Elizabeth Hurley

In 1987, when Hurley was a relatively unknown actress, she met British actor Hugh Grant on the sets of a Spanish movie ‘Remando Al Viento’, starting a well-publicised relationship with him that was to last till 2000.

In 1995, Grant was arrested in Los Angeles for his dalliance with prostitute ‘Divine Brown’ following which, Hurley surprised everyone by not separating from him.

In 2000, Hurley and Grant separated, albeit on good terms and have remained friends ever since. They both also continued with ‘Simian Films’, their business enterprise.

Elizabeth Hurley was born in Basingstoke to Roy Leonard Hurley, an army major and Angela Mary Hurley, a school teacher at Kempshott Infant School.

By the age of 12, Elizabeth already knew that she wanted to be a dancer and was enrolled to a private boarding school, specializing in ballet. Later, she also earned a scholarship to study dance and theatre at the ‘London Studio Centre’.

As a teenager, she joined the ‘New Age Travellers’, a hippie group from UK, before getting influenced by ‘punk fashion’ which led her to colour her hair and wear a nose-ring.

As a young girl, Hurley won a ‘Face of the year’ competition that was organized by a local newspaper and was rewarded with a 1 year contract with a top company in London

In 1987, she landed her first movie, ‘Aria’, a film that consisted of 10 short films, all having different directors. The film featured in the ‘Cannes Film Festival’ of 1987.

In 1988, ‘Christabel’, a TV show featuring Hurley in the lead was released, with Hurley playing the lead role of an English woman married to a German lawyer.

Between 1988 and 1995, she acted in a few movies like ‘Rowing With the Wind’, ‘Kill Cruise’, ‘Passenger 57’ and ‘Beyond Bedlam’, along with TV shows like ‘Act of Will’, ‘Death Has a Bad Reputation’.

She was also featured in a lot of cameos during this period, appearing in shows like ‘Inspector Morse’, ‘The Orchid House’, ‘The Good Guys’ and ‘Sharpe’s Enemy’.

In 1994, Elizabeth Hurley announced herself to the world as she wore an iconic Versaci dress, while accompanying Hugh Grant to the premier of ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’. The dress appeared in numerous tabloids worldwide and catapulted Hurley into sudden limelight.

In 1995, she was chosen as the face of ‘Estee Lauder’ in spite of not having any previous experience in modelling, initiating what has turned out to be a long-standing relationship as she continues to work with the brand till today.

In 1997, Hurley starred as ‘Vanessa Kensington’ in ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’, a spoof of older James-Bond movies, her most loved role till date, which also become a cult classic much after its release.