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In the 90s, the beautiful blonde assistant to Tim Allen on the hit television show Home Improvement became an overnight household name. Pamela Anderson was every teenage boy's crush in the mid 1990s and every grown man's fantasy woman. She then moved on to star in that iconic 1-piece red bathing suit in Baywatch alongside Yasmine Bleeth.

Pam broke the hearts and dreams of millions of men when she married bad boy rocker and drummer for Motley Crue, Tommy Lee. However, much to the delight of men around the world and thanks to the burgeoning Internet, the first video to break the Internet was a leaked tape of Pam and Tommy doing the deed during their honeymoon.

In the late nineties, Pam and Tommy split and she was briefly linked to Poison front man Brett Michaels after another sex tape controversy. In the early 2000s, Pam made tabloid headlines once again this time being linked to Detroit bad boy rap-rocker Kid Rock. They got engaged in 2003, shortly thereafter they broke up, only to get married on a boat near St. Tropez in July of 2006.

Later in November of 2006, Pam filed for divorce sighting irreconcilable differences. Tabloids at the time speculated the divorce was caused due to an outburst at the screening of Borat, in which Pam appeared in a cameo. In 2007, at the MTV Video Music Awards Kid Rock punched Tommy Lee in an apparent jealous rage over Pam. Kid Rock was sighted for misdemeanor battery from the incident.

20. Pamela At 18

In 1985, a freshly graduated from high school Pam Anderson took some modeling photos to send to her high school sweet heart Ty Anderson who had moved away from their home town to become a fire-fighter. This is one of only a few photos you can find of her in her natural brown hair color. It was around that time she was beginning to experiment with blonde hair coloring.

When Pam was born, she made the press by being the first child born in Canada on the 100th anniversary of Canada’s founding. Pam was a normal Canadian girl next-door type through high school and played on the Volley Ball team. It was not until 3 years after graduation she decided to move away from the small town of Ladysmith, British Columbia. Pam moved to the big city of Vancouver in 1988 and became a fitness instructor.

19. Blue Zone Girl

In 1989, Pam and some friends went to a Canadian Football League game where she at one point was featured on the Jumbotron to the packed stadium. Pam was brought onto the field later on and the crowd cheered for her dressed in a Labatt Beer t-shirt. After the event, the Labatt Beer Company contacted her for a modeling contract.

Her boyfriend at the time took the photo and produced the poster called the Blue Zone Girl. Soon her posters were all over Canada and she caught the attention of Playboy Magazine. She declined to pose for Playboy initially because she said she was too shy. After an argument with her then fiancé, she suddenly changed her mind and with the blessing of her family, she accepted the magazine's offer although, she only agreed to pose on the cover.

18. Ocean Photo Shoot Part 1

In this photo, Pam shows us she does not need loads of makeup and sexy lingerie to prove her beauty. In fact, the simple button down shirt and beautiful smile is enough to express class and beauty. In the era before Photoshop, it is nice to see her natural freckles on her nose and those gorgeous blue eyes are impossible not to get lost in.

One can only imagine what life was like for young Pam at the time this picture was taken. She had just moved from Canada to Los Angeles and was pursuing her modeling career. It was shortly after the first Playboy appearance that she was hired to be the overall-clad assistant on Home Improvement with Tim Allen. From there, she was discovered and landed an even bigger role on the hit series Baywatch.

17. Ocean Photo Shoot Part 2

Pam is wading in the soft waves of the ocean carrying her cute black and pink flip-flops. She has unbuttoned the bottom of her shirt tying a knot to expose her beautiful mid section. Her legs so often over looked are the perfect shade of gold. She does not have to try hard at all to look beautiful.

Life at that time had to be much simpler for young Pam. There were no paparazzi hiding behind bushes, no tabloid headlines, and no complicated relationships with celebrity husbands. You can almost see the pureness in her face in this photo as the girl from a small town in Canada is chasing her dream of becoming a model.

16. Baywatch Polo

This picture of Pam in a Baywatch Polo and the Pamela name tag is pure cuteness. Her smile and hair are the two most striking things about this photo. She looks relaxed and inviting. You just can't look away.

Pam was one of Baywatch’s longest recurring cast members outside of David Hasselhoff. Baywatch took Pam from aspiring model/actress to international star and sex symbol. Thanks to syndication, Baywatch still runs on television to this day much to the delight of young men across the world. Pam loved playing the character of C.J. Parker because of her mutual interest in “new age” philosophy such as crystals, meditation, and dream interpretations.

15. Hollywood All-Stars Charity Event 1992

You can tell in the photo Pam was coming into her own at this time. She was wrapping up her second and final season on Home Improvement and getting started on Baywatch. Pam had come a long way from her initial photo shoot for Hef's naughty mag.

There are many photos from this event of Pam, but this one sticks out as the best. Her glamorous smile and bright eyes stare right into your soul. Then there are those legs that just go on for days. It is hard to imagine that just some months before this picture was taken Pam was considering calling it quits and heading back home to Canada. It was once Baywatch came in that her career really took off.

