Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was born in San Fernando Valley, California. She began dancing when she was just eight. Van Nuys High School was where she was the senior class president and was the school's chief cheerleader. She graduated in 1980 and entered the college process at Cal State Northridge to major in TV and radio. 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. She was recruited by The Jacksons to choreograph their 1984 "Torture" video, the first of a series of movies and videos she choreographed. After her debut CD "Forever Your Girl" was released, she began singing and was soon a well-known artist and performer. The stint she held as an American Idol judge (2002) has made her an increasingly popular performer/dancer. Her father (Harry Abdul) is Sephardic Jewish and hails from Syria. Her mother is also Jewish and was born in Canada. Her parents have been in Syria, Brazil, and Canada - and this varied background has resulted in wildly diverse stories in the media about her nationality and/or religion. The daughter is Harry Abdul, a former Brazilian livestock trader, and Lorainne Abdul, who was the former assistant to Billy Wilder in film direction. She's been singing and dancing since she was just seven years old, while on the road in America. She also learned tap dancing and earned her a scholarship to a tap dancing school. She was a student at Cal State-Northridge College where she studied Broadcast radio. She applied to become a cheerleader on the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Basketball Cheerleading team.