more fame as “C.J.” Parker on Baywatch.
In 1995, a private video of Anderson with her then-husband Tommy Lee was stolen and leaked causing a lot of controversy.
Apart from acting Anderson has been in other TV shows like V.I.P. and Stacked and she’s been in movies like Barb Wire and Borat. She even had her reality show called Pam: Girl on the Loose in 2008.
Pamela Anderson is also known for her charity work, especially for animal rights. She’s supported organizations like PETA and has written books about her life. She even collaborated with Netflix on a documentary called Pamela a Love Story in 2023.
| Full Name | Pamela Denise Anderson |
| Date of Birth | July 1, 1967 |
| Place of Birth | Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Actress, Model |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) |
| Spouse | Tommy Lee (1995–1998) Kid Rock (2006–2007) Rick Salomon (2007–2008, 2014–2015) Dan Hayhurst (m. 2020) |
| Children | Brandon Thomas Lee (with Tommy Lee) Dylan Jagger Lee (with Tommy Lee) |
| Net Worth | $20 million |
Pamela Anderson’s Early Life and Education
Pamela Anderson was born in Ladysmith British Columbia Canada. Her dad, Barry Anderson fixed furnaces and her mom, Carol Anderson worked as a waitress. Her great-grandpa, Juho Hyytiäinen came from Finland to Canada in 1908 and changed his name to Anderson. On her mom’s side, she has Volga German roots. Her grandma was born in Russia but moved to Canada in 1901.
Anderson was born on July 1, 1967, which was Canada’s 100th birthday. She has a younger brother named Gerry who’s also in the film industry.
Unfortunately, Anderson experienced abuse as a child. She shared that she was mistreated by a female babysitter when she was 6 to 10 years old then by a 25-year-old man when she was 12 and later by her boyfriend and his six friends when she was 14.
She went to Highland Secondary School in Comox British Columbia where she played volleyball. After graduating in 1985 she moved to Vancouver and became a fitness instructor.
Pamela Anderson Career
From Labatt’s Beer T-Shirt to Playboy Icon
Back in 1989, Pamela Anderson went to watch a Canadian football game in Vancouver. She ended up on the big screen wearing a Labatt’s Beer T-shirt catching the attention of the brewing company who hired her to represent them for a short while. This led to her boyfriend creating a poster of her called the Blue Zone Girl.
After that, she was flown to Los Angeles for a photo shoot and ended up on the cover of Playboy’s October 1989 issue. She decided to move to LA to focus on modeling. She became Playmate of the Month in February 1990 and had breast implant surgery to increase her bust size to 34D later going to 34DD.
Anderson’s association with Playboy lasted for 22 years during which she appeared on more Playboy covers than any other model. She also appeared in many special editions of the magazine. She even wrote the foreword for the Playboy coffee table book called Playboy’s Greatest Covers.
From ‘Baywatch’ to Hollywood Powerhouse
After moving to Los Angeles Pamela Anderson got a small part as Lisa the original “Tool Time Girl” on the TV show Home Improvement. She left after two seasons and landed the role of C.J. Parker on Baywatch where she stayed for five seasons becoming one of the longest-serving cast members. This role made her very famous worldwide. Anderson started earning $1500 per episode and by the end of five seasons, she was making over $300000 per episode making her one of the highest-paid actresses on TV at the time. She also did a Baywatch reunion movie in 2003 and appeared in DirecTV commercials in 2007.
Besides acting Anderson also did modeling for Outdoor Life and appeared on their cover every year. In 1993 she was in a music video for Vince Neil’s song “Can’t Have Your Cake.” Her first starring movie role was in 1994 in a film called Raw Justice also known as Good Cop Bad Cop. She later starred in Barb Wire in 1996 but it wasn’t a big hit. Anderson guest-hosted Saturday Night Live in 1997 and was on the cover of Playboy the same year.
In 1998, she starred in a TV show called V.I.P. which ran for four years. She also appeared in a music video for the band Lit in 1999 and was on The Nanny as a rival character. In 2001, a building in Australia called the Sam Newman House was built with a big picture of Anderson’s face on it. In 2004 Anderson posed nude for Playboy and later for other magazines like Stuff and GQ.
Anderson wrote a book called Star in 2004 and started touring the U.S. for autograph signings. She also launched her vegan clothing line that year. Her second book Star Struck came out in 2005. She starred in a TV show called Stacked in 2005 but it got canceled after two seasons. In 2005 she was also roasted on Comedy Central and was named the most powerful Canadian in Hollywood.
