Biography of Elizabeth Jane Hurley
 Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English model and actress who
became known as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant in the 1990s. Born in Basingstoke,
Hurley was a struggling actress in 1987, when she met Grant while working on a
Spanish production called Remando Al Viento. In 1994, Grant became the focus of
worldwide media attention due to the global box office success of his film Four
Weddings and a Funeral. Hurley accompanied him to the film's London premiere and
was noted for wearing a plunging black Versace dress held together with gold safety
pins. According to The Guardian, Hurley was "then known as 'Hugh Grant's
girlfriend,' now known as 'Hugh Grant's former girlfriend,'" due to their
high-profile romantic relationship that ended in 2000.
The highlight of Hurley's professional life has been her association with the
cosmetics company Estée Lauder. The company gave Hurley her first modeling
job at the age of 29 and has used her as a model for its products, especially
perfumes such as Sensuous, Intuition, and Pleasures, since 1995. Her best known
cinematic work was as Vanessa Kensington in Mike Myers' hit spy comedies, Austin
Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged
Me (1999). Hurley currently models and designs an eponymous beachwear line.
In 2002, Hurley had a son.
Hurley was born as a middle child in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, the daughter
of Angela and Roy Hurley. Her Irish father was a major in the British Army, while
her Anglican mother was a teacher at Kempshott Infant School. She has an older
sister Katie and a younger brother Michael. Hurley was educated at local schools
including Kempshott Infant School, Kempshott Junior School, and the Harriet Costello
School. Aspiring to be a dancer as a young girl, she took ballet classes and later
briefly studied dance and theater at the London Studio Centre. While in her teens,
she became involved with punk fashion, dying her hair pink and piercing her nose."When
I was 16 - this was about 1981, 1982 - the thing to be in Basingstoke, the suburb
I grew up in, was punk," she explained. She also reportedly associated with
the New Age Travellers in her youth.Full name: Elizabeth Jane Hurley
Born: June 10, 1965
Birthplace: Basingstoke, Hampshire, England
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