Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul was raised in San Fernando Valley. She started taking dance classes at the age of eight. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was the class head cheerleader and president. Her high school graduation was in the year 1980. Following graduation she entered college at Cal State Northridge. There she studied radio and television. 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, which was the first of a series of films and videos she choreographed. After her debut CD "Forever Your Girl", she began singing and was soon a well-known singer/dancer. Her time as an American Idol judge (2002) has made her a popular performer/dancer. Her father (Harry Abdul) is of Sephardic Jewish background from Syria. Her mother, who is also Jewish, was born and raised in Canada. Her parents have lived in Syria, Brazil, and Canada and this diverse background has resulted in wildly various stories that have been published in the media about her nationality and/or religion. The daughter is Harry Abdul, a former Brazilian livestock trader and Lorainne Abdul, who was a former assistant to Billy Wilder in film direction. At the age of seven, she was a dancer and singer in musical theatre troupes which toured across America. Tap dance classes were taken and she was awarded a scholarship for tap dancing school. In later years, she attended Cal State Northridge College where she studied to become an Broadcast radio specialist. She was a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA cheerleading team. This resulted in her earning $50 per game during her freshman year.