Happy 45th Birthday, Pamela Anderson! Pictures from Pam’s Past and Present

Aw! It's Pamela Anderson's baby picture! Clearly this kid was not camera-shy, even way back when. Pam was born in Canada, specifically Ladysmith, British Columbia. We like that name. It suits her.

Pam in high school! While it would seem that she wasn't blond back then, we'd recognize that smile anywhere. Pam would be approximately 16 years old in this photo from 1983. (We did the math. We're really smart.) She's clearly a cutie, but we're going to go out on a limb and say that she didn't fully blossom into the stunner we've all grown to love until she was a little bit older.

Pamela Anderson's career began in 1989 when she went to a Canadian Football League game and wound up on the big screen, wearing a Labatt's beer T-shirt. The crowd went wild, so her boyfriend made this poster of Pam as The Blue Zone Girl. Within months she was on the cover of Playboy. It's good to be good-looking.

After being discovered at a CFL game (thank you, Canadian Football! Never thought you'd hear those words in the same sentence, did you?), Pamela Denise Anderson quickly made the cover of Playboy in October 1989. Shockingly, she was a hit with readers. Heh. We said “readers.” We amuse ourselves sometimes. This is the first of many times Pam has graced the cover of Hugh Hefner's legendary magazine for men. Men who like to read. Lots of reading going on.

Scott Baio always had an eye for the ladies, and he wasn't going to pass on a chance to have Pam on his TV show, Charles in Charge. Here is a clip of her guest appearance from 1990. Gosh, how could Scott have thought she'd be good on camera when she had so little experience? Clearly the man is a casting genius.

Home Improvement was a monster TV hit, the kind of show that will likely never be seen again. Not that there aren't still sitcoms on the air. But with the fragmentation of the media landscape, it's unlikely that there will be another series with such mass appeal and ratings to match. But enough professorial pop-culture pontification! Pam was one of the Tool Time girls; here's a clip.

Barb Wire (1996) was not a huge box office hit. Which is surprising because it sounds like fun. The film, based on a comic book, is set in 2017 after “the second American Civil War,” and Pam plays the title role, a “new kind of mercenary.” Honestly, considering the fact that comic book movies are dominating the box office these days (Avengers, anyone?), perhaps this flick was ahead of its time. Or maybe not. You can decide for yourself; the whole thing is online here. Not safe for work.

Ah, Baywatch. There's nothing quite like a show that isn't ashamed to be exactly what it is. And what is that, exactly? An excuse to show women in bikinis slathering on sunscreen and running in slow motion. They're lifeguards! They have to wear bikinis! And they have to run because they're trying to save people! Oh, like you care. Here is a YouTube montage of Casey Jean “C.J.” Parker, played by none other than Miss Pamela Anderson. Plot? What plot?

Pam and Tommy only knew each other for a couple of days before they tied the knot in 1995. They had two children, got divorced, and have gotten back together more than once. To be honest, we tried to figure out the full story of their relationship, but the Interwebs were uncooperative. We can confirm that they were married, have kids together, and have reconciled more than once. Besides, it's really none of our business. They're both superstars. They lead complex lives.

Oh, boy. How can we write about Pam and Tommy Lee's sex tape without being, you know, inappropriate? Well, let's assume that you are aware of most of the details, or at least enough of them so that we don't need to mention certain things. (To be fair, the words “sex tape” are something of a spoiler.) When this tape was leaked, it basically broke the Internet. Everybody wanted to see it. Pam and Tommy initially sued in an attempt to put the genie back in the bottle, but eventually they reached a “confidential settlement” with the generically named Internet Entertainment Group. It is generally believed that the Lees share in the money made from their previously private video.

It's official—V.I.P. is the greatest television show of all time. What's that you say? You disagree? But it starred Pamela Anderson, Molly Culver, and Natalie Raitano, three insanely gorgeous women who guard celebrities and solve crimes! As a bonus, Dustin Nguyen of the original 21 Jump Street had a recurring role! Okay, maybe the show was a little silly. Still, it was fun. Pam was (and is) gorgeous and highly entertaining to watch, which helped the series to stay on the air for four seasons. Check out the intro.

In addition to her working life, Pam is a devoted mother to her boys Brandon and Dylan. Their dad is Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. Here they are in 2003 enjoying a ball game. Honestly, if not for the fact that she's Pamela Anderson and he's Tommy Lee, they could be any family having a nice night out. But then we probably wouldn't be writing about them.

Pam has had a complex relationship with Kid Rock. They were on, they were off, they were married, they were divorced. She appeared in a couple of Kid's videos—“Forever” and “You Never Met a *** Quite Like Me.” Note: When we say “***,” that means it's a word we don't like to use on a family website. Kid Rock is less restrained, so don't watch the video at work, unless you work someplace where they don't frown upon such things.

In Borat (2006), Sacha Baron Cohen's kooky Kazakhstani journalist is obsessed with the lovely Miss Anderson. Nothing wrong with that. There is, however, something seriously wrong with Borat. Several things, actually. Miss Anderson gamely played herself in Cohen's 2006 mockumentary.

Dancing with the Stars is rapidly becoming a place where anyone with any amount of fame can drop in and remind the world of their existence. In Pam's case, we were reminded of her attractiveness and extremely likable personality. Here she is with dance partner Damian Whitewood doing the sexiest cha-cha you will ever see. She didn't win the contest, but she did win our heart. Again.