In 2006, a video of Anderson pole dancing was deemed inappropriate for TV by NBC. She got a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame and hosted the Juno Awards in Canada the same year. Anderson appeared in the movie Borat in 2006 where she played herself. In 2008 she did a strip-tease act in Paris and starred in a reality show called Pam: Girl on the Loose.
Anderson guest-starred in a pantomime called Aladdin in 2009 and appeared in a short film called The Commuter in 2010. She was featured in a beach-themed photo shoot for Brazilian Vogue in 2013. A documentary about her life Pamela a Love Story was released on Netflix in 2023.
Anderson started acting on Broadway for the first time on April 12, 2022, in the show Chicago. She played the character Roxie Hart for eight weeks until June 5, 2022. This was her first performance since 2019.
Bigg Boss to Dancing with the Stars
In November 2010, Pamela Anderson went on a TV show called Bigg Boss in India which is like Big Brother. She stayed there for three days and got paid around $550000. After that, she joined the UK version of Big Brother in 2011 and later, she was on VIP Brother in Bulgaria in 2012.
She also showed up as a special guest on Promi Big Brother in Germany. On that show, David Hasselhoff her old co-star from Baywatch was there for the first five days.
Anderson danced on the tenth season of Dancing with the Stars in 2010 with her partner Damian Whitewood. They got kicked off after seven weeks. Then in 2012 she came back for an all-star version but got eliminated in the first week this time dancing with Tristan MacManus.
She also did Bailando 2011 in Argentina in May 2011 paired with Damian Whitewood again but she left after four weeks.
In 2018, she tried her luck on the French version of Dancing with the Stars but she got eliminated in November that year.
In 2013, she joined the British show Dancing on Ice and danced with Matt Evers.
Activism
Lifelong Vegan and Animal Rights Advocate
Pamela Anderson has been a vegetarian since she was a kid and switched to being vegan in her early twenties because she cares about animals. She thinks eating plant-based food is good for you.
She got into a big argument when she did a photo shoot for PETA. She wore a bikini with lines on it like the lines you see on meat to show that all animals have the same body parts. But some people thought it was wrong, especially in Montreal Canada. They said it was disrespectful to women. Anderson didn’t agree. She said it was important to speak out against how animals are treated even if it means showing her body.
She started working with a company called FrogAds Inc. in 2012. Then in 2014, she did another photoshoot for PETA this time for Valentine’s Day. She posed naked cuddling with a dog to encourage people to spend time with their pets in winter.
In 2015, she wrote a letter to Putin the leader of Russia asking him to help save whales. Later that year she met with important people in Russia to talk about animal rights. She did the same thing in 2016 working with a group called the International Fund for Animal Welfare. They talked to Russian leaders about protecting animals and nature.
Fight Against Pornography
Pamela Anderson has spoken out against pornography. In 2016 she teamed up with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach to write a popular piece for The Wall Street Journal. They said that online porn is a big problem. They called it a danger to society. They didn’t just complain though. They suggested a different approach. Instead of porn, they want people to focus on something they called “eroticism.” They think we should mix love with sex personality with physicality and imagination with the body’s mechanics.
They even talked about it at Oxford University with over 1000 people attending. Rabbi Boteach said it was tricky to discuss this stuff with someone as famous as Pamela Anderson but he thinks she handled it well. They also wrote a book together called Lust for Love in 2018. In the book they talked about how sex isn’t as meaningful or passionate as it used to be. They want to start a new movement about connecting with your partner in the bedroom.
From Assange’s Defender to Trump’s Plea
In December 2016, Pamela Anderson praised Julian Assange the founder of WikiLeaks in an interview with People magazine. She called him a “hero” and said he did a great thing for everyone by sharing information through WikiLeaks. She was worried that made-up allegations could lead to him being sent to the US where he might not get fair treatment just because he revealed truths.
In April 2019, Anderson expressed her frustration on Twitter when Assange was kicked out of Ecuador’s embassy in London. Then in May 2019, she visited him in Belmarsh prison with Kristinn Hrafnsson stating she believed he was innocent and a good person.
Later in October 2019, Pamela Anderson announced she was going to Australia to challenge Prime Minister Scott Morrison. She referred to some unkind things he said about her in 2018 and wanted to debate with him publicly about Assange’s situation. She also wrote to Morrison asking for his help to free Assange. Morrison replied saying his government would let Britain handle Assange’s case without special treatment.