14. Pam On The Rocks At The Beach

Here we see Pam in a sun dress showing off her wild playful side all the while being sexy as ever. Of course, the camera captured her signature perfect smile.

In 1994, Pam was cast in her first movie role in a film titled Raw Justice. She had an awful experience filming the movie in the simulated sex scenes. This caused her to drop out of another low budget movie Hello, She Lied. During testimony in a lawsuit against her for breach of contract from the producers, she recounted, "I had a horrible experience,'' Pam testified, speaking quickly to get her point across: “I was thrown around, I was scratched, I was bruised, I was bitten. I cried, I went home, I called my mother.''

13. Pam Tank Top Photo Shoot

In 1996, Pam once again took another stab at acting as the lead in the movie Barb Wire. The movie was essentially a rewrite of the famous movie Casablanca with many of the gender roles reversed. Unfortunately, the movie was a huge flop and currently has a rating of 28% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It was also around that time that she met her future husband, Tommy Lee. Pam was at a Las Vegas bar when she sent Tommy a shot of Goldschläger. Tommy was impressed with her looks and then began a whirlwind romance that lasted 4 days ending in marriage on a beach in Cancun. Pam was wearing a white bikini and the Anderson-Lees skyrocketed into tabloid stars overnight. Even Pam’s own mom learned of the marriage from People magazine.

12. Simple Tee And Shorts

After the marriage, the paparazzi went crazy even though Tommy had been in a previous relationship with Heather Locklear and never experienced that kind of scrutiny. Everywhere Pam and Tommy went the paparazzi would follow with their cameras yelling and screaming at the couple for pictures. They went through great lengths to stay one step ahead of paparazzi.

In one instance, they would send their assistant out in a blonde wig as a decoy. Other times, they would set up cars in different parking lots to switch to in order to get them off their trail. The paparazzi reached a new low when Pam collapsed after having a miscarriage and they chased the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The paparazzi were so intent on getting photos that they cut off the ambulance almost causing a crash.

11. Pam In Faux Fur

Pam has always been a big supporter of the environment and an animal rights advocate. When she was 12 years old, she discovered a headless deer carcass inside her house bleeding into a bucket. That experience led her to never eat meat again and caused her to convince her father to stop hunting. Later after achieving Baywatch fame and on a promotional tour, she began to tire of answering the same questions about who she was dating or what she was wearing.

She sent a letter to PETA telling them the press and the tabloids were obsessed with her personal life. She explained she would like to divert some of that attention away from her boyfriends and her boobs. PETA was thrilled and Dan Matthews (the architect of PETA’s highly visible campaign “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur”) considered Pam and PETA a match made in heaven.

10. Pam In Black

The infamous sex tape of Tommy and Pam’s honeymoon relations broke the Internet before anyone new what the Internet would become. A frustrated contractor fired by the Anderson-Lees plotted to steal a safe from their residence. Thinking he would find Tommy’s guns and Pam’s jewelry, the thief never imagined he would find the home video.

The sex tape quickly found its way into the hands of the Internet Entertainment Group. Anderson immediately sued to block the leak of the tape, but by that point, the genie had been let out of the bottle. Pam and Tommy in the end took a confidential settlement and the tape was made available for subscribers to Internet sites. In a recent interview with Vice, Pam is quoted:

“'For the record,' she tells me– she insists– the couple didn't sell their video to anyone. Dirty money. 'We could have saved the entire rainforest in the entire world,' she tells me, 'with that stupid sex tape.'”

9. Pam In The Tight White Top

Tommy and Pam’s fairy tale romance came to a screaming halt in 1998. While Tommy and Pam were in Las Vegas for a romantic getaway during Valentine's Day in 1998, cracks in the relationship began to appear. Pam spotted Tommy talking to a stripper after watching a concert and she began screaming at him. Tommy grabbed her and took her back to the room so as not to attract attention of the paparazzi and the fight escalated to a point where she stormed off and drove back home alone to their home in Malibu.

A week later while Tommy was cooking the family some dinner, he became frustrated not finding a frying pan. He began slamming things around and cursing. Pam told him to calm down and he became even angrier. When she tried calling her mother, Tommy lost his temper and a physical altercation ensued. In the end, Tommy was sentenced to 6 months in prison for domestic violence.

8. Pam In The Reebok Tank Top

Even though Pam divorced Tommy in 1998 after he was released from jail, the couple reconciled for a time before calling it off again in 2001. In 2002, Pam publicly stated she had contracted Hepatitis C from Tommy Lee sharing a tattoo needle. During an interview on the Howard Stern show, she jokingly told him that she only had 10-15 years to live.

The joke was taken out of context by several tabloids and Internet sites as a true statement. As of 2015, it was confirmed that Pam is cured of Hepatitis C. Pam has continued an on-again, off-again relationship with Tommy and admitted in 2007 that she still often had relations with him. They have since tried and failed at several attempts to make things work and Pam has had several other relationships since.

