Alexandra Paul

Alexandra Paul
Alexandra Paul in 2012
Born	Alexandra Elizabeth Paul (1963-07-29) July 29, 1963 New York, New York, US
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1982—
Spouse(s)	Ian Murray (2000— )
Website
Official website

Alexandra Elizabeth Paul (born July 29, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Lt. Stephanie Holden in the television series Baywatch from 1992–97. She has performed in over 70 movies and television programs.^[1]

Early life

Paul was born in New York City to Sarah, a social worker, and Mark Paul, an investment banker.^[2] She is one of three children. Her identical twin sister, Caroline Paul, became one of the first women to join the San Francisco Fire Department and later wrote a memoir, Fighting Fire: A Personal Story, about her experiences. Her younger brother Jonathan Paul, a lifelong eco-animal activist, was released in 2011 from a federal prison after a 4 year 3 month sentence for the 1997 arson of a horse slaughterhouse.^[3]

Alexandra was educated at the Cornwall Consolidated School in Connecticut, where she was first in her 8th grade class. She attended Groton School in high school and graduated with honors.

Acting career

Alexandra has starred in over 75 films and television shows. Apart from Baywatch, Paul is known for movies such as Paper Dolls (1982) with Daryl Hannah, Christine (1983), based on the book by Stephen King; the bicycle-racing film American Flyers (1985) with Kevin Costner and the film parody of the classic television series Dragnet starring Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd.^[4] Paul starred in two films with Pierce Brosnan, Death Train and Nightwatch, and played Andy Garcia's and Jeff Bridges' lover in Eight Million Ways to Die, directed by Hal Ashby.

Since 1999, she has starred in 14 films for Lifetime Network. She has also starred in the Fox TV series Fire Company 132 and appeared in the last 8 episodes of Melrose Place. She guest starred on the TV series Mad Men in 2008.^[4] She has also hosted non-fiction TV shows, including WE's Winning Women and a southern California local environmentalism show, Earth Talk Today.^[4]

She made a cameo appearance in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan in a deleted scene parodying her Baywatch role. She remains in the DVD specials.^[4]

Paul co-wrote and co-produced two documentaries: Jampacked, a documentary on the world population crisis, and The Cost of Cool: Finding Happiness in a Materialistic World. Jampacked received a Bronze Apple Award and first place recognition at the EarthVision Environmental Film and Video Festival. The Cost of Cool won a CINE Golden Eagle Award. In 2011, she was a spokesperson for the Chevy Volt, a plug in car. Alexandra has been driving electric cars since 1990, and was featured in the documentary film Who Killed the Electric Car, most notably getting arrested.^[5]

Personal life

Paul is married to triathlon coach Ian Murray and has competed in triathlons.

She is a competitive endurance athlete. She competed at the 1997 Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, a 2.44-mile (3.93 km) swim, 112-mile (180 km) bike ride, and 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) marathon, which she completed in 13:18:52. In 2004, Alexandra competed in the Bonaire 10k race, a 6-mile (9.7 km) swim off the island of Bonaire. In 2006, she raced in the Maui Channel Crossing, a 10-mile (16 km) swim from the Hawaiian island of Lanai to Maui. In August 2009, she participated in a Fiji swim from Denarau to Beachcomber Island, an 11-mile (18 km) race. In June 2012, she swam 12.5 miles around Key West in just under 6 hours. Alexandra swam the 13.7 mile (22k) Reto Acapulco, across Acapulco Bay and back, in November 2014 in 7 hours 20 minutes.

She is a vegan. An article on her veganism appeared on the PETA website in 2011. She composts and recycles.

Political activism

Paul is a dedicated environmental and political activist.

Alexandra has been arrested for peaceful civil disobedience over a dozen times at the Nevada Test Site 1987-2000. She was arrested twice in 2003 for civil disobedience protesting the Iraq War and spent 5 days in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center after declining to pay the $50 fine. In 2005, she was arrested for peacefully protesting the crushing of the EV1, and did 100 hours of community service.^[6] She was also arrested in 1990 during a sit-in supporting AIDS patients' fast track access to Compound Q, a potentially lifesaving drug.

In 1997, the United Nations honored her for her work on overpopulation after she spoke to thousands of Los Angeles schoolchildren on the issue through a curriculum she designed. In 2005, Alexandra was named "Activist of the Year" by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California. She has traveled to Nicaragua with Operation USA and to South Africa to register voters.

In 2012, Alexandra volunteered with Population Media Center in Sierra Leone. ^[7] In 2014, she traveled to Japan to witness the killing of dolphins and support the activists fighting against the practice.

In 2006, Paul donated $250 to the Ned Lamont campaign against Joe Lieberman, because Lieberman supported the war in Iraq.^[8] She supported Representative Dennis Kucinich for US President and had donated $2,300 to his campaign, the maximum allowable. She has given money to Edward Snowden's defense team and to Wikileaks.

Paul is a founding board member of Plug In America, an advocacy group supporting the development and promotion of electric cars. She is also active with Population Media Center and a supporter of many animal rights organizations. In 2012, Alexandra did a TEDX talk on human overpopulation. Alexandra was awarded 2014 Vegan of the Year by Last Chance for Animals. ^[9]

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexandra Paul.

• Alexandra Paul at the Internet Movie Database