Top 20 Celebrities of Hollywood
 

Compiled by Panchamee Hewavissenti

1. Paris Hilton
2. Tracey Edmonds
3. Angelina Jolie
4. Britney Spears
5. Tom Hants
6. Kristen Hager
7. Elisha Cuthbert
8. Lauren Graham
9. Tab Thacker
10. Cash Warren
11. Cydney Bernard
12. Katie Holms
13. Vivica A. Fox
14. Nicole Richie
15. Jennifer Aniston
16. Lindsay Lohan
17. Johnny Depp
18. Rachel Mc Adams
19. Ahna Nicole Smith
20. Jurnee Smollett

Paris Hilton

Born in New York City, on February 17, 1981, Paris Whitney Hilton was the first of four children born to Richard Hilton and Kathy Richards.

She spent most of her youth growing up in the world famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, which her grandfather, Conrad, had bought during the Great Depression. Hiltons has three siblings including a sister, Nicky Hilton, and two brothers, Barron Hilton II and Conrad Hilton III.

The greatgranddaughter of famed hotelier Conrad Hilton and co-heir to the Hilton fortune, socialite Paris Hilton stridently endeavoured to make her own mark in the world and for that most part succeeded. Alongside her younger sister, Nicky, Paris Hilton became one of the first media dubbed "Celebutantes" a girl socialites turned models or actresses and quasi celebs.

Upon graduating high school in 2000, the heiress immediately embarked on her quest for fame, first by modelling for such famed fashion designers as Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Bouwer and Catherine Malandrin.

Then, as a cover girl for numerous magazines, including GQ, Vanity Fair and FHM. An instant hit with the paparazzi, though largely unknown outside of New York City and Los Angelese, Hilton received generous media attention for her love life. At the turn of the new millennium, the press romantically linked her to "Titanic" (1997) star, Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as such other eligible young celebs as actor Edward Furlong, boxing champ Oscar de la Hoya, and, Tommy Hilfiger model, Jason Shaw.

Teamed with her tamer by comparison sister, Nicky, Hilton pioneered a career for herself as a professional socialite. Bouncing from party to party, she generated an impressive amount of publicity, thanks to her dazzling wardrobe and well planned photo ops.

Inevitably, her high profile and constant close proximity to celebrities made her one in her own right. To complement her newfound stardom, Hilton also adopted a flashy though not always flattering public persona as the ultimate "spoilt rich girl." Her penchant for self absorption and arrogance made for sensational tabloid headlines.

Fashion statements, constant cell phone usage and penchant for dancing atop nightclub tables eventually opened the doors to an actual acting career.

Usually cast as herself or someone very similar, Hilton made her film debut in "Zoolander" (2000), a Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson comedy about male fashion modelling.

Hilton's next cameo was in "Wonderland" (2003), a noir like drama about a down and out John C. Holmes, the ex porn star who was caught up in a late 1970's multiple murder case involving his former drug dealers.

Another cameo was tacked on her resume when Hilton played a club goer in the big budget kiddy flick, "The Cat in the Hat" (2003) starring Mike Myers.

It was on television, however, that Hilton gained national recognition as the star of "The Simple Life" (Fox, 2003), a candid reality show which followed Hilton and life long friend, Nicole Richie (daughter of pop singer Lionel Richie), in a series of unscripted misadventures.

In the first season, Hilton and Richie ditched the glamorous Manhattan social scene and were relocated to an Arkansas farm, where they were forced to bail hay and milk cows.

Seeing Hilton and Richie out of their element as they struggled to survive their discomfort provided the basis for much of the show's comedy. To be fair, the premiere of "The Simple Life" received a huge ratings boost for one reason and one reason only a certain VHS captured sex romp that at first, may have haunted Hilton, but ultimately made her a household name almost overnight.

In 2005, Hilton appeared in her first major film role as an insecure, possibly pregnant student named Paige in the warmed over horror remake, "House of Wax". While the film was panned by most critics, a few actually singled out Hilton's performance as being the single most entertaining component of the film.

At the same time, Hilton announced that her friendship with Nicole Richie had been halted after several seasons of "The Simple Life." Rumors abounded for months as to what this announcement would mean for their still popular reality show.

