They left her under the care of her grandmother, believing she could be brought out later, which wasn't allowed by the Communist regime. 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. (think of the ridiculous furor (congressional hearings) over Elian Gonzalez, who, at five-years-old was found on Thanksgiving Day clinging to an inner tube three miles off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida because his mother and 11 others attempted to escape Cuba in a small aluminum boat with a faulty engine, they all drowned in their attempt, only he survived.)
Her mother then secretly returned using a fake passport in an attempt to rescue her, but was detained by the police and then placed under house arrest with her family. When Swedish politician Olof Palme put pressure on the Czechoslovakian government, the Porizkova family was finally reunited after 6 years.
Her mother, a midwife, remarried at least twice and, as of 2010, was reported to be serving in the Peace Corps in Uganda
In 1988, Estée Lauder offered her the highest-paying modeling contract ($6 million) at that time.
At age 19, she met the signer for the Cars, when hired to perform in the video for the song Drive, and married him 5 years later.
She loves to play classical piano, especially Chopin, and often copies oil-painting masterpieces in museums, using pastel sticks and a sketchpad. Her father and grandfather were both painters.
I watched a video interview with her. She's still a beautiful woman. She described her feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness in her marriage and personal life. She's extremely smart, articulate, and has a high level of emotional intelligence. I had her poster back in the day, I don't think I will ever quite thing of her the same way I did before listening to her. She's an amazing person.
ReplyDeletemarriage and personal life of a multi millionaire supermodel in the New York/Paris/London lifestyle of the rich and famous. That's enough for a conference of psychiatrists and therapists, and counselors to work through.
DeleteThen there's the abandonment issues of a child, unequipped to understand the soviet union takeover of countries, the cold war, parents that weren't June and Ward Cleaver - a husband that was a rock star, and cheated on her.
So, it's a real big complicated personal history that she's got to work through, and the will from her ex, that explicitly locked her out of the inheritance, though she's technically still married, but there's only 15k in cash, in addition to New York homes, etc.
What a lot to deal with. She is to be pitied, and understood, as someone that has navigated an extremely difficult life, with grace.
But the parents taking a motorcycle to escape the russians? WHOA!