Dallas
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$250 Million
“I believe that how you feel is very important to how you look - that healthy equals beautiful.” If so, then Principal must be feeling very healthy indeed. Possessing an elegance that transcends time and a beauty impervious to age, her accomplishments are as impressive as they are numerous.
Primarily known to audiences for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the groundbreaking soap opera Dallas (1978-1991), Principal acted in numerous films and television shows before leaving the spotlight behind to focus on her growing skincare business and philanthropic efforts. In the process, she built that business into an empire while adding bestselling author, jewelry designer and environmental activist to her resume. Where does she find the time? Let’s find out!
Growing Up All Over the World
On January 3rd, 1950 in Fukuoka, Japan, homemaker Bertha and United States Air Force Sergeant Victor were blessed with the birth of their first child, Vicki Ree Principal. Owing to her father’s military career, Principal’s family was constantly on the move. She attended 17 different schools in advance of graduating from South Dade Senior High in Miami. Despite a love of acting and appearances in a number of commercials, the first when she was only five years old, she enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College determined to study medicine. But that changed the night she was seriously injured in a car accident. During the months she spent recovering, the college informed Principal she’d have to repeat her first year of studies. In the wake of intense self-reflection, she chose to move to New York, then London, to study acting and pursue a career in the dramatic arts.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1970, Principal landed her first role opposite Paul Newman in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972). Her performance impressed audiences and critics alike, and Principal subsequently earned a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. While other supporting parts came her way, Principal grew frustrated with her inability to land leading roles and decided to become a talent agent in 1975.
For the next two years, she built her client roster and entertained the idea of enrolling in law school when she was approached by legendary television producer Aaron Spelling. In the process of casting his new show, Fantasy Island (1977-1984), he offered her a part in the first episode. Flattered and intrigued, Principal accepted. However, it was the pilot script for Dallas and the role of Pamela Barnes Ewing that convinced her to return to acting full-time.
Her Meteoric Rise to Fame and Fortune
"When I went in for the part on Dallas, I had already fallen in love with the show and with the part. So my feeling from the moment I read it was that it was incredibly special and that I really, really wanted to be a part of it. I could not imagine not being Pam." Dallas became an instant sensation and turned Principal into a household name. During her nine year run as Pam, she appeared in 251 episodes and was nominated for her second Golden Globe, this time for Best Actress in a Television Series, in 1983.
Following her departure from the show, Principal founded her own production company, Victoria Principal Productions. Mainly producing made for television movies, she went on to star in a handful of them while simultaneously creating her own line of skincare products, Principal Secret Skincare, in 1989. Although continuing to guest star on various shows and made for television movies including Home Improvement, Just Shoot Me, The Larry Sanders Show and The Practice, Principal put her acting career on the back burner to focus on her skincare products.
Starting in 1991, direct marketing firm Guthy-Renker began selling the Principal Secret Skincare line through infomercials, direct mail and telemarketing. As of 2013, the company’s CEO reported it had generated revenue in excess of $1.5 billion. Is it any wonder they also agreed to sell Keys and Hearts, a line of jewelry she personally designed, in 2011?
As if all those accomplishments weren’t enough, Principal decided to impart her acumen into health and wellness by writing a series of books on the subject. The first, The Body Principal (1983), outlined a program of isometric-type exercises that could be done anywhere during the course of a busy day. It spent 12 weeks on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list and was the first “Advice-How-To and Miscellaneous” to hit number one. She followed that up with The Beauty Principal (1984), in which she discussed what she’d learned about maintaining healthy good looks. Then came The Diet Principal (1987), detailing three specific dietary regimens for men and women to help them lose weight. And finally, Living Principal (2001), where she shared her philosophy on looking your best at every age.
Public Life and Private Struggles
Sadly, success has not shielded Principal from her share of heartbreak. She met actor Christopher Skinner on the set of Dallas in 1978 and were married later that year. The whirlwind romance did not last, as they divorced in 1980. Then in 1981, she met English singer and songwriter Andy Gibb on the set of The John Davidson Show. The two fell madly in love and even recorded a duet (Principal’s sole effort as a recording artist) of The Everly Brothers’ 1958 hit All I Have To Do is Dream as a testament to their romance. But it was not meant to be, as Gibb’s drug addiction proved to have a greater hold over him than his feelings for Principal. The couple went their separate ways in 1982.
In 1983 she met Harry Glassman, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon whom Principal dated for two years before they tied the knot in the summer of 1985 in, of all places, Dallas, Texas. After 21 years of marriage, they finalized their divorce in 2006.
Since then, she has dedicated her time to humanitarian and philanthropic causes. In 2012 she established a ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles where abused and neglected animals could be rehabilitated. Principal insists the property is not a charitable organization, but a place where she can offer such animals the love they’d thus far been denied. Beyond the ranch, she generously donates to several charities that seek to care for animals that have been injured or displaced as the result of natural disasters.
Principal is equally passionate about environmental causes. “"My deepest concern is for the planet and every living thing on it. Without a healthy planet, education won't matter, hunger won't matter, and science won't matter because we will not survive. Unless we rectify the damage we have done to our land and our oceans, then I truly believe, the planet will reclaim itself.” To address her concerns, she founded The Victoria Principal Foundation for Thoughtful Existence in 2006 to help fund the fight to preserve nature as we know it.
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