Pamela Anderson Net Worth

Pamela Anderson is an actress, model, author, and animal rights activist. She’s best known for her work on Baywatch from 1992 through 1997, where she starred in more than 100 episodes. Since the start of her career, she’s graced the screen in over 55 films and television series. 

However, Pamela Anderson’s net worth comes from more than just her acting career.  Her work as a producer, author, and model also impact her net worth. Read on to discover her most successful projects and follow her career from its start until now.

Early Life

Pamela Denise Anderson was born on July 1, 1967, in Ladysmith, British Columbia, in Vancouver. Anderson also happened to be born on the 100th anniversary of Canada’s official founding and received attention because she was a “Centennial Baby.” Her father, Barry, worked as a furnace repairman, and her mother, Carol, was a waitress.

Anderson’s childhood was incredibly traumatic. She was sexually abused by a female babysitter when she was six years old until she was 10. Two years later, when Anderson was 12 years old, she was raped by a 25-year-old man. When she was 14, Anderson’s then-boyfriend and six friends gang-raped her.

In high school, Anderson played volleyball and graduated in 1985. Anderson moved to Vancouver in 1998 to work as a fitness instructor as she pursued a modeling career. Her first modeling gig was for a Canadian beer brand, Labatt Beer. It was at this time that Anderson was thinking about becoming a Playboy Playmate, which was where she got her start at fame and her career.

Anderson made the cover of the October 1989 issue of Playboy. In February 1990, she was chosen as Playmate of the Month and appeared on the centerfold layout. Throughout her career with Playboy, Anderson had the most Playboy covers.

Acting Career

By the early 1990s, Pamela Anderson’s Playboy career also allowed her to pursue acting. Anderson had a number of guest-starring roles in sitcoms by this time. Anderson played Lisa the Tool Time Girl on Home Improvement from 1991 to 1993. She also scored the lead role in the 1996 film Barb Wire but won a Razzie Award for Worst New Star for the role.

In 1997, Anderson also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live. From 1998 to 2002, she starred in the TV series VIP. From 2005 to 2006, Anderson appeared in another TV series, Stacked. Also in 2006, Anderson made an appearance in Sascha Baron Cohen’s Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. In the movie, Anderson played herself at a book signing near the end.

Baywatch

The show that would launch Anderson to stardom was the lifeguard drama Baywatch. Anderson played Los Angeles lifeguard CJ Parker on the show when it premiered in 1992. The series ran from 1992 to 1997 with 241 episodes.

In the first season of Baywatch, Anderson was paid $1,500 per episode. As Season 1 had 22 episodes, Anderson earned an overall $33,000. At the peak of Baywatch’s run, Anderson earned $300,000 per episode, overall getting around $6.6 million per season. Today, that amount would be $12 million per season.

Recent Projects

In 2010, Pamela Anderson appeared in the fourth season of the Indian version of Big Brother, called Big Boss. During her three days in the house, Anderson was reportedly paid $550,000. She would go on to appear in the UK, Bulgarian, and German versions of Big Brother in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Also in 2010, Anderson joined the Dancing with the Stars franchise, entering during the 10th season of the US version.

Anderson was paired with Damian Whitewood on the show but was eliminated after seven weeks. She would appear on the show’s All-Star edition in 2012 but was cut in the first week. Anderson also participated in the Argentinian and French versions of Dancing with the Stars, as well as the UK’s Dancing on Ice.

By 2017, Anderson was on the series Sur-Vie and also made a cameo in the Baywatch movie. In 2023, she partnered with Netflix on a documentary about her life: Pamela, A Love Story.

Other Ventures

In addition to modeling and acting, Pamela Anderson has also written four autobiographical books and two novels. Anderson released “Star: A Novel” in 2004, “Star Struck: A Novel” in 2005, and her poetry collection “Patches of Life” also in 2005. She also contributed to the 2011 book Paul Ricoeur: Honoring and Continuing the Work.

The Baywatch alum also co-wrote “Connect and Transform: Simple Everyday Changes for Spectacular Health” with John Pierre and released in 2015. In the same year, she also released “Raw,” in 2015 and “Lust for Love: Rekindling Intimacy and Passion in Your Relationship” in 2018. In 2023, Anderson released “Love, Pamela.”

Anderson is also an animal rights activist, supporting PETA’s cause, and is a practicing vegan. She also served on the association’s board and chaired the board of the International Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Anderson has also operated the Pamela Anderson Foundation for nearly 30 years.

She also has an eye for real estate. In 2000, Anderson bought her Malibu property for $1.8 million. She tore down the previous home and built a new one, spending $8 million on renovations. By March 2013, Anderson listed the home for sale for under $8 million.

Being unsuccessful in finding a buyer, Anderson instead put the home for rent for up to $50,000 a month during the peak season. Fortunately, Anderson eventually found a long-term renter who paid $40,000 a month, and on March 4, 2021, she listed the house for sale again for $14.9 million. In August of the same year, the house was finally sold for $11.8 million and Anderson moved back to Canada where she now resides permanently.

Pamela Anderson Lee & Tommy Lee

On February 19, 1995, Pamela Anderson married Tommy Lee, the drummer of Motley Crue. At the time, the couple had only been dating for four months. Her mother learned about her marriage through People magazine. Throughout her marriage to Lee, Anderson was known professionally as Pamela Anderson Lee, and the couple gained infamy through a sex tape.

Anderson and Lee share two sons, Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee. During their tumultuous marriage, Lee was arrested after assaulting Anderson and sentenced to six months in the Los Angeles County Jail for spousal abuse. The pair divorced in 1998.

Life After Tommy Lee

After her divorce from Tommy Lee, Anderson got engaged to model Marcus Shenkenberg. They called it quits in 2001. She would get engaged to Kid Rock but broke up in 2003. However, the two reconciled when they married on a yacht near Saint Tropez in late July 2006. Their marriage didn’t last long either as in November of the same year, Anderson filed for divorce from Kid Rock.

It was in February 2007 that Anderson revealed she and her ex Tommy Lee still had sex frequently even after divorcing. By June 2008, Lee said that they were trying to make things work together.

On October 6, 2007, Anderson married film producer Rick Salomon but separated after two months of marriage. By February 22, 2008, Anderson filed for an annulment. However, six years later in 2014, Anderson revealed that they remarried but filed for divorce from Salomon again one year later. In a March 2015 divorce filing, Salomon claimed that their case should be moved to Nevada as he resided there.

But Anderson claimed that Salomon’s residency in Nevada was a sham and that he actually lived in her Malibu house.

Pamela Anderson’s Net Worth in 2023

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Pamela Anderson’s net worth is estimated at $20 million as of 2023. This number mainly comes from her career as a Playboy Playmate and her stint on Baywatch. But her work as a model and her real estate investments also impact that number.

Fans of Anderson can look forward to seeing her next in the documentary, Chuck Zito: An American Story. Anderson also has a project in development, she’s in the treatment phase of Pamela Anderson’s Home Reno Project, a series that would follow her renovating her late grandmother’s abandoned home. IMDBPro lists this project as last being updated on June 29, 2021, so it’s unclear the current. status of that project.