Anderson planned to give a speech in Parliament House Canberra where she would talk about Assange’s suffering in jail calling it “psychological torture” and stressing that every moment he spent there was dangerous.
Finally, on January 18, 2021, Anderson appeared on the Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight where she asked President Donald Trump to pardon Assange.
AIDS Advocacy
In March 2005, Anderson started working with MAC Cosmetics to help people with AIDS and HIV. She went to events in Toronto Tokyo Dublin and Athens to raise money. She also supported the American Liver Foundation and helped raise funds for motorcycle rides.
In 2009, she wrote a letter to President Obama asking him to make cannabis legal.
In December 2015, she joined the board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to help stop whale hunting.
In November 2016, and January 2018, she starred in videos promoting passenger safety in private transportation.
In the 2019, Canadian election, she supported the Green Party.
She’s also a big supporter of animal rights and is part of PETA. She stopped eating meat when she was young after seeing a dead deer her dad had shot.
She’s been involved in political movements like supporting the yellow vests and attending meetings with Yanis Varoufakis and Benoît Hamon. She also supported DiEM25 in Germany’s 2019 European Elections.
What is Pamela Anderson’s Net Worth?
Pamela Anderson’s Net Worth is estimated to be $20 Million as of 2024, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Pamela Anderson’s Personal Life
Rollercoaster Romances
Pamela Anderson has been married a bunch of times. Her first husband was Tommy Lee who played drums for Mötley Crüe. They got married super fast after only knowing each other for four days. They had a beach wedding and it was a big surprise to Anderson’s mom. They had two kids together but their marriage was rocky. Lee even went to jail for hurting Anderson. They split up in 1998 but had a tough time figuring out custody of their kids.
Anderson then got engaged to a model named Marcus Schenkenberg but they broke up in 2001. After that, she got engaged to Kid Rock a singer but they split in 2003. Then out of the blue, she announced she was marrying Kid Rock on a yacht in France.
After all this drama Anderson wrote in her blog that she felt like she was stuck in the past waiting for something that wasn’t going to happen. She said she was moving on and declared she was in love again.
There were rumors that Pamela Anderson’s marriage to Kid Rock was because she was pregnant but nobody confirmed it. Unfortunately, Anderson had a miscarriage while filming a movie in Vancouver, and shortly after she filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.
Anderson then admitted that even after the divorce she and Tommy Lee still hooked up sometimes. In 2008, Lee even said they were thinking about getting back together.
In 2007, Pamela Anderson said she has engaged again on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She and Rick Salomon got married in Las Vegas but split up shortly after with Anderson claiming the marriage was a fraud.
Anderson said in 2013 on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she and Salomon were just friends with benefits. But then in 2014, she surprised everyone by saying they got remarried. However, that didn’t last long as she filed for divorce in 2015.
Next, Pamela Anderson dated a French soccer player named Adil Rami but that ended in 2019. Then she got married to Hollywood producer Jon Peters in January 2020 but they split after just a few days with Anderson saying they were never legally married. Finally, she married her bodyguard Dan Hayhurst in December 2020 but announced they were splitting up in January 2022.
From Scandal to Screen Adaptation
Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee had a private video of themselves stolen from their home back in 1995. It was filmed on a houseboat at Lake Mead. The video got out on the internet and caused a huge stir. Anderson took legal action against the company that put it online but had to drop the case because she was pregnant and stressed. Despite this, the company kept putting the video online which made their website super popular.
There was another video made before the one with Tommy Lee featuring Anderson and Bret Michaels from the band Poison. Parts of this video showed up in a magazine in 1998 and even though their lawyer tried to stop it a shorter version ended up online.
The whole story of these tapes was turned into a TV series in 2022 called “Pam & Tommy.” The actress Lily James played Anderson but Anderson herself wasn’t happy about it. She didn’t like how the series came about without her input or approval. She felt pretty crushed by the whole thing.
Real Estate: From Malibu to the French Riviera
Pamela Anderson became a citizen of the United States in 2004 but she’s still Canadian too. She moved to California in 1989 and thought it was important to become American so she could vote and eventually help her parents move to the U.S. She bought a house in Malibu for $1.8 million in 2001 and tried to sell it for $7.75 million in 2013 but changed her mind.
Now she rents it out for $50000 a month and lives on the French Riviera because of her relationship with a football player. Before that, she lived in a big house in France. In 2019, she moved to Canada specifically Vancouver Island. She made her move there permanently in 2021 and sold her Malibu house that same year.
