Paulina Porizkova
Paulina Porizkova (born Pavlína Pořízková, Czech: [ˈpavliːna ˈpor̝iːskovaː]; 9 April 1965) is an author and former fashion model. Born in Czechoslovakia, she relocated to Sweden in 1973. She began modelling in Paris at age 15.[4] In 1984, Porizkova became the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.[5]
Paulina Porizkova
- Swedish
- American
- Fashion model
- author
- actress
2
180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[1]
- The Model CoOp (New York)[2]
- Premium Models (Paris)
- IMG Models (Milan)
- Models 1 (London)
- Traffic Models (Barcelona)
- Place Models (Hamburg)[3]
As an actress, she made her film debut in Anna (1987).
Early life[edit]
Porizkova was born on 9 April 1965 in Prostějov,[6][7][8][9] then in Czechoslovakia, to anti-Soviet dissident parents, Anna Pořízková and Jiří Pořízka.[10] She was left in the care of her maternal grandmother after her parents fled to Sweden to escape the Warsaw Pact invasion.[10][11][6] 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.[10][11]
When Porizkova was seven, her pregnant mother returned to Czechoslovakia by a fake passport in an attempt to rescue her.[10][11] After the attempt failed, her mother was briefly detained by the national police and then placed under house arrest with her family.[10][11] In 1973, international political pressure led by Olof Palme caused the communist government to allow the Pořízek family to be reunited.[10] Porizkova's parents divorced after her father had an affair.[10][11] She and her father, who refused to pay child support for his children, have been estranged since her youth.[11] Her mother, a midwife, remarried at least twice and, as of 2010, was reported to be serving in the Peace Corps in Uganda.[11]
In popular culture[edit]
Porizkova is the subject of three songs: "Friends of P" by The Rentals,[52] "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.[53] 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.[54] She has said that St. Laurent's praise and idolization in the documentary was the favorite moment of her modeling career.[55]
Personal life[edit]
Porizkova holds dual Swedish and U.S. citizenship.[56][57] In 1984, she met Ric Ocasek, lead singer of the rock band The Cars, during the filming of The Cars' music video "Drive".[58] The two married on 23 August 1989.[59][10] They had two sons, Jonathan Raven Ocasek (born 4 November 1993)[58] and Oliver Ocasek (born 1999).[60] In May 2018, Porizkova announced she and Ocasek had separated a year earlier.[61][62]
In September 2019, while caring for Ocasek following an unspecified surgery, Porizkova found him dead in his home.[63] At the time of his death, they were still in the process of their divorce, though he had disinherited her as well as his two eldest sons[64] in a new will, alleging that before his recent surgery she had "abandoned" him, a legally significant term.[65] 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."[64]
In 2021, Porizkova briefly dated screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.[66]
In "America Made Me a Feminist", an article she wrote for The New York Times in 2017, Porizkova stated that she considered herself a feminist.[67]