Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born in San Fernando Valley, California. She started dancing when she was eight. Van Nuys High School was where she was the class president and the chief cheerleader. When she graduated in 1980, she started college at Cal State Northridge, with a major in radio and TV. After joining the L.A. Lakers cheerleaders, she became head cheerleader/choreographer after only a few months, eventually dropping out of college to dance and choreograph full-time. The Jacksons recruited her to choreograph the 1984 "Torture" video, which was the first of many videos and movies she choreographed. After her debut CD "Forever Your Girl" started singing, she turned to singing and soon became a well-known singer/dancer. The stint she held as an American Idol judge (2002) has made her a more popular performer/dancer. Her father (Harry Abdul) is from a Sephardic Jewish background from Syria. Her mother is also Jewish and was born in Canada. Her parents have lived in Syria, Brazil, and Canada - and this varied background has led to different stories in the press about her ethnicity or religion. She is the daughter of Harry Abdul, a former Brazilian livestock trader and Lorainne Abdul, a former assistant to Billy Wilder in film direction. From the age of seven she sang and danced in musical theatre groups that traveled around America. She also took tap dancing classes and earned her a scholarship to a tap dancing school. Later in her life she attended Cal State-Northridge College where she pursued a degree in Broadcast radio. She auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA cheerleading team. This led to her earning $50 per game during her freshman year.