However, after several months of speculation, Fox announced that both heiresses would return for a new season, together, no less. Despite this announcement, Fox later decided to dump the show from its 2005-06 schedule. After shopping the series around to other networks, E! Entertainment finally agreed to pick up "The Simple Life" for a fourth season.

Hilton next stoked controversy with a 2005 TV spot for Carl's Jr.'s Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger. Clad only in a plunging black bathing suit and stiletto heels, the ad consisted of Hilton seductively washing a Bentley while eating a burger, amid the strains of Cole Porter's "I Love Paris" playing in the background.

Obviously and obtrusively sexual, the ad drew instant criticism most vocally from the Los Angeles based Parents Television Council, which called it little more than "soft core porn".

Hilton's chaotic personal life continued to grab her headlines. In 2005, Hilton split from her fiance, Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis, after a four month engagement. Within weeks, she was involved with another Greek shipping heir, Stavros Niarchos. Away from the cameras, Hilton also got a good deal of publicity for her real life run ins with the law.

In September 2006, Hilton was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after blowing a .08 blood alcohol level on a sobriety test. Pleading no contest to the charge, Hilton was fined $ 1,500 and was placed on 36 months of probation.

Clearly not one to learn her lesson without a fight, however, Hilton would regrettably tempt the fates - a mistake she would come to sorely regret, approximately six months later. In March 2007, Hilton violated her probation by being busted once again.

This time for a myriad of violations including speeding, driving with a suspended licence, and failing to enrol in a court ordered alcohol education program. Sentenced to 45 days in jail, Hilton promptly filed an appeal, claiming that the sentence was unnecessarily harsh.

As expected by this time, Hilton got little sympathy from the court nor the public which had grown increasingly disabuse with her spoilt behaviour. In fact, duelling petitions competed on the web, with many people on the "Free Paris" bandwagon, but not surprisingly, even more people eager, nay, happy, even to see the pampered socialite enter the big house.

On May 9, 2007, just days after she had been sentenced, Hilton issued a public statement through her attorney, Richard Hutton. Sounding noticeably more apologetic than she had ever been before, Hilton accepted the responsibility and consequences of her actions.

Ending with a plea for understanding and fairness, Hilton closed her statement with the following: "No one is above the law. I surely am not. I do not expect to be treated better than anyone else who violated probation. However, my hope is that I will not be treated worse."

After attending the MTV Movie Awards on June 3, Hilton voluntarily turned herself into police two days early to begin her sentence at a women's prison in Lynwood, CA.

However, much to the dismay of almost every American hoping for a full 45 day sentence served, Hilton was released by Sheriff Lee Bacca to ride out the rest of her sentence at home, wearing an electrical monitoring device.

The reason cited, being an undisclosed medical condition. An outraged Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer who had specifically sentenced her to serve her time without the option of house detention ordered her back to court on June 8.

Much to the dismay of Hilton and her family in attendance in the courtroom. Judge Sauer demanded she return to Lynwood to finish the remainder of her term, which had already been technically reduced to 23 days.

Hilton was reportedly taken away, screaming "It's not right!" and crying out for her mother. This reversal of fortune became instant headline news around the world, as did her eventual release from prison on June 26. Looking pretty as a picture, the heiress walked out of the facility, past mass of photos to hug her parents, who waited for her in the car.

Declaring herself a "changed woman," Paris gave her first print interview to People magazine and her first television interview to "Larry King Live" in which she declared she had learned her lesson, did not like the food, and that her mysterious and often speculated about ailments while locked up were extreme claustrophobia and ADD.

Profession(s): actress, model

Tracey Edmonds

Hollywood actor Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds have married in a New Year's day ceremony.

The couple wed in a private island off Bora Bora in French Polynesia. They have invited their very close friends to the occasion on Tuesday, a spokesman has confirmed to people.com.

Murphy, 40, wore a cream suit and a vest with an off white handkerchief while Edmonds, 40 walked barefoot down the aisle to Gladis Knight's hit track "Making of you".

The couple who's been dating since fall 2006, wed under a gavebo on a special man made beach put up of 6,000 shells. After the ceremony, knight gave each of her bridesmaids gold and diamond earrings, while Murphy gave his groomsmen designer watches.

It's the second marriage each for the couple. Murphy divorced Nicole Mitchell in April 2006, while Edmands ended her marriage to music mogul Kenneth "baby face" Edmonds in October 2005.