Paulina Porizkova (born Pavlína Pořízková, ; 9 April 1965) is a Czech-born model and writer. In 1984, she became the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. As an actress, Porizkova made her film debut in Anna (1987). Early life Porizkova was born on 9 April 1965 in Prostějov, then in Czechoslovakia, to anti-Soviet dissident parents, Anna Pořízková and Jiří Pořízka. She was left in the care of her maternal grandmother after her parents fled to Sweden to escape the Warsaw Pact invasion. Czechoslovak authorities would not allow her parents to reclaim her, and the ensuing battle was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre. When Porizkova was seven, her pregnant mother returned to Czechoslovakia by a fake passport in an attempt to rescue her. After the attempt failed, her mother was briefly detained by the national police and then placed under house arrest with her family. In 1973, international political pressure led by Olof Palme caused the communist government to allow the Pořízek family to be reunited. Porizkova's parents divorced after her father had an affair. She and her father, who refused to pay child support for his children, have been estranged since her youth. Her mother, a midwife, remarried at least twice and, as of 2010, was reported to be serving in the Peace Corps in Uganda. Career Modeling Porizkova shared the photo that got the attention of modeling scout John Casablancas. She was 13. One of her friends, who wanted to be a makeup artist, painted Porizkova's face, along with other friends, and sent the photographs to modeling agencies in Paris in the hopes of getting hired. "Soon after, a modeling agent called inviting me to Copenhagen to meet the famed model scout John Casablancas. ... He took one look at me and asked: ‘Want to go to Paris?’ As if I'd say no! The rest, as they say, is history." Porizkova rose to become a top model in Paris during the early 1980s, and her fame spread to the United States when she posed in swimwear for Sports Illustrated. In 1984, at 18 years old, she became the first woman from Central Europe to be on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She appeared again on the cover in 1985. She was the second woman (after Christie Brinkley) to be featured on