Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born June 10, 1965) is an English actress, fashion model, producer and designer.

Elizabeth Hurley was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England in 1965. Hurley's father, a lapsed Catholic of Irish descent, was a British Army major, while her mother, an Anglican, was a schoolteacher at Kempshott Infant School. She has an older sister, Debbie, and a younger brother, Michael.

Hurley took ballet classes as a child. She went to Kempshott Junior and Infants school, and the Harriet Costello School now known as Costello Technology College. Hurley later attended Queen Mary's College, Basingstoke, for one year, followed by Basingstoke College of Technology and won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre.

Whilst in her teens and before she was in the public eye, she became involved with punk fashion, where she dyed her hair pink and pierced her nose. She associated with New Age Travellers who, typically, sat under The Buttercross monument and the grounds of the Cathedral in Winchester, near to where she lived.

Hurley's career started in the early 1980s, when she won a Face of the Year competition at a local newspaper in Winchester, and gained a year's modelling contract with a prestigious London firm as the first prize. She made her first film appearance in Aria in 1987 and attracted some attention with the Dennis Potter-scripted UK television series Christabel in the late 1980s, and appeared in several low-budget British and Hollywood films, including the 1992 thriller Passenger 57, in which Hurley played a stewardess. She also appeared on television on both sides of the Atlantic, appearing in the British series Rumpole of the Bailey and the George Lucas-produced The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

In 1994, Hurley attended the London première of the film Four Weddings and a Funeral starring her then-companion Hugh Grant. Hurley's appearance in a black plunging Versace dress held together with gold safety pins gained her considerable media attention. It has often been referred to simply as "that dress" and is credited with the launch of her high profile career. Following Versace's murder in 1997, The Times' obituary cited it as the thing for which the subject was best known.

In 1995, Hurley began working with top cosmetics company Estée Lauder as their main spokes model. Within her first month with the company, Hurley launched the best-selling perfume, Pleasures. In 2007, Hurley's contract with Estée Lauder was renewed for the 13th year with a subsequent contract extension.

She has also appeared several times on the covers of renowned fashion magazine, Vogue and hosted the first season of the British reality series Project Catwalk featuring novice fashion designers. In 2005 Hurley's beachwear line Elizabeth Hurley Beach debuted in select Saks Fifth Avenue stores in the United States, Harrod's in the UK, various other locations worldwide and through her website. In 2006, the line expanded its distribution among Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Asia. In 2007, Hurley was voted best "British Body Idol" in New Woman magazine. 5,000 women cast their votes on which British woman they thought was the best body idol.

As well as Hurley's appearances in film, she has spent time as a producer. Hurley and her ex-boyfriend Hugh Grant had previously joined forces during their relationship to create Simian Films, a production company. Through this joint venture Hurley produced two films starring Grant, Extreme Measures (1996) and Mickey Blue Eyes (1999). She also produced the 2004 film Method in which she starred. In 2006 the company was dissolved as both Hurley and Grant focused on other projects.

In the film industry, Hurley was cast as the female lead as Vanessa Kensington in the hit Mike Myers spy comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery in 1997 which gained her further exposure as an actress. After the success of that film, she reprised the role of Vanessa in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999 and appeared in several more high-profile films, including EdTV, Bedazzled, Double Whammy and 2002's Serving Sara, which was her last American film to date.

Hurley became a fixture in the newspapers again in 2000 when she fell foul of U.S. acting unions. The event occurred when she had filmed a fashion advertisement for Estée Lauder which broke a five-month acting strike. She was subsequently fined £70,000 by the Screen Actors Guild. Hurley apologised for breaking the strike, but stated that she had been unaware that it was going on as she had been based in the UK and the union had not informed her of the industrial action. She was later confronted by a protest of angry actors at the U.S. première of her film Bedazzled in October where protesters brandished banners stating "Elizabeth Scably".

Since she signed with Estée Lauder, Hurley has taken an active role in the company's breast cancer charity. Hurley revealed that her grandmother died from breast cancer because for a number of years she refused to reveal the existence of a lump. By the time this was revealed, it was too late to save her life. Hurley was the Mistress of Ceremonies at "The Hot Pink Party" at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City to mark the tenth anniversary of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Additionally, Estée Lauder created a lipstick named "Elizabeth Pink" after Hurley; proceeds from the sale of every tube of "Elizabeth Pink" benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Hurley has also acted as mistress of ceremonies for The Prince's Trust, a charity founded by Prince Charles which aids youth in Great Britain. She has also helped cricketer and friend Imran Khan with his cancer hospital in Pakistan. Ironically, Imran's ex-wife was the girlfriend of Hurley's ex boyfriend, Hugh Grant, connecting all four.

Hurley had a high-profile thirteen-year relationship with actor Hugh Grant, spanning from 1986 to 2000. The couple were both caught up in a highly publicised scandal in 1995, when Grant was arrested for being caught with the prostitute Divine Brown in Los Angeles, through which Hurley remained by his side. The incident however created even more publicity for Hurley, and Grant's video sales increased by thirty per cent. After their relationship ended in 2000, the two reportedly remained cordial. Hurley's romantic relationship with American billionaire Ted Forstmann is also thought to have begun in 2000. After dating, the two remained friends. She was thought to be romantically linked with Dominick Montemarano when they were seen spending time together. Montemarano was once a capo in the Colombo crime family and was released from prison in 1996 after serving a sentence for racketeering and extortion.

