Paris Hilton: Encyclopedia II - Paris Hilton - Background

Paris Hilton - Background

Hilton was born in New York City, the eldest of four children of Richard Hilton and Kathy Richards. Her younger sister is Nicky Hilton, and her younger brothers are Barron Hilton and Conrad Hilton.

On the maternal side of her family, Hilton is a niece of two popular child stars of the 1970s, Kim Richards and Kyle Richards, who appeared in the motion picture Escape to Witch Mountain and TV shows like Nanny and the Professor, Little House on the Prairie, and later, ER. By marriage, she also is related to Zsa Zsa Gabor (the Hungarian-born actress who married Paris Hilton's great-grandfather Conrad Hilton) as well as Elizabeth Taylor (the actress's first husband was Paris Hilton's great-uncle, Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr.).

Her paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton and his wife, the former Marilyn Hawley, and her paternal great-grandparents were Hilton Hotel 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 won in 1988. According to Forbes magazine in 2005, the net worth of Barron Hilton is estimated at just over US $1 billion, of which she is expected to inherit a little over US $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. Currently, her parents own a $10 million mansion in Bel Air, a $6.3 million estate in the Hamptons, as well as $3 million house in the Hollywood Hills in which she and her sister stay to give them privacy and easy access to LA clubs.

After attending high school at the Dwight School in New York, but dropping out and eventually earning a GED, Hilton decided not to attend a university. A naturally brown-eyed curly brunette, Hilton worked as a fashion model for Catherine Malandrino and Marc Bouwer, and on an ad campaign for Italian label Iceberg. She appeared in cameo roles in Zoolander (2001), The Cat in the Hat (2003) and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004).

What really shot Hilton to prominence was a sex video of her with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, which was leaked onto the Internet shortly after The Simple Life debuted, causing a sensation. On June 9, 2004 it was released as a DVD titled 1 Night in Paris which was hosted by Salomon. Hilton sued Salomon for releasing the tape, but the suit was settled, with Hilton receiving US $400,000 and a percentage of the profits.

Hilton is often seen with her teacup Chihuahua, Tinkerbell. She has been voted the worst dog owner ever in an online poll by New York Dog [2] and Hollywood Dog, while Joss Stone was named as the best dog owner. [3]

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Background", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki