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.
According to her autobiography, Confessions of an Heiress, Paris's paternal grandparents were Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Jr. and his second wife, Patricia, contrary to reports that Barron Hilton and Marilyn Hawley were her grandparents. "Nicky" Hilton was the first child of Hilton Hotel founder Conrad Hilton and Mary Barron. When Conrad Hilton died in 1979, he left nothing in his will to his children or other descendents. Barron Hilton contested this, 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 Paris is expected to inherit a little over US $20 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. Instead, she 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 fame/notoriety was a sex video of her with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, which was leaked onto the Internet shortly before 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.
In recent years Hilton has gained notoriety by appearing in television, movies, commercials, and modeling. According to Forbes magazine, in 2003-2004 she earned approximately US$2 million for her television and movie roles, but in 2004-2005 her earnings from television, movies, modeling, and personal appearances have earned her an additional $6.5 million. During this period Forbes Magazine has ranked Hilton as one of the top 100 celebrities in the world.
She also appeared in the short subjects QIK2JDG and L.A. Knights, as well as minor and supporting roles in the feature movies House of Wax, The Hillz, Wonderland, Uptown Girls, Raising Helen and Nine Lives. She landed her first lead role in a theatrical release with National Lampoon's Pledge This! (2005).
Hilton and Nicole Richie (daughter of Lionel) starred in the 2003 FOX hit reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived with a family on their farm in rural Altus, Arkansas. Highlights of the show included the girls performing poorly at various jobs, making out with the local boys, and numerous instances of them shown as "fish out of water." On March 19, 2004, Hilton suffered a horseback riding accident while filming The Simple Life 2, requiring treatment at a hospital. Following the success of the first season of the show, Hilton is now being paid around US$3 million per season.
In April 2005, however, Hilton announced that she severed both personal and professional ties with Richie[1]. Neither party has commented on the reason why, though Hilton has alluded that it is due to actions on the part of Richie. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Hilton hosted a party to watch her performance as host of Saturday Night Live, but that Richie switched the SNL tape with a tape of Hilton's infamous sex video. However, earlier reports mentioned that Richie became furious with Hilton because she reportedly referred to African Americans as "niggers" (though not in front of Richie.) This was also documented in a yet to be released DVD which Richie reportedly viewed.
She was also the subject of a South Park episode entitled "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" in which she opens a store called "Stupid Spoiled Whore" selling girls everything they need to emulate her.
In November 2004, Hilton participated in Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Vote or Die campaign, to encourage youths to vote in the Presidential election. She drew criticism when it was revealed she did not vote, nor had she even registered to do so. Ironically, she would somewhat fulfill her theoretical obligation to "die" when the promoters of her film, House of Wax, employed a notorious "See Paris die" advertisement campaign, highlighting the death scene of her character in the film.
On top of her acting career, she has also helped to design purses for Samantha Thavasa and Toys for Tots, and has created her own jewelry line for Amazon.com. Currently, her design work earns around US$250,000 per year. Despite her successes, Hilton's recent attempts to start a modeling company and a makeup line seem to have been unsuccessful.
She is the founder of Heiress Records, a label on which she plans to release her debut album in 2005, tenatively titled Paris is Burning. Her first single entitled 'Screwed' has been leaked to the Internet and has been remixed by Alex G. Her producer for the album will be Jane Wiedlin from The Go-Go's. Hilton will also be working with Scott Storch. She will be covering Blondie's hit 'Heart of Glass' for her album. She describes the album as pop, rock and hip hop, she says it sounds like Blondie and Madonna.
Hilton is often photographed with her teacup Chihuahua, Tinkerbell. According to Tinkerbell's memoirs The Tinkerbell Hilton Diaries, Hilton has owned her since October 31, 2002. However, in the summer of 2005, Hilton reportedly gave Tinkerbell to her mother, in favor of a smaller dog named Bambi, after Tinkerbell had become too heavy.
--Wikipedia
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