7. Pam On The Steps

Over the years, Pam has appeared on the Playboy cover 14 times. Pam has always respected the opportunity she got with Playboy and gives credit to them for her cultural education and career. She got to meet actors, musicians, and activists who chatted with her about music, film, politics, and art. Hugh Hefner used to tease Pam that she was the only Playmate who could recognize his extensive art collection because of her small town upbringing that led her to read many books.

Her first photo shoot where she only appeared on the cover was only shot with one roll of film. She was dressed in a striped blazer and tie with not much else. It seems fitting that Pam, who appeared on the cover more than any other model, will be the last to be on the cover of their final nude issue.

6. V.I.P. Photo

From 1998-2002, Pam starred in the TV series V.I.P. (Vallery Irons Protection) as the title character Vallery Irons. Pam’s character accidentally saves the life of a celebrity and then is hired as the figurehead of a bodyguard protection agency. The other characters include a former street boxer, law enforcement officer, a computer expert, and a former member of clandestine services akin to the KGB and CIA. The series used a fun mixture of comedy and camp with Pam often poking fun at her tabloid persona.

In the first season, there were several cameos of famous celebrities that were under the protection of Pam’s character. In one episode, Loni Anderson played Vallery’s mom and in an unaccredited appearance, Lisa Marie Varon was in an episode of the 2nd season. Other notable celebrities included Alfonso Ribeiro, Jerry Springer, Charles Barkley, Jay Leno, and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

5. Lisa The “Tool Time Girl”

The year was 1991 and Tim Allen began what seemed like the introduction of Sitcom center around the dumb-witted, 'everyman' suburban dad. The show Home Improvement was a huge success and each episode featured a segment of Tim’s show within a show “Tool Time”. Tim is joined on the show about tools by mild mannered Al and the Tool Time Girl. The Tool Time Girl's main duty was to kick off the show and hand either Tim or Al the tools they are using on the show.

The original Tool Time Girl and secondary cast member was the beautiful young Pamela. In season two, Pam decided to leave the show to pursue a bigger role in Baywatch. She was written off the show under the premise she was going into training to become a paramedic. In a later episode, she appeared in a cameo having completed her training.

4. C.J. In Red

This is the classic picture that almost everyone will remember of Pam forever. Interestingly, at times, Pam has sold memorabilia from her days on Baywatch. One lucky person, according to Vice, was able to score the red bathing suit from eBay in an auction where the proceeds go to the Pamela Anderson Foundation. Some people have criticized her sale items as trashy, however, it is indeed for a noble cause.

Pamela also started her own website in the promotion of Human, Animal, and Environmental Rights. She has listed her Tiffany & Co. engagement ring from Rick Solomon on eBay under her foundation's account with all proceeds going to her charity. On her website, she offers signed copies of her books and for $500 a signed copy of her final nude appearance in Playboy.

3. Pam On A Boat

After her marriage and reconciliation with Tommy Lee failed, Pam became engaged to model Marcus Schenkenberg for a short time. She then, in a bizarre twist, was engaged to Kid Rock that same year and they as well split in 2003. In yet another twist, Pam and Kid Rock got married on a yacht in St. Tropez, France in 2006.

Rumors had it that the marriage was spawned through a pregnancy situation. Pam’s agents and public relations team refused to answer questions related to the pregnancy matter further fuelling the rumors. In November 2006, it came out that Pam had experienced a miscarriage while filming in Vancouver Canada. Her relationship abruptly ended a few weeks later after Kid Rock became enraged during a screening of Pam’s cameo in Borat. Pam filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.

2. Pam In Purple

Pamela Anderson would probably be the first one to tell you she had no idea she would reach the status she achieved. Coming from a small town in British Colombia, Canada her humble beginnings made her so much more than the stereotypical Californian bleach-bottled blonde valley girl. She had a class and sophistication that her peers didn't have. She was well-read and able to converse at a high level with the likes of leaders, artists, performers, and philanthropists.

Pamela struggled amongst the circus that followed her to find what we as humans take for granted, which is normal human relations. She wanted the thing that drives all of us which is starting her own family and raising them. One can only imagine trying to do so under the spotlight of thousands of flashes coming from paparazzo cameras while trying to maintain a sort of normalcy.

1. Pam Drinking Coffee

Pam’s legacy is yet to be defined. If it were up to her, she would probably want people to recognize the work she has done with her foundation. She found a way to channel her image and notoriety into charitable causes. Pam has a genuine love for animals, other humans, and the environment.

For her public image, she was a sex symbol in a time when things in our country were beginning to change through technology. No one could have predicted the impact on popular culture that the sex tape between her and ex-husband Tommy Lee would make on the Internet. With that one video, it almost spelled the end of the adult VHS movie store and drove pornography online. In the 1990s, there was no woman comparable to Pam at the time and she reached a status that few women can claim to have obtained. She will forever be in the category of Marilyn Monroe, Ursula Andrews, and Elizabeth Taylor.

Sources: wikipedia.orgdailymail.co.ukvice.comrollingstone.compamelaandersonfoundation.org