Paula Abdul

Date of birth: June 19, 1962
Age: 48

Paula Julie Abdul is an American pop singer, record producer, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.

In the 1980s, Abdul rose from being a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to being a sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era, then to being a Pop-R&B singer with a string of hits in the late-1980s and early-1990s. She has scored six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, placing her in a tie for fifth among the female solo performers who have reached #1 there. She won a Grammy for "Best Music Video - Short Form" for "Opposites Attract" and twice won the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography."

After her initial period of success, she suffered a series of setbacks in her professional and personal life, until she found renewed fame and success in the 2000s as a judge on the television series, American Idol. Abdul was most recently featured in the eighth season of American Idol. Abdul has been working on a new album, and hopes to have the album released by the end of 2009. Abdul has a mezzo-soprano vocal range.

Paula Abdul was born in the San Fernando Valley, to Harry Abdul, a former livestock trader and owner of a sand and gravel business, and Lorraine Rykiss, a concert pianist who once worked as film director Billy Wilder's assistant. Her father, a Syrian Jew, was born in Syria, raised in Brazil, and subsequently immigrated to the United States Abdul's mother, also Jewish, is originally from Saint Boniface (now part of Winnipeg), Manitoba, Canada. Her mother's birth in Canada makes Abdul a Canadian citizen.

An avid dancer, Abdul was inspired towards a show business career by Gene Kelly in the classic film Singin' in the Rain as well as Debbie Allen, Fred Astaire, and Bob Fosse.

Abdul began taking dance lessons at the age of eight and showed a natural talent. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was a cheerleader and an honor student. At 15, she received a scholarship to a dance camp near Palm Springs, and in 1978 appeared in a low-budget Independent musical film, Junior High School.

Abdul studied broadcasting at California State University, Northridge. During her first year, she was selected from a pool of 700 candidates for the cheerleading squad of the Los Angeles Lakers — the famed Laker Girls. Within three months, she became head choreographer. Six months later, she left college to focus on her choreography career.

See also:  Singer,  Actress,  American,  TV Personality,  Grammy Award Winner,  Grammy Award Nominee,  Canadian,  Dancer,  American Idol,  R&B Music,  Reality Show,  California State University, Northridge,  Cheerleader,  Choreographer,  Jewish,  Jewelry Designer,  Laker Girls,  Syrian