Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born in San Fernando Valley, California. When she was eight years of age, she began dance lessons. She went to Van Nuys High School, where she was senior class president and head cheerleader. She graduated from high school in the year 1980. After graduating, she began the college process at Cal State Northridge. There she studied 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 hired her to choreograph their 1984 video "Torture" which was the first in a lengthy line of movies and videos she would choreograph. Following her debut album "Forever Your Girl" started singing, she turned to singing and was soon a well-known performer and dancer. Her stint as an American Idol judge (2002) has helped her become an increasingly popular performer/dancer. Her father (Harry Abdul) is of Sephardic Jewish background from Syria. Her mother is Jewish and was born in Canada. Her parents have lived in Syria, Brazil, and Canada - and this varied background has resulted in wildly diverse stories in the media about her nationality and/or religion. Born in Hollywood, California to Harry Abdul (another livestock trader from Brazil) & Lorainne Abdul (former assistant to film director Billy Wilder), she grew up. Since the age of seven, she sung and danced with community musical theatre groups as she traveled across America. She took tap dance lessons and she was awarded a scholarship for tap dancing classes. In the future, she attended Cal State-Northridge College where she earned a degree in Broadcast radio. She was a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA cheerleading team. This led to her getting paid $50 per match during her freshman year.