Paulina Porizkova (Pavlína Pořízková, ; born 9 April 1965) is a<!--Do NOT add specific nationality without reaching talk page consensus.--> fashion model, author and actress. Born in Czechoslovakia, she moved to Sweden in 1973 and began modelling in France at the age of 15. In 1984, Porizkova became the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
As an actress, she made her film debut in Anna (1987).
Early life
Porizkova was born on 9 April 1965 in Prostějov, then in Czechoslovakia, to anti-Soviet dissident parents, Anna Pořízková and Jiří Pořízka. She was left in the care of her maternal grandmother after her parents fled to Sweden to escape the Warsaw Pact invasion. Czechoslovak authorities would not allow her parents to reclaim her, and the ensuing battle was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre.
Porizkova rose to become a top model in Paris during the early 1980s. She appeared as a model in Sports Illustrated in 1983, She was the second woman (after Christie Brinkley) to be featured on the swimsuit issue's front cover in consecutive years (1984 and 1985). She appeared on the cover of New York magazine in July 1985. Harper's Bazaar named her one of its ten most beautiful women in 1992 and American Photo magazine in its first issue declared her to be the model of the 1980s. Porizkova appeared on the covers of numerous magazines around the world during the 1980s and 1990s, including Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Self, Cosmopolitan, and Glamour.
She has been featured in advertising campaigns for Chanel, Versace, Hermes, Christian Dior, Oscar De La Renta, Mikimoto, Perry Ellis, Laura Biagiotti, Anne Klein, Ellen Tracy, Barneys New York, Ann Taylor, Guerlain, and Revlon and appeared on the runway for Calvin Klein.
In 1988, Porizkova won what was then the highest-paying modeling contract: a $6,000,000 contract with Estée Lauder, replacing Willow Bay. The black-and-white television and print advertising campaign won praise from critics. The Estée Lauder makeover transformed Porizkova's public image from a swimsuit model to that of European sophisticate and she remained the company's face until 1995. She soon landed another multimillion-dollar contract, with Escada.
Television work
Porizkova was part of the panel of judges on America's Next Top Model (ANTM), starting on Cycle 10, replacing fashion icon Twiggy.
Porizkova continued to conduct regular weekly evaluations of ANTM participants on the show until she announced during a 12 May 2009, appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson that she had been fired from the show. Although Porizkova maintained she was told by producers that she had an "ego problem," especially when she "consistently complained" about Tyra Banks' reported lateness to the set, ANTM executive producer Ken Mok and Banks released a statement claiming Porizkova's firing was due to "the current state of the economy," forcing ANTM to "make major budget cuts…unfortunately, Paulina was a casualty of these cuts." When questioned by ABC News journalist Cynthia McFadden about the firing of Porizkova as well as former ANTM colleague, Janice Dickinson, both of whom had complained Banks was "difficult," Banks refused to address the issue.
She appeared on Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes.
Porizkova was a participant on the fourth season of Dancing with the Stars in spring 2007, but was voted off on the first results show which aired on 27 March 2007.
In 2009 and 2010, she played Clarissa on about five episodes of the CBS Daytime soap opera As the World Turns. Porizkova appeared in the fourth episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories second season.
Acting
Porizkova's film debut was in the 1983 modeling mockumentary, Portfolio. She appeared in the 1987 film Anna. In 1989, she co-starred with Tom Selleck in the film Her Alibi; she was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her appearance.
Porizkova appeared in Emir Kusturica's 1993 film Arizona Dream, with Johnny Depp and Jerry Lewis, in a minor role as Lewis's young Polish fiancée. She had the main female role in the 1998 film Thursday. Porizkova wrote and directed the 2001 film, Roommates. She also starred in the 2001 thriller film Dark Asylum, alongside Judd Nelson. In 2004, she starred in the romantic comedy Knots. She appeared in an episode of the Starz comedy series Head Case which aired on 24 April 2009. She appeared in a 6th-season episode of Desperate Housewives, "Chromolume No. 7", alongside model Heidi Klum. She appeared on the ABC Family drama-comedy series Jane by Design in an episode which aired on 6 March 2012, and made a guest appearance on The Mysteries of Laura in February 2015.
