Victoria Principal

Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950), later known as Victoria Principal, is a Japanese-born American actress, producer, entrepreneur, and author, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the American primetime television soap opera series Dallas.

Vicki Ree Principal was born on January 3, 1950 in Fukuoka, Japan, the elder daughter of United States Air Force sergeant Victor Rocco Principal and Bertha Ree Principal (née Veal).

She spent her first three months of life in Japan.

As her father was in the U.S. military, the family moved often.

She grew up in London, Puerto Rico, Florida, Massachusetts, and Georgia, among other places.

She attended 17 different schools, including the Royal Ballet School while her family was stationed in England.

Principal began her career in TV commercials, appearing in her first at age 5.

After graduating from South Dade Senior High School in 1968, she enrolled at Miami–Dade Community College, intending to study medicine.

However, months before completing her first year of studies, she was seriously injured in a car crash while driving home from the library.

The other driver was convicted of drunk driving and served jail time.

Principal spent months in recovery and was faced with the prospect of having to retake her first year of studies.

After serious introspection, she drastically changed course by moving to New York City to pursue acting, and shortly thereafter to Europe.

She studied privately with Jean Scott (professor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London, and in 1971 moved to Los Angeles.

In 1971, Principal moved to Los Angeles, California.

She won her first film role as Marie Elena, a Mexican mistress, in John Huston's The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) (opposite Paul Newman), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer.

On the basis of the positive response to Principal's acting work, her role was enlarged by writer John Milius.

During this period, Warren Cowan flew in, introduced himself to Principal, and offered to represent her free-of-charge for the next year.

She went to Arizona as an unknown; when she returned to Los Angeles three months later, the commercial flight she was on was greeted by paparazzi.

She then had a starring role in the risqué comedy film The Naked Ape (1973), which was co-financed by Hugh Hefner, the founder and publisher of Playboy magazine.

She appeared nude in the September 1973 issue of Playboy to promote the film.

However, the film failed at the box office, which was a disappointment to her.

In 1974, she was cast in the blockbuster disaster film Earthquake.

Principal won the supporting role of Rosa Amici, beating out both Susan Sarandon and Kay Lenz for the part.

Prior to her third callback audition, she opted to cut her then waist-length brown hair, dye it black, and have it styled into an Afro.

Director Mark Robson was stunned, but impressed by Principal's risky transformation and dedication to look closer to the character.

The film went on to become one of the era's highest-grossing films and received four Academy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations.

She continued to act in lesser-known films such as I Will, I Will... for Now and Vigilante Force.

Principal signed a three-picture deal with Brute Productions.

Principal decided to leave acting and became a Hollywood talent agent and booking agent, which was her profession from 1975 to late 1977.

She then had ambitions to study at law school and would support herself if needed through small acting roles on television and film, so as to fund her future college tuition.

In 1976, she returned to her character in Earthquake by shooting additional scenes to expand the running time of the original picture for the broadcast premiere of that film, and in 1977, she made a guest appearance on the pilot of the television series Fantasy Island which aired on the ABC network, and in the 1977 television film The Night They Took Miss Beautiful on the NBC network.

The urge to return to acting came when television producer Aaron Spelling offered Principal a role in the pilot of his television series Fantasy Island, which she accepted.

When Principal obtained the pilot audition script for Dallas, her academic career ambitions changed, and she decided to return to the full-time acting profession.

In the mid-1980s, she became interested in natural beauty therapies, and in 1989, she created an eponymous line of skincare products, Principal Secret.

Principal became a best-selling author, writing three books about beauty, skincare, fitness, well-being, and health: The Body Principal (1983), The Beauty Principal (1984), and The Diet Principal (1987).

She spent nine years on the long-running series, leaving in 1987.

Afterwards, she opened her own production company, Victoria Principal Productions, focusing mostly on television films.

In the 2000s, she wrote a fourth book, Living Principal (2001).

She is also a two-time Golden Globe Award nominee.

As Principal explained to TV Guide Network in 2004, "I had left acting to be an agent and was on my way to law school, but when a friend dropped off a Dallas script, I read it. When I finished, I knew my life had changed - that part was mine. So I called the [casting] person and said, "I'm sending someone in." She said, "Who?" I said, "Just put down my name.