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Elizabeth Hurley Biography

Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English model and former actress who gained fame as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant.[1] The highlight of Hurley's professional life has been her association with the cosmetics company Estée Lauder, which gave Hurley her first modeling job at the age of 29[2] and has used her as a model for Estee Lauder cosmetics since 1995.

Hurley was born as a middle child in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, the daughter of Angela and Reg Hurley.[4] Her father was an Irish-Catholic major in the British Army, while her mother was a schoolteacher at Kempshott Infant School.[4] Her older sister Debbie is a literary agent and younger brother Michael works as an engineer.

Hurley took ballet classes as a child. She was educated at local schools, including the Kempshott Infant School and Kempshott Junior School, and later the Harriet Costello School, now known as Costello Technology College. She later studied dance and theater at the London Studio Centre.

While in her teens and before she was in the public eye, she became involved with punk fashion, dying her hair pink and piercing her nose.[6] She associated with New Age Travellers, who sat under The Buttercross monument and the grounds of the Cathedral in Winchester, near Hurley's home.

In 1987, while working on a Spanish production called Remando Al Viento, when she was an obscure actress, Hurley met actor Hugh Grant and they started a long romantic relationship. In 1994, Grant's film Four Weddings and a Funeral was an international box office success and Grant became an overnight global star, garnering the focus of much media attention.[7] Hurley attended the premiere of Grant's film in a black plunging Versace dress held together with gold safety pins, due to which she was widely photographed at the event. This appearance propelled her to recognition in the modeling world, especially catching the attention of the cosmetics company Estée Lauder.

The Versace dress Hurley wore was, for a while, referred in popular media simply as "that dress".[8] For a long time, Hurley was chiefly recognized as Hugh Grant's girlfriend before they separated in 2000.[9] The Guardian has reported that she was "then known as 'Hugh Grant's girlfriend', now known as 'Hugh Grant's former girlfriend'."[1] The All Movie Guide described her as "one of the world's most famous arm ornaments, model, and sometimes-actress," with the first being a reference to her red-carpet appearances accompanying Grant to his film premieres and other social functions while they were a couple.[5] Though coming to prominence for her personal life, Hurley has since ventured into, both successfully and unsuccessfully: Hollywood film roles, modelling projects, television reality shows, and beachwear designing.