Victoria Principle

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2012) Victoria Principal , Principal at the 39th Emmy Awards in 1987. Born Victoria Principal, (1950-01-03) January 3, 1950 (age 63), Fukuoka, Japan Occupation Actress, Entrepreneur, singer Years active 1970-2001 (Acting), 1987-present (Entrepreneur) Victoria Principal (born January 3, 1950) is an American actress, author and businesswoman best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime soap opera Dallas from 1978 to 1987. Early life: Principal was born in Fukuoka, Japan, the eldest daughter of United States Air Force sergeant Victor Principal, after whom she was named and who was then stationed in Fukuoka. Her paternal grandparents were emigrants from Italy, originally surnamed Principale. Her mother, the former Bertha Ree Veal, was born in Georgia and was of English descent. Because her father was in the US military, they moved often; she grew up in London, Puerto Rico, Florida, Massachusetts, and Georgia, among other places. She attended 17 different schools, including studying at the Royal Academy of Ballet while her family was stationed in England. She began her career in TV commercials, appearing in her first at age five. After graduating from South Dade Senior High School in 1968, she enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College, intending to study medicine. However, months before completing her first year of studies, she was seriously injured in a car crash while driving home from the library. The other driver was convicted of drunk driving and served jail time. Principal spent months in recovery and was faced with the prospect of having to take her first year of studies over again. After a period of serious introspection, she drastically changed her life by moving to New York City to pursue her acting career, and shortly thereafter to Europe. She studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and then in 1971 moved to Los Angeles. Career: Acting: In 1970, Principal moved to Hollywood. She had no money, no car, no agent, and no prior television or movie-making experiences beside the commercials she had made in her teenage years. She supported herself by teaching backgammon, which she had learned while living in London, that was becoming a popular game played by many in Hollywood. Nine months later Principal had a car, an agent, still little money but auditioned and won her first film role as Marie Elena, a Mexican mistress, in Paul Newman's The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), for which she earned a Golden Globe Nomination as Most Promising Newcomer. Because of the response to Principal's footage in the film, the role was enlarged on a daily basis by the writer, John Milius. Producers, agents, and other interested parties began showing up at the remote location in Benson, Arizona. For the most part they were showing up to sign Principal to her next film. During this period of time Warren Cowan flew in, introduced himself to Principal, and offered to represent her free of charge for the next year. Principal has been a client of Rogers & Cowan ever since. She flew to Arizona a complete unknown; when she returned to Los Angeles three months later, the commercial flight she was on was greeted by throngs of paparazzi. Subsequently, she appeared in The Naked Ape (1973) with Johnny Crawford and appeared nude in Playboy magazine to promote the film. The film's failure disappointed her. In 1974, she was cast in the disaster film Earthquake. Although the role had been narrowed down to three actresses, Principal won the role when she showed up for the third audition having cut off her waist-length brown hair, dyed it black, and put it into an afro. The producer was stunned and impressed by Principal's risky transformation in order to look more closely like the Italian character Rosa. Principal won the part in that moment. She continued to act in lesser-known films such as I Will, I Will... for Now and Vigilante Force with Kris Kristofferson. She was given a three-picture deal with Brute Productions. However, Principal decided to stop acting and became an agent, which was her profession from 1975 to late 1977. In 1977, Aaron Spelling offered her a role in the pilot of his television series, Fantasy Island, which she accepted. Soon after, in 1978, she landed her most famous role, playing Pamela Barnes Ewing in the evening soap opera television series Dallas. In 1983, she earned a Golden Globe Nomination as Best Actress in a Television Series for her role in Dallas. After nine years, Principal left Dallas in 1987. She went on to star in various made-for-television movies such as Mistress, Blind Witness, Naked Lie, Sparks: The Price of Passion, and Don't Touch My Daughter, a few of which she co-produced. In 1994, she appeared in an episode of the hit sitcom Home Improvement. Principal returned to primetime soap operas in 2000, when she appeared in another Aaron Spelling production, the short-lived NBC television series Titans. Principal declined reviving her role on the 2012 revival of Dallas since the sudden passing of Larry Hagman - the ending of the second season reveals the mystery where she died of pancreatic cancer. Entrepreneur: When Principal signed her Dallas contract, she omitted the clause that would have given the network the right to consent and profit from her outside endeavors. She explained, "As a result that's why, you can only notice in hindsight, I was the only person in the cast who did commercials, who was doing movies of the week, who wrote books and these all belong to me. I retained the control and ownership of my image. No one owns me." When she left the show in 1987, she began her own production company, Victoria Principal Productions, producing mostly movies for television. In the mid-1980s, she became interested in natural beauty therapies and in 1989 she created a self-named line of skin care products, Principal Secret, which has amassed over $1 billion (USD) in sales to date. In 1995, she was named "Entertainment Business Woman of the Year" by the National Association of Women Business Owners and received an honorary degree from Drexel University's Business School. In 1999, Principal became the youngest ever recipient of the Genii Lifetime Achievement Award for women in television. In 2003, Principal became a member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. In January 2011, Principal launched a line of jewelry called Keys & Hearts available on the same site as her skin care line, Principal Secret. She became a best-selling author, writing three books about beauty, skin care, and health: The