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Short Biography

Paulina Porizkova (born April 9, 1965) is a Czech-born American model and actress. Born in Prostějov, Czechoslovakia, she was still a toddler when her father and mother left Czechoslovakia, fleeing the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and moved to Lund in southern Sweden. They left Paulina under the care of her grandmother, believing that their daughter could be brought out later.

However, the Czechoslovakian authorities would not allow this, and the ensuing battle for Porizkova was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause c?l?bre. After a failed rescue attempt, in which her mother was detained by the national police, international political pressure led by Olof Palme caused the communist government to allow the Pořizkov? family to be reunited after seven years. The reunion was soon ended when the husband left, and the couple filed for divorce. Father and daughter have been estranged since. This left Porizkova`s mother to fund her own medical education and Porizkova and her brother Jachym (who was born in Czechoslovakia during her mother`s house arrest) to look after themselves, including having to steal bread to have something to eat. Porizkova hated her time in Sweden, as she was harassed by her peers for her poverty-stricken political refugee status. A photographer friend took pictures of Porizkova and sent them to the Elite modeling agency in 1980. At 5 feet 10 1/2 inches (180 cm), she was the perfect height for a fashion model. Elite head John Casablancas noticed Porizkova`s attractiveness and potential, and offered her a ticket to Paris. It was an extremely tempting offer for a teenager who was eager to get out of Sweden and to support herself.

On August 23, 1989, Porizkova married Ric Ocasek, lead singer for the rock band The Cars. They had first met in 1984 during the filming of The Cars` music video, "Drive", which was directed by Timothy Hutton. Porizkova was only 19 and Ocasek was already married at that time. The couple have two children, Jonathan Raven Ocasek, born on November 4, 1993, and Oliver Orion Ocasek, born in May 23, 1998. Later, Porizkova was the subject of the song "Friends of P" by The Rentals on their 1995 album Return of the Rentals, written by lead singer Matt Sharp, also a former member of the Ocasek-produced Weezer and the song "Paulina" on No Doubt`s first album. Paulina became a naturalized U.S. citizen under the name Paulina Porizkova-Ocasek.