Victoria Principal was born on 3 January 1950, in Fukoka, Japan, of Italian (father) and English (mother) descent. She is an American actress, model, author, as well as an entrepreneur, still probably best known for her portrayal of Pamela Barnes Ewing in the popular American TV soap opera “Dallas” of the ’70s and ’80s.
How rich is Victoria Principal? According to authoritative sources, Victoria Principal’s net worth is estimated to amount to an impressive $200 million as of mid-2016, the most important sources of her wealth coming from her acting career, as well as her business ventures, during a career now spanning over 45 years.
Victoria Principal Net Worth $200 Million
Victoria Principal’s acting career notionally began with various television commercials when she was only five years old. However, Principal’s life was never easy to begin with, as she attended 17 schools when following her father’s US Air Force career to such places as Puerto Rico, UK, and several US states. During her study years at Miami-Dade Community College, Principal was in a very serious car accident that resulted in many injuries and even threatened her college studies, but she made a speedy recovery and soon moved out to New York City, then Hollywood, determined to pursue her dream job, which was acting.
Initially, when Principal arrived to Hollywood, she had no money and, most importantly, no experience in acting except for her early television commercials. However, everything changed in 1972, when Victoria received an opportunity in a film directed by John Huston called “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean”. In addition to being Principal’s first step in the direction of acting, Huston’s movie gained her a nomination for a Golden Globe Award, which contributed to Principal’s initial net worth, and earned her interest from various producers and movie agents; eventually, Principal chose Warren Cowan to represent her. With his guidance and under the label of Rogers & Cowan public relations agency, Principal flew in to Arizona and in 1973 made an appearance in a movie directed by Donald Driver entitled “The Naked Ape”, in which she co-starred with Johnny Crawford, but turned out to be a major failure, which left Principal utterly disappointed.
Victoria Principal’s next appearance came a year later, in 1974, with an ensemble movie “Earthquake”, in which she starred with a cast of such well-known actors as Charlton Heston, George Kennedy and Lorne Greene. Victoria continued with on-screen appearances in an action film “Vigilante Force”, then “Fantasy Land” before joining the cast of what became one of the most popular US TV series – “Dallas”, which earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award, and in which she appeared from 1978-87, significantly boosting her fame and net worth.
“Dallas” was the pinnacle of Principal’s acting career – she appeared in over 20 more TV productions until the early 2000s, however, acting is not the only source of Victoria’s net worth. In 1987, Principal launched a “Victoria Principal Productions” company, which was followed in 1989 by the creation of a line of cosmetic products called “Principal Secret”. The skin care line alone is estimated to have sold products the worth of which amounts to $1.5 billion. In addition to that, Victoria Principal has also launched a jewelry line called “Keys & Hearts” in 2011, which also contributes to her net worth.
Even before her entrepreneurial efforts, in 1983 Victoria released her first book of the skin care and health series called “The Body Principal”. The book spent twelve weeks on The New York Time’s list of best sellers, and was followed in successive years by “The Beauty Principal” and “The Diet Principal”, which all added to her wealth.
In her personal life, Victoria married Christopher Skinner in 1978, but they divorced in 1980. Then followed a tempestuous relationship with Australian singer Andy Gibb, but his use of drugs saw them part. Victoria married Harry Glassman, a plastic surgeon to celebrities, in 1985; the couple divorced in 2006 for reasons which are unclear. Principal now divides her time between homes in California and Switzerland. She devotes her time to environmental issues and associated charities.
