Victoria Principal

Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950), later known as Victoria Principal, is an American actress, producer, entrepreneur, and author, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the American primetime television soap opera Dallas. 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 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). In the 2000s, she wrote a fourth book, Living Principal (2001). She is also a two-time Golden Globe Award nominee.

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.

Because her father was in the U.S. military, the family moved often. She grew up in London, Puerto Rico, Florida, Massachusetts, and Warner Robins, 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.

Principal 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. 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, 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 Brut 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. 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. It will be a surprise." And it certainly was a surprise - I showed up with me! I sent myself in for it!" Principal landed the role of Pamela Barnes Ewing on the long-running prime time TV soap opera Dallas that aired on the CBS network from 1978 to 1991. Principal explained to People in 2018, "When I went in for the part on Dallas, I had already fallen in love with the show and with the part. So my feeling from the moment I read it was that it was incredibly special and that I really, really wanted to be a part of it. I could not imagine not being Pam." As Principal told TV Insider in 2018, "I believed that Dallas would be a hit from the moment I read it. In fact, I turned down a major role that would have conflicted with Dallas in the belief that I would be offered the role of Pam. So that happened!"

When asked about the benefits of her entrepreneurial success — her skincare empire, best-selling author, television and film producer — Principal stated to The Huffington Post in 2012, that it is "Working for myself and being willing to take all of the blame when things go wrong and happy to take the credit when I get it right."

After Principal left the Dallas TV series in 1987, she began her own production company, Victoria Principal Productions, producing mostly television films. Principal went on to star in various television films, some of which she produced through her production company, before stepping away to focus on her health and wellness projects. She has produced and starred in a half dozen major television productions, including Naked Lie (1989), Blind Witness (1989), and Sparks: The Price of Passion (1990).

In the mid-1980s, Principal became interested in natural-beauty therapies, and in 1989, she created a self-named line of skincare products, Principal Secret. Over the past 25 years, Principal has built her skincare empire. In 2000, Principal became a member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCC). The SCC is dedicated to the advancement of cosmetic science, and strives to increase and disseminate scientific information through meetings and publications. In January 2011, she launched a line of jewelry called Keys & Hearts available on the same site as her skincare line.

In August 2013, the CEO of Guthy Renker revealed to Women's Wear Daily that Principal's business, Principal Secret Skincare, had revenue of more than $1.5 billion to date, an increase of more than a half-billion dollars over the revenue up to 2007.

As Principal told TV Insider in 2018, "I continue to be passionately dedicated to running my skincare company, Principal Secret. We are about to celebrate 27 years in business. And I have never forgotten that Dallas gave me the springboard to achieve so many of my dreams.".

In the 1980s, 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). In the 2000s, she wrote a fourth book Living Principal (2001). After 12 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list in the general non-fiction category, The Body Principal was the first "Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous" No. 1 bestseller when that List debuted January 1, 1984.

Principal is a two-time Golden Globe Award nominee: 1973, nominee for Most Promising Newcomer — Female: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean; and 1983, nominee for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama: Dallas.

In 1981 and 1982, Principal was the recipient of the "Bravo Otto" Award, a German accolade honoring excellence of performers in film, television, and music. She was also a nominee for the award in 1983.

In 1993, Principal received an honorary law degree from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law.

In 1995, Principal was named Entertainment Business Woman of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners.

In 1999, Principal became the youngest recipient of the Genii Lifetime Achievement Award for Women in Television.

Principal has been married and divorced twice, and has no children. During the filming of The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), she dated actor Anthony Perkins, who lost his virginity to her. In the mid-1970s, she also dated filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

Her first marriage was to writer-producer Christopher Skinner, whom she met in 1978 when he played a bit acting part on Dallas. The couple wed soon after beginning their relationship. They filed for divorce two years later in 1980; it was finalized in 1981.

Principal told The Huffington Post in 2012, "My deepest concern is for the planet and every living thing on it. Without a healthy planet, education won't matter, hunger won't matter, and science won't matter because we will not survive. Unless we rectify the damage we have done to our land and our oceans, then I truly believe, the planet will reclaim itself.

In 2006, Principal formed a charitable organization, the Victoria Principal Foundation For Thoughtful Existence, to help subsidize the environmental movement, of which she had been an active participant since 1978. The impetus of the foundation is to help financially support the planet and life upon it. Principal is particularly involved with ecology, oceans, banning toxic substances, helping children, and rescuing and rehabilitating animals. She provided aid those in need after the 2008 California wildfires. On June 2, 2010, she donated $200,000 to the cleanup effort in the Gulf Coast region. Her donations brought together two huge environmental nonprofits, Oceana and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), to work together on the cleanup.

Principal appeared with other celebrities on June 21, 2010, in a CNN Larry King–sponsored telethon to support the Gulf Coast region following the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Principal was on a panel with King, answered phones, and spoke to donors for the entire two hours. The telethon raised over $1.8 million.

Principal is a former co-chairman of Victory Over Violence, the LA County Domestic Violence Council Community Advisory Board. The board is a coalition of representatives from the entertainment industry, business, government, and community who have come together with the dual purposes of increasing public awareness of issues surrounding domestic violence and increasing shelter and victim resources.

On December 13, 2011, Principal donated a substantial sum to the nonprofit marine conservation organization Oceana, and to NRDC to stop the expansion of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean, fearing such activity could lead to another disastrous oil spill. On December 20, 2011, the Giving Back Fund named Principal as one of the Top 30 Celebrity Charity Donors for 2011.