Paris Hilton

Born : Paris Whitney Hilton February 17, 1981 (1981-02-17) (age 28) New York City, New York, U.S.

Occupation : Socialite, model, actress, singer, fashion designer

Years active : 2003–present

Height : 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)

Parents : Kathy Hilton and Richard Hilton

Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American socialite, heiress, media personality, model, singer, author, fashion designer and actress.

Hilton is best known for her appearance on the television series The Simple Life, her several minor film roles (most notably her role in the horror film House of Wax in 2005), her 2004 tongue-in-cheek autobiography, her 2006 music album Paris, and her work in modeling. As a result of several legal incidents, Hilton also served a widely publicized sentence in a Los Angeles County jail in 2007. She is also known for her controversial appearance in a sex tape in 2003.

Early life and background

Born in New York City, Hilton is the oldest of four children of Richard and Kathy Hilton (nee Avanzino). She has a sister, Nicky, and brothers, Conrad and Barron.

On the maternal side of her family, she is a niece of two child stars of the 1970s, Kim and Kyle Richards. Hilton was related by marriage to Nicole Richie's godmother, Nancy Davis, when Nancy's brother, Greg, was married to Kim Richards. Hilton's paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton, and his wife, the former Marilyn Hawley; Barron Hilton's parents were Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and his first wife, Mary Barron.

Hilton moved between several exclusive homes in her youth, including a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Hamptons. As a child she was good friends with other socialites as Nicole Richie and Kim Kardashian. She attended her freshman year of high school at the Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, California followed by a short time at Convent of the Sacred Heart (which she attended with Lady GaGa) and the Dwight School in New York for her sophomore and junior years. She was then transferred to the Canterbury Boarding School, in New Milford, Connecticut where she was a member of the ice hockey team. However, in early 1999, she was expelled for violating the school rules. Hilton later earned her GED.