Writing
Porizkova co-authored a children's book, The Adventures of Ralphie the Roach () with British model Joanne Russell and illustrated by her stepson Adam Ocasek, that was published in September 1992. She published her first novel, A Model Summer (; Modellsommar in Swedish), in 2007, which is about a 15-year-old Swedish girl (Jirina) chosen by a modeling agent to spend a summer working in Paris in 1980. Porizkova is a blogger for Modelinia and The Huffington Post.
In popular culture
Porizkova is the subject of three songs: "Friends of P" by The Rentals, "Paulina" by No Doubt, and "Dear Paulina" (written for the film Thursday in which she appeared) by Luna. She is one of several women referenced in Sonic Youth's song "Swimsuit Issue", from the 1992 album Dirty. She was the inspiration of the late transgender model and ballroom performer Octavia St. Laurent who spoke glowingly about her in the documentary film Paris is Burning. She has said that St. Laurent's praise and idolization in the documentary was the favorite moment of her modeling career.
Personal life
thumb|right|Porizkova's longtime husband, musician [[Ric Ocasek in 2011]]
Porizkova holds dual Swedish and U.S. citizenship. In 1984, she met Ric Ocasek, lead singer of the rock band the Cars, during the filming of their music video "Drive". The two married on 23 August 1989. In May 2018, Porizkova announced she and Ocasek had separated a year earlier.
In September 2019, while caring for Ocasek following an unspecified surgery, Porizkova found him dead in his home. At the time of his death, they were still in the process of their divorce. In a new will, he had disinherited her and his two eldest sons claiming that before his recent surgery she had abandoned him (a legally significant claim). In 2021, her dispute with Ocasek's estate was settled. Porizkova commented, "They gave me what is mine under New York state law, and we're done."
In 2021, Porizkova briefly dated screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Since February 2023, she has been in a relationship with screenwriter Jeff Greenstein. In July 2025, she announced that the two were engaged.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:lightsteelblue;"
! colspan=4 | Film
|- style="background:#ccc;"
! Year
! Film
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1987
| Anna
| Krystyna
|
|-
| 1989
| Her Alibi
| Nina Ionescu
|
|-
| 1993
| Arizona Dream
| Millie
|
|-
| 1996
| Female Perversions
| Langley Flynn
|
|-
| 1996
| Wedding Bell Blues
| Tanya Touchev
|
|-
| 1998
| Long Time Since
| Diane Thwaite
|
|-
| 1998
| Thursday
| Dallas
|
|-
| 2000
| The Intern
| Chi Chi Chemise
|
|-
| 2001
| Dark Asylum
| Dr. Maggie Bellum
|
|-
| 2004
| Knots
| Lily Kildear
|
|-
| 2012
| About Face: The Supermodels, Then and Now
| Herself
| Documentary
|-
| 2017
| Kevyn Aucoin Beauty & The Beast in Me
| Herself
| Documentary
|-
|- style="background:lightsteelblue;"
! colspan=4| Television
|- style="background:#ccc;"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1987
| Saturday Night Live
| Herself
| "Bronson Pinchot" (season 12: episode 11)
|-
| 2008–2010
| America's Next Top Model
| Judge
| Judge for cycles 10–12
|-
| 2009–2010
| As the World Turns
| Clarissa
|
|-
| 2010
| Desperate Housewives
| Herself
|
|-
| 2010
| Celebrity Ghost Stories
| Herself
|
|-
|2013
|Rupaul's Drag Race
|Herself
|"Draggle Rock" (season 5: episode 3)
|-
| 2015
| The Mysteries of Laura
| Charlotte Bernice
|
|-
| 2016
|Nightcap
| Ana
|
|-
| 2017
| Bull
| Nella Wester
| Episode: "Dressed to Kill"
|-
| 2022
| Beyond the Edge
| Herself
|
|-
|-style="background:lightsteeleblue;"
! colspan=4|Music Videos
|-style="background:#ccc:"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1984
|"Drive"
| Herself
|
|-
|1984
|"Cold Blood"
| Herself
|
|}
Bibliography
- "America Made Me a Feminist". The New York Times, 10 June 2017
- “No filter: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful”, 15 November 2022
See also
- List of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover models