Pamela Anderson was a 1990s icon, but those who knew her before she was famous say the actress and model was very shy growing up.
Hulu’s latest mini-series about '90s “it” couple Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee has put the former “Baywatch” star back in the spotlight.
“Pam and Tommy,” which tells the story of the couple’s love affair, covers their infamous sex tape. But what was life like for Anderson before she was thrust into the spotlight?
Anderson grew up in the small town of Comox, British Columbia, where she dated her high school sweetheart Ty Anderson.
Ty Anderson said the former “Playboy” centerfold was shy when they where teens. In 2008, he shared never-before-seen photos when she was a teenager, as well as their prom pictures, with Inside Edition
He said that Pamela was “only insecure in the way of her body,” adding that even with him, when “I was seeing her, she didn't want me to see her body.”
Ty Anderson also shared a love letter that she wrote him, which read, “You say I never let you see my body, well you can’t say that anymore. Here I am in the flesh.” The letter was accompanied with provocative photos.
Years later, Pamela Anderson dated photographer Dan Ilicic, who she was on the verge of marrying. Their wedding announcement was posted in a Vancouver newspaper but weeks before their big day, he said Anderson walked away.
“She said she was leaving and the wedding was off... I wanted to talk to her and she ended up calling a cab and she just left,” he said in 1990.
When she was 22, her big break came when she was picked out of a crowd during a Canadian football game and was given a commercial contract for a year.
Following the commercial gig, she landed in “Playboy” and then headed to Hollywood, where she appeared on “Home Improvement” and “Baywatch.”
Pamela Anderson then married Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee after only knowing him for a few days in 1995. The couple were hounded by the paparazzi and then they became tabloid sensations after their sex tape was leaked.
The couple said the sex tape was stolen.
The couple ended their marriage in 1998 after she called police alleging he attacked her. Lee pleaded no contest and he was sentenced to six months behind bars, according to the L.A. Times.
The couple had two children together.
A source says the miniseries is like reopening a wound for Pamela Anderson, telling Inside Edition the theft of her sex tape was a "very painful episode in her life.”
Related Stories
