30 Interesting Things To Know About Victoria Principal – The Fan Favorite Pamela Barnes Ewing From ‘Dallas’

Vicki Ree "Victoria" Principal, an American actress, author and businesswoman, was born in Fukuoka, Japan on January 3, 1950. She came into spotlight with her role as Marie Elena in "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean," but stayed in the hearts of people with her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing in ‘Dallas.’ Here are 30 little known facts about the actress:

1. She became the youngest ever recipient of the Genii Lifetime Achievement Award for Women in Television in the history, when was honored with the award in 1999.
2. Principal was honored by then President Ronald Reagan for her work on behalf of arthritis victims. Her parents, Victor Rocco Principal and Ree (née Veal) Principal suffered from the disease. She also served the Arthritis Foundation as honorary chairman and Ambassador to Government, for over a 12-year period.
3. The National Association of Women Business Owners honored her with the title of "Entertainment Business Woman of the Year" in 1995.
4. When she first moved to Hollywood, to pursue her acting career, she had no money, no agent, no car and no prior experience other than her TV commercials. She supported herself teaching backgammon for nine months after which she hired an agent and auditioned for the role as Marie Elena, in Paul Newman's "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean."
5. Principal is the national chairperson for the Los Angeles-based Victory Over Violence, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending violence against women.
6. In the year 1979, when she was traveling on an airplane, the pilot came over the loudspeaker and threatened her that he would not to land the plane until she revealed "Who Shot J.R.?" which was the biggest twist of her famous show "Dallas."
7. She launched her own line of jewelry named "Keys & Hearts," in January 2011. The jewelry is available on the same site as her skin care line "Principal Secret."
8. She is one of the few Americans accepted into the Ballet program in England's Royal Academy. She spent two years studying Ballet, while her family stationed in England.
9. She refers to her second movie "The Naked Ape," as the worst film of her career. The failure of the movie disappointed her very badly. In promotion of the movie, she even posed nude for Playboy in 1973.
10. With her very first role as Marie Elena in "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean," receiving a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer, Warren Cowan, a prominent American film industry publicist, offered to represent her free of charge for the next year.
11. In the year 1987, she quit "Dallas," and claimed in interviews that she was not satisfied with the show's script and that she has played the role for too long and wanted to move on. However, other sources claimed that she wanted a substantial salary increase, which the show's budget could not afford to pay.
12. She was given the title of "Miss Miami," in the year 1969. Once in an interview she said that she is even comfortable in discussing her age with people, but will never disclose her height to anyone.
13. Her first appearance in the acting career was in TV commercials, when she was just five years old.
14. On May 5, 2009, Principal was accused of pulling a gun on her maid for taking too long walking Principal's shin tze "Mei Ling." In her defense, she claimed the maid was a lunatic, slamming doors, hurting her dog and demanding money and that she pulled the gun and cocked it out of fear. The case was settled with the maid writing a letter of apology to her.
15. Principal is the President and formulator at "Principal Secret", the skin care company that was founded by her in the year 1989. She is also a member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists.
16. From 1975 to 1977, she was very unhappy and was not satisfied with her acting career. She chose to work as an agent for 3 years, even though she had a three-picture deal with Brute Productions.
17. In the late 70's, she became more famous with her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing in the soap opera "Dallas," and even earned Golden Globe Nomination as Best Actress in a Television Series. However, she left "Dallas" after nine years and went on to star in various TV movies, some of which she co-produced.
18. Her first book, "The Body Principal," published in 1983, is the first "Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous" #1 Best Seller to be on The New York Times Best Seller list when the list debuted on January 1, 1984.
19. Initially, she joined the Miami-Dade Community College, after graduating from South Dade Senior High School, to study medicine. However, she had a serious car crash accident due to which she spent several months in recovery before even completing her first year in medicine. With the prospect of having to take first year studies over again, she decided to pursue acting career and moved to New York.
20. Originally, the most popular "Dallas," was intended to be a soap opera vehicle for Principal, as her character Pam would act as a buffer between the Ewings and the Barnses, but due to Larry Hagman's popularity, he became the show's protagonist.
21. Principal was a founding member of the Legacy Park in Malibu in 2004, and was honored at the opening on October 2, 2010, for helping get the 15-acre park off the Pacific Coast Highway off the ground.
22. For the audition of her third movie "Earthquake," in the year 1974, she got her waist-length brown hair cut and dyed black, styled into an afro, in an effort to look more closely like the character of "Rosa." The producer was too impressed and stunned by the risky transformation and offered her the role.
23. During her childhood, her family was constantly in the moving, as her father Victor Rocco Principal was an United States Air Force sergeant. She grew up in London, Puerto Rico, Florida, Massachusetts, and Georgia, among other places and attended nearly 17 different schools.
24. Before landing her film role, she worked as a model in New York as well as Europe. She was also simultaneously auditioning for acting roles in movies like "Goodbye, Columbus."
25. Principal is often referred to as a savvy business woman, as when she signed the contract for her role in "Dallas," she omitted the clause that would give the network the right to consent and profit from her outside endeavors. She explained this in an interview as "I was the only person in the cast who did commercials, who was doing movies of the week, who wrote books and these all belong to me. I retained the control and ownership of my image. No one owns me."
26. She in collaboration with the American Red Cross helped in providing shelter & food for the victims of the 2016 Louisiana floods. She also as worked with the American Humane Association to help rescue animals that were displaced in Louisiana and attempt to reunite them with their owners.
27. After her first movie, she flew to Arizona in a commercial flight as a complete unknown, but when she was back three months later, she was greeted by throngs of paparazzi in the commercial flight she was traveling.
28. She is one of the best selling authors, withe her books about beauty, skin care and health. She has published four books - "The Body Principal," "The Beauty Principal," "The Diet Principal," and "The Living Principal."
29. Principal donated a significant amount to OCEANA and NRDC to stop the expansion of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Ocean on December 13, 2011. She was named as one of the Top 30 Celebrity Charity Donations for 2011 by The Giving Back Fund on December 20, 2011.
30. Principal received an honorary Law Degree from the University of West Los Angeles in 1993. She was also awarded an honorary degree from Drexel University's Business School in 2004.
31. Victoria Principal Net Worth: $250 million