In October 2000, Hurley began a relationship with multi-millionaire American film producer Stephen Bing. In 2001 Hurley revealed that she was pregnant with Bing's child, but the couple had already separated after eighteen months together before the announcement was made. Bing publicly questioned the paternity of the child and disputed Hurley's description of a faithful relationship. On 4 April 2002, Hurley gave birth to a son, Damian Charles Hurley. A DNA test conducted after the child's birth vindicated Hurley, and Bing was proven to be the father after much dispute. Hugh Grant is one of Damian's godfathers. Hurley is thought to have negotiated a $2.1 million deal for the first photos with her son.

According to the Daily Mail in 2004, Hurley has earned £13 million through her career. Elizabeth Hurley maintains three homes: in London; in Ampney Crucis, a village in Gloucestershire; and in Beverly Hills, California. She is also the godmother of Patsy Kensit's son, Lennon Francis Gallagher.

On 2 March 2007, Hurley married Indian businessman Arun Nayar in a secret service at Sudeley Castle, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The couple were due to get married on March 3, 2007, but decided to keep the ceremony private: so they held it one day early but informed no-one except the guests of the change in date. Hurley contracted an exclusive deal with magazine Hello!, thought to be worth £2 to £5 million with the overall cost of the wedding being estimated at a total of £2 million. Many famous celebrities attended the wedding ceremonies and other celebrations. Some included Elton John (who gave her away ), David Furnish, Elle Macpherson, Donatella Versace, Patsy Kensit, Trinny Woodall, Susannah Constantine, Tamara Mellon, Eva Herzigova, Janet Street-Porter, Valentino, Tracey Emin, Prince Pavlos, Marie-Chantal Miller, Tom Ford, Flavio Briatore, Tania Bryer and Leonard Lauder.

The wedding festivities continued in Mumbai, India where they joined a private celebration held at Juhu Beach before moving on to Jodhpur, India. In Jodhpur, they held a private Hindu ceremony held at Umaid Bhawan Palace, where she wore couture sari made especially by her designer friend Donatella Versace. On the eve of the Hindu marriage, the couple held a sangeet, a traditional night of music, at the Nagaur Fort, 90 miles outside the city, where Hurley had her hands and feet decorated with intricate henna designs. Hurley performed the sangeet with close friends Trinny Woodall and Janet Street-Porter. The ceremony followed by private candle-lit reception on March 8 at Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur. The whole fort was decorated with lights for the function. On Hurley and Nayar's arrival outside Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur, a fight broke out between reporters and security guards when reporters tried to block the celebrity couple's Bentley as it entered the venue for a dinner. The journalists and paparazzi then chased the car into the fort, forcing a lockdown.

*Aria (1987) .... Marietta *Rowing with the Wind (1988) .... Claire Clairmont *Act of Will (1989) (TV) .... Christina *Death Has a Bad Reputation (1990) (TV) .... Julia Latham *Kill Cruise (1990) .... Lou *The Orchid House (1991) (TV) .... Natalie *The Long Winter (1992) .... Emma Stapleton *Passenger 57 (1992) .... Sabrina Ritchie *Beyond Bedlam (1993) .... Stephanie Lyell *Sharpe's Enemy (1994) (TV) .... Lady Isabella Farthingdale *The Shamrock Conspiracy (1995) (TV) .... Cecilia Harrison *Mad Dogs and Englishmen (1995) .... Antonia Dyer *Harrison: Cry of the City (1996) (TV) .... Cecilia Harrison *Samson and Delilah (1996) (TV) .... Delilah *Dangerous Ground (1997) .... Karen *Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) .... Vanessa Kensington *Permanent Midnight (1998) .... Sandra *My Favorite Martian (1999) .... Brace Channing *Edtv (1999) .... Jill *Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) .... Vanessa Kensington *The Weight of Water (2000) .... Adaline Gunne *Bedazzled (2000) .... The Devil *Double Whammy (2001) .... Dr. Ann Beamer *Bad Boy (2002) .... Anna Lockheart *Serving Sara (2002) .... Sara Moore *Method (2004) .... Rebecca Fairbanks

* Christabel (1988) .... Christabel Bielenberg * Rumpole of the Bailey (1988) .... Rosie Japhet - Rumpole and the Barrow Boy episode * Inspector Morse (1988) .... Julia - Last Seen Wearing episode * Sharpe (1994) .... Lady Isabella Farthingdale - Sharpe's Enermy

*Estée Lauder, 1995-present. *Elizabeth Hurley Beach, 2005-present. *Monsoon, 2007. *Jordache, Fall/Winter 2006. *MQ Clothiers of Sweden, 2006. *Got Milk?, Spring/Summer 2006. *Patrick Cox, Spring/Summer 2006. *Lancel, 2005-2006. *Liverpool Department Stores of Mexico, 2005. *Saloni, 2004-2005. *Dreams of an angel....Mariah Crown

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*Breast Cancer Research Foundation * * *

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