Body Principal (1983), The Beauty Principal (1984), and The Diet Principal (1987). She published a fourth book, Living Principal (2001). After twelve weeks on the The New York Times Best Seller list in the general non-fiction category, The Body Principal was the first "Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous" number one best seller when that list debuted January 1, 1984. Personal life: Principal met Christopher Skinner in 1978 when he played a bit role on Dallas. Soon after, they married but divorced two years later in 1980. She dated teen idol Andy Gibb after meeting him on The John Davidson Show in 1981. The two hit it off immediately and she sang a duet with Gibb. A year later, she gave him an ultimatum: "Choose me or choose drugs". Principal split with Gibb in March 1982. Principal married Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Harry Glassman in June 1985. The couple divorced in December 2006 with Principal stating, "We have had a loving relationship for over 20 years". She later moved to Malibu, California. She also owns homes in Big Sur, California, and Switzerland. In 2006, Principal formed a charitable organization to help subsidize the environmental movement, which she had been a part of since 1978. In 2007, it was reported that she was training for her booked flight on Richard Branson's commercial space flight venture. Principal stated, "Going into space fulfills many desires I have of seeing the planet, going fast, going someplace very few people have been -- and hopefully coming back down!" Principal and Branson held a joint worldwide press conference in New Mexico where the space center is to be built. Philanthropy: Principal provided assistance to aid those in need after the 2008 California wildfires. On June 2, 2010, she donated $200,000 to the cleanup effort in the Gulf Coast region. Her donations brought together two huge environmental non-profits, Oceana and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), to work together on the cleanup. In 2003, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to her. Principal appeared with other celebrities on June 21, 2010, in a CNN Larry King-sponsored Telethon to support the Gulf Coast Region following the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Principal was on a panel with King, answered phones, and spoke to donors for the entire two hours. The telethon raised over $1.8 million. Principal was honored at the opening of Legacy Park in Malibu on October 2, 2010. She was a founding member of the park in 2004, and was honored at the opening for helping get the 15-acre park off of the Pacific Coast Highway off the ground. Over a 12-year period, she served the Arthritis Foundation as Honorary Chairperson and Ambassador to Government. She is the co-chair of Victory Over Violence, the LA County Domestic Violence Council Community Advisory Board. The Community Advisory Board is a coalition of representatives from the entertainment industry, business, government, and community who have come together with the dual purposes of increasing public awareness of issues surrounding domestic violence and increasing shelter and victim resources. On December 13, 2011, it was announced that Principal donated a substantial sum to OCEANA and NRDC to stop the expansion of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Ocean, fearing such activity could lead to another disastrous oil spill. On December 20, 2011, The Giving Back Fund named Principal as one of the Top 30 Celebrity Charity Donations for 2011. In 2012 Principal funded and participated in an online campaign with the NRDC in an effort to stop sonic blasting along the California coastline, and prevent the deaths of hundreds of marine mammals and marine life. In 2012 Principal funded, through Tree People, the creation of a mobile, emergency Fire Warning System for the Los Angeles area. In 2013 this system was completed and implemented, the first of it's kind in California. In 2013 Principal funded and ad bringing awareness to the plight of Sea Lion pups washing up along the California Coastline and provided funds to Wildlife Org. for their rescue and rehabilitation. Filmography: Feature films: Year Film Role Director 1972 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean Maria Elena John Huston 1973 The Naked Ape Cathy Donald Driver 1974 Earthquake Rosa Mark Robson 1976 I Will, I Will...for Now Jackie Martin Norman Panama Vigilante Force Linda Christopher George Armitage 1998 Michael Kael vs. the World News Company Leila Parker Christopher Smith Television: Year Title Role Notes 1973 Love, American Style Love Story Karen 1974 Banacek Brooke Collins 1975 Last Hours Before Morning Yolanda Marquez TV movie 1977 Fantasy Island Michelle Pilot episode The Night They Took Miss Beautiful Reba Bar Lev TV Movie 1978 Dallas Pamela Barnes 251 appearances during 1978-1987, same character 1979 Greatest Heroes of the Bible Queen Esther Hawaii Five-O Dolores Kent Sandover 1980 Pleasure Palace Patti Flynn TV movie 1982 Not Just Another Affair Dr. Diana Dawson TV movie Fridays Herself Live TV comedy variety show. ABC. 2/19/82. 1987 Mistress Rae Colton TV movie 1989 Naked Lie Joanne Dawson TV movie Blind Witness Maggie Kemlich TV movie 1990 Sparks: The Price of Passion Patricia Sparks TV movie 1991 Don't Touch My Daughter Linda TV movie 1992 The Burden of Proof Margy Allison TV movie Seduction: Three Tales from the 'Inner Sanctum' Patty/Sylvia TV movie 1993 River of Rage: The Taking of Maggie Keene Maggie Keene TV movie 1994 Beyond Obsession Eleanor DiCarlo TV movie Home Improvement Les Thompson 1995 Dancing in the Dark Anna Forbes TV movie The Larry Sanders Show Herself 1996 The Abduction Kate Finley TV movie 1997 Love in Another Town Maggie Sorrell TV movie 1999 Just Shoot Me! Roberta Jack & Jill Mrs. Cecilia Barrett Made two additional appearances, in 1999 and 2001. Same character Family Guy Pamela Barnes Ewing Made a second appearance in 2000, as 'Dr. Amanda Rebecca' 2000 Providence Donna Tupperman Three appearances in 2000, same character The Practice Courtney Hansen Titans Gwen Williams Made fourteen appearances from 2000-2001, same character Books: The Body Principal. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983. ISBN 0-671-46684-4., The Beauty Principal. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984. ISBN 0-671-49643-3., The Diet Principal. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987. ISBN 0-671-53082-8., Living Principal: Looking and Feeling your Best at Every Age. New York: Villard, 2001. ISBN 0-375-50488-5.

Source: Wikipedia

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