Paris Hilton

If ever someone has been famous simply for being, it is Paris Hilton. She has raised being ridiculously wealthy to an art form, with paparazzi clamoring to photograph her every word, gesture, and expression. However, the life of an heiress isn't always the most glamorous.

Family and Childhood

Paris Whitney Hilton entered the world on February 17, 1981. While it is cliché, the child truly was born with a silver spoon. The daughter of Kathy Richards and Richard Hilton, Paris inherited wealth and fame on both sides. Her mother's side of the family offers years of success on both the big and the small screens. Paris' paternal great-grandfather was the founder of the Hilton Hotel chain, and Barron Hilton, her grandfather, is the current Hilton chairman, with a net worth of over $1 billion. Paris and her siblings are in line to inherit over $350 million each.

The children of the family - Paris and her younger siblings, Nicky, Barron II, and Conrad II - lived a life of indulgence and privilege, moving from one multi-million dollar home to another. The family kept homes on both coasts, and Paris attended high school in New York. She dropped out of the Dwight School but eventually earned her GED, though she never attended college.

Career

Although Paris was born rich she has made money on her own as well. Always a popular fixture on the society pages, the young heiress has appeared in several movies and reality shows, and has her own product line.

In the Entertainment World

Paris has worked extensively as a model, lending her face and voice to companies like Guess, T-Mobile, Carl's Jr., and Iceberg. Additionally she recorded two albums, with the first one hitting number six on the Billboard 200. The second album was never released. Despite her modest success as a model and singer, it was the reality series The Simple Life which really catapulted Hilton to stardom.

Inspired by Green Acres, the series took Hilton and then-best friend Nicole Richie and put them on the Leding family farm in Arkansas. The series brilliantly emphasized the girls' privileged lives by forcing them to interact with "regular" people and get jobs. This led to her other reality shows such as Paris Hilton's My New BFF and the World According to Paris.

Paris has had roles in several television shows and movies, and has won four Golden Raspberry Awards (The Razzie). Some of the films and series' she appeared in include:

Zoolander
Wonderland
Cat In the Hat
Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!
The OC
Raising Helen
Veronica Mars
American Dreams
The House of Wax
The Hottie and the Nottie

Other Business Ventures

Paris' income isn't confined to her entertainment ventures. She is also an author and has her own product lines. Paris has her own jewelry line that is sold exclusively through Amazon. She also backs footwear, purses, and hair extensions under her famous name. Her first perfume release, Paris Hilton, was so successful she has continued to release more scents throughout the years. They include:

Paris Hilton for Men
Can Can
Just Me
Heiress
Fairy Dust
Siren

Given Paris' well-documented love of the club scene, it is only fitting that Hilton launched her own nightclub chain. The clubs were appropriately named Club Paris, but the partnership between her and club owner Fred Khalilian didn't last long.

Paris capitalized on her soaring popularity by writing a book, Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose. The book, which is a mix of photos and advice for aspiring heiresses, became a New York Times bestseller. She followed that book with another, Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All to Me.

Scandals

It's not always so easy being an heiress. For Paris Hilton, her first mishap came by way of a sex tape. Just before The Simple Life premiered, a sex tape Paris had made with her ex, Rick Salomon, was leaked to the Internet in 2003. Although an attempt was made to stop it legally, the tape was made into a DVD entitled 1 Night in Paris.

Making for more tabloid fodder, Paris was burglarized five times, the first time in October 2008, by the Bling Ring, a group of Hollywood teenagers that broke into the homes of celebrities and stole their possessions. To add insult to injury, just one year earlier, in December of 2007, her grandfather pledged ninety-seven percent of his fortune to a charitable organization, severely cutting away at Paris' inheritance.

Paris Hilton's Legal Woes

Hilton has also had a few highly-publicized brushes with the law. Initially she was charged with driving under the influence in September 2006, and received 36 months probation and an order to attend an alcohol education program. She was next charged with driving under a suspended license in January 27, and just one month later, she was clocked doing twice the speed limit with no headlights, still on the suspended license. Realizing that she also hadn't attended the alcohol education program, the judge sentenced Paris to 45 days in jail for not following the terms of her probation. It caused quite a stir as many people felt she was being unfairly punished because she was a celebrity.

Sadly, all of that didn't teach Hilton her lesson, as after her release she was accused of smoking marijuana at a FIFA World Cup game in July of 2010. The charge was later dismissed. Two weeks later, she was was held for possession of cannabis at Figari airport, Corsica, then released. The following month in Las Vegas, she was arrested on suspicion of cocaine, and her defense was that the purse containing the cocaine wasn't expensive enough to be hers. Later she did acknowledge that some of the items from the purse were hers. Paris pled guilty to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to probation, community service, a fine, and ordered to complete a drug abuse program.

An Heiress' Life

While initially it seems like Paris Hilton is leading a perfectly privileged life, there is plenty going on behind the scenes to challenge that assumption. Though she does seem to exist in her own little universe, the scandals and run-ins with the law have made a dent in her image as an untouchable heiress.