Pamela Anderson's Real Name: Pamela Denise Anderson

Quick answer: Pamela Anderson's full name is Pamela Denise Anderson. She was born on July 1, 1967, in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, and works under her real name. She became famous as lifeguard C.J. Parker on Baywatch (1992–97). Decades later she earned a Golden Globe nomination for The Last Showgirl (2024) and starred in The Naked Gun (2025) (Britannica; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

Britannica's quick facts give her name in full as Pamela Denise Anderson and describe her as a Canadian-born American model and actor. The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Anderson, Pamela, 1967-," with the variant "Lee, Pamela Anderson, 1967-." That is the name she used during her marriage to drummer Tommy Lee, and a LOC note records that marriage in February 1995. LOC confirms her birth date and Ladysmith birthplace.

Britannica says she grew up in a working-class family in a small town on Vancouver Island. In 2014 she revealed that she had suffered extensive sexual abuse as a child and teenager. She graduated from high school in 1985 and moved to Vancouver in 1988, working as a fitness instructor. At a Canadian Football League game, a camera operator put her, in a Labatt's T-shirt, on the stadium video board. Labatt's then hired her as a model in 1989, which led to the cover of Playboy's October 1989 issue.

Career highlights

Anderson moved to Los Angeles, and Britannica says she appeared on Playboy's cover more often than anyone else. She was the "Tool Time Girl" on Home Improvement (1991) and joined Baywatch in 1992, quickly becoming the most popular of its cast. She also starred in Barb Wire (1996), V.I.P. (1998–2002), and Stacked (2005–06), and played herself in Borat (2006).

She married Tommy Lee in 1994. In 1995 a private videotape was stolen from their home and widely distributed, overshadowing her career for years. They divorced in 1998 after Lee was jailed for spousal abuse. In 2022 the series Pam & Tommy dramatized the episode. With her sons' support, she took control of her story with the memoir Love, Pamela (2023) and the documentary Pamela: A Love Story (2023).

She played Roxie Hart in Broadway's Chicago in 2022. Her role as a Las Vegas dancer in The Last Showgirl drew praise and a Golden Globe nomination. She has campaigned for animal rights with PETA and published the novels Star (2004) and Star Struck (2005). In 2023 she made headlines by giving up makeup.

Name notes for searchers

Denise is her middle name, and Anderson is her birth surname. She used "Pamela Anderson Lee" during her marriage to Tommy Lee; LOC keeps it as a variant. She has since returned to Pamela Anderson.