Thursday, March 26, 2009

Elizabeth Hurley


Biography
Elizabeth Hurley is a well established name in the Briton modeling circle and movies. She came into the public eye only when her much publicized affair with actor Hugh Grant was made known. How she initially found her bearings, well that is another story.
Elizabeth Jane Hurley was born on June 10, 1965 in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, as the second daughter of Angela and Reg Hurley. Her father was a major in the British Army, while her mother was a schoolteacher at Kempshott Infant School. Her older sister Debbie is a literary agent and younger brother Michael works as an engineer.
Hurley took ballet classes as a child. She attended a variety of schools as a child including the Kempshott Junior School and Infants school and the Harriet Costello School, now known as Costello Technology College. She went on to graduate from Queen Mary's College, Basingstoke, for one year, followed by Basingstoke College of Technology, and later won a modeling scholarship to the London Studio Centre.
As a child she was into ballet and even took lessons for that, but while growing up she turned towards punk fashion with pink dyed hair and started moving in new age travelers groups.

Career in Movies
Upon winning the title of Face of the year in a local newspaper of Winchester, Hurley was awarded with a one year modeling contract with a renowned London modeling agency. With her training and experience gained while working at the London studio centre, Elizabeth successfully made her debut in Aria (1987). She also caught attention with her 4 part tele series Christabel (1988), written by Dennis Potter, where she played the title character.

Several movies and television shows followed after that including British series Rumpole of the Bailey and the George Lucas-produced The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and the Remando al viento (1987) with young actor (and future beau) Hugh Grant. It was while filming for this movie that the couple fell in love and began a 13 year old relationship.

The love birds came again in 1994, in Four Weddings and a Funeral which proved to be an international box office success and Grant was the focus of much media attention. Hurley ‘s black plunging Versace dress held together with gold safety pins at the movie premiere became so famous that even after so many years, it is referred to as “that dress”.
They later found and directed UK-based production company, Simian Films Ltd, in 1994, and Hurley was appointed as the head of development to secure film projects for Hugh. She served as producer for two Grant vehicles, Extreme Measures (1996) and Mickey Blue Eyes (1999). But the company was later closed down due to lack of interest on Grant’s part in 2002.
Elizabeth’s name was associated with several other film projects too. Some of them were notable for her roles such as Vanessa Kensington in Mike Myers's hit spy comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), EdTV, Bedazzled, Double Whammy, Serving Sara (2002).

The year 2008 also saw Hurley being approached by the top cosmetics company Estée Lauder as their main spokes model for the 14th time consecutively since 1995. In fact during her contract she successfully launched a perfume line Pleasures in the first month only. She has been a regular on the cover page of renowned fashion magazine, Vogue, and hosted the first season of the British reality series Project Catwalk, featuring novice fashion designers. In 2005, Hurley's beachwear line Elizabeth Hurley Beach was launched that was available in select Saks Fifth Avenue stores in the United States, Harrod's in the UK, various other locations worldwide and through her website. Later she expanded the business to Middle East, Asia and Australia.
She has been for the most part of her career romantically involved with actor Hugh Grant. They decided to separate mutually after 13 years of togetherness in 2000. Hurley is currently with Indian businessman Arun Nayar whom she married in a secret service at Sudeley Castle, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 2 March 2007. The couple gave a grand party in the groom’s home land India which was a much talked about affair. In fact, Hurley sold rights of her wedding pictures publication to Hello! magazine for a whopping deal. She has a son named a son, Damian Charles Hurley from her earlier relationship with American film producer Stephen Bing.

Filmography

* Aria (1987) .... Marietta
* Rowing with the Wind (1988) .... Claire Clairmont
* Act of Will (1989) (TV) .... Christina
* Death Has a Bad Reputation (1990) (TV) .... Julia Latham
* Kill Cruise (1990) .... Lou
* The Orrchid House (1991) (TV) .... Natalie
* The Long Winter (1992) .... Emma Stapleton
* Passenger 57 (1992) .... Sabrina Ritchie
* Beyond Bedlam (1993) .... Stephanie Lyell
* Sharpe's Enemy (1994) (TV) .... Lady Isabella Farthingdale
* The Shamrock Conspiracy (1995) (TV) .... Cecilia Harrison
* Shameless (1995) (film) .... Antonia
* Mad Dogs and Englishmen (1995) .... Antonia Dyer
* Harrison: Cry of the City (1996) (TV) .... Cecilia Harrison
* Samson and Delilah (1996) (TV) .... Delilah
* Dangerous Ground (1997) .... Karen
* Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) .... Vanessa Kensington
* Permanent Midnight (1998) .... Sandra Stahl
* My Favorite Martian (1999) .... Brace Channing
* Edtv (1999) .... Jill
* Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) .... Vanessa Kensington
* The Weight of Water (2000) .... Adaline Gunne
* Bedazzled (2000) .... The Devil
* Double Whammy (2001) .... Dr. Ann Beamer
* Bad Boy (2002) .... Anna Lockheart
* Serving Sara (2002) .... Sara Moore
* Method (2004) .... Rebecca Fairbanks

Elizabeth Hurley Photo Gallery



















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