Photo: Toglenn / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Paula Abdul is, to my mind, one of pop's great underrated architects. Before the hits, she was the choreographer — a Laker Girl at eighteen who ended up designing how an entire MTV generation moved, with an Emmy to prove the craft was real. Her own records worked because she understood rhythm from the body outward, not the chart inward. At 152 centimeters she commanded arenas, which tells you presence has nothing to do with size. Television later reinvented her again as a personality. I respect careers built on transferable mastery, and hers — dance to song to screen — is exactly that.
Overview
Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographer for the Laker Girls, where she was discovered by the Jacksons.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Paula Abdul
- Name (Japanese)
- ポーラ・アブドゥル
- Reading
- ぽーら・あぶどぅる
- Born
- June 19, 1962 (age 63)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Tiger
- Origin
- San Fernando, California, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 152 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / singer / ballet dancer / singer-songwriter / composer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Van Nuys High School
- University
- California State University, Northridge
Awards & achievements
- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography
- 1991 star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Ellis Island Medal of Honor
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Singer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.