Originating from Prostějov, Czechoslovakia, Pořízková was still a toddler when her parents left communist oppression, fleeing the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968, moving to Sweden and leaving young Paulina in the care of her grandmother in Czechoslovakia, believing that their daughter could be brought out later.
But Communist authorities would not allow it, and the ensuing battle for Pořízková was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre. After a failed rescue attempt in which her mother was detained by the national police, international pressure forced the Communists to allow the family to be reunited after seven years. Pořízková then acquired Swedish citizenship, which she still holds today.
Unfortunately her parents divorced soon afterward, and this left Pořízková's mother to fund her own medical education, while Pořízková and her brother Jáchym Pořízek to look after themselves- including having to steal bread to have something to eat.
An aspiring photographer friend took pictures of Pořízková and sent them to the Elite modeling agency in 1980, hoping they would notice her own photography skills... but instead of taking the photographer on board, they noticed Porizkova- and offered her a ticket to Paris.
But Communist authorities would not allow it, and the ensuing battle for Pořízková was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre. After a failed rescue attempt in which her mother was detained by the national police, international pressure forced the Communists to allow the family to be reunited after seven years. Pořízková then acquired Swedish citizenship, which she still holds today.
Unfortunately her parents divorced soon afterward, and this left Pořízková's mother to fund her own medical education, while Pořízková and her brother Jáchym Pořízek to look after themselves- including having to steal bread to have something to eat.
An aspiring photographer friend took pictures of Pořízková and sent them to the Elite modeling agency in 1980, hoping they would notice her own photography skills... but instead of taking the photographer on board, they noticed Porizkova- and offered her a ticket to Paris.
She quickly rose to become a top model in Paris during the early 80s, and her fame spread to the US when she posed for Sports Illustrated. She appeared in SI in 1983, and then on the cover of the famed annual Swimsuit Issue in 1984 and again in 1985. She appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine in August 1987 to preview her new (non-nude) swimsuit calendar.
Pořízková was chosen twice by People as one of the Fifty Most Beautiful People in the World, in 1990 and 1992. Harper's Bazaar named her one of its ten most beautiful women in 1992.
In 1988, Pořízková won what was then the highest-paying modeling contract: a $6M deal with Estée Lauder... she remained the face of the company all the way until 1995.
Pořízková's film debut was in the 1983 modeling mockumentary, Portfolio. Only 17 at the time, she managed to look more mature and intelligent than the other more-established models, and became "covergirl" for the film. She went on to perform in numerous films, but to mixed reviews.
Pořízková also wrote and directed the film, Roommates. In 2004, she starred in the romantic comedy, Knots, but turned down an opportunity to be a Bond Girl in the 1995 film GoldenEye because of better earnings available to her in modeling at the time, as well as not wishing to take time away from her family...
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Previously Featured Czech Top-Models: