Pamela Anderson’s ex-husband, producer Jon Peters, revealed to Variety that he has included her in his will — to the tune of $10 million. Despite the fact that they were reportedly married for only 12 days!
Pamela Anderson began her modeling career in Labatt beer commercials and then in the pages of Playboy. She moved on to acting on Home Improvement, but her real breakthrough came with Baywatch, which made her a household name and instant sex symbol. Anderson, a long-time supporter of animal rights, appeared on two seasons of Dancing with the Stars and continues to appear in minor roles.
Early Life and Modeling
Pamela Denise Anderson was born on July 1, 1967, in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, to a working-class family. She worked as a fitness instructor after high school until she was “discovered” at a Canadian football game when her form-fitting Labatt beer T-shirt was broadcast on the stadium’s giant screen. Labatt then hired her to appear in their advertisements.
Soon after, Playboy made an offer. She would later appear on several covers of the renowned men’s magazine.
TV Shows and Movies
‘Home Improvement’ to ‘Baywatch’
Anderson parlayed her modeling success into a series of cameo appearances on television shows. She got her big break as the “Tool Time Girl” on the sitcom Home Improvement in 1991. While there, she drew the attention of Baywatch casting agents looking to replace actress Erika Elaniak. The hour-long show depicting the lives of Malibu lifeguards was panned by critics as a nearly plotless vehicle for semi-nude video montages. However, thanks to frequent shots of the voluptuous Anderson, the show quickly became the highest-rated program in the world.
Anderson’s success on television did not translate well to the big screen. Despite widespread publicity, including an appearance at the Cannes Film Festival in a skintight cat suit, Anderson’s starring role in the 1996 thriller Barb Wire was a critical and commercial failure.
‘V.I.P.’
Anderson made a comeback to television in 1998 as the executive producer and star of V.I.P., in which she played the public face of a bodyguard agency. While not a pop culture phenomenon in the mold of Baywatch, V.I.P. was successful enough to last four seasons.
‘Stripperella,’ ‘Stacked’
In order to capitalize on her sex-symbol image, Anderson took on the lead voice role in the animated Stripperella in 2003, as a stripper who moonlights as an undercover superhero. Anderson reappeared in Stacked as a former party girl who gets a job at a small bookstore after the show was canceled the following spring. Following a trial run in spring 2005, the series was renewed, but it was taken off the air by January 2006.
‘Borat’
Anderson made headlines in 2008 when she appeared in the hit mockumentary Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for the Glory of Kazakhstan, starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Anderson portrayed herself in what appeared to be a real-life botched kidnapping in the film. Audiences debated whether the appearance was planned or unexpected. Anderson would not comment, but she did tell MTV that Cohen was “such a nice guy.” The film received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.
‘Dancing with the Stars’
Anderson starred in the feature films Blonde and Blonder and Superhero Movie in 2008, in addition to Pam: Girl on the Loose, which was adapted for television. In 2010, she returned to the spotlight as a contestant on season 10 of the hit show Dancing with the Stars. Anderson returned to the show for season 15: Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars in 2012.
She later appeared in the 2017 big-screen reboot of Baywatch, and in 2018 she competed on the French version of Dancing with the Stars.
Personal Life
Anderson’s marriage to Motley Crue rocker Tommy Lee in 1995 drew widespread media attention. Brandon Thomas and Dylan Jagger were the couple’s two children. The marriage, however, was fraught with controversy, including an incident in which stolen honeymoon tapes of the couple having sex were broadcast on the internet. Lee was arrested and convicted of spousal abuse in 1998, and the marriage ended in divorce.
On July 29, 2006, Anderson married rapper Kid Rock on a yacht near Saint-Tropez, France. It was revealed in November 2006 that she had miscarried. She filed for divorce from Kid Rock a few weeks later, citing irreconcilable differences.
In 2007, Anderson married Rick Salomon, Paris Hilton’s partner in the infamous 2003 sex tape scandal. A few months later, the marriage was annulled. They remarried in January 2014, but divorced in July of that year.
Anderson married producer Jon Peters, a former boyfriend from when she was a young model in her early twenties, in January 2020. Only 12 days later, she called it quits on their relationship, saying they needed time apart to “reevaluate what we want from life and from one another.”
Anderson married her bodyguard Dan Hayhurst on Christmas Eve 2020, it was revealed in January 2021.
In 2023, Pamela Anderson’s ex-husband, Jon Peters, revealed to Variety that he has included her in his will — to the tune of $10 million. Despite the fact that they were reportedly married for only 12 days!
Health
Anderson made public her hepatitis C diagnosis in March 2002, claiming she contracted the disease from sharing a tattoo needle with Lee. She announced in November 2015 that she had been cured of hepatitis C.
Advocacy
Anderson, a lifelong vegetarian, is an outspoken PETA activist who opposes the use of fur and seal hunting. She even auctioned off a 2000 Viper sports car from Pam: Girl on the Loose to benefit the non-profit.