Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born June 10, 1965) is an English model and actress. She became known as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant in the 1990s after accompanying him to the Los Angeles premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral in a plunging black Versace dress held together with gold safety pins, which gained her instant media notice.
The highlight of Hurley's professional life has been her association with the cosmetics company Estée Lauder. The company gave Hurley her first modeling job at the age of 29 and has used her as a model for its products, especially perfumes such as Sensuous, Intuition, and Pleasures, since 1995. Her best known cinematic work was as Vanessa Kensington in Mike Myers' hit spy comedies, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). Hurley currently models and designs an eponymous beachwear line.
Hurley was born as a middle child in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, the daughter of Angela and Roy Hurley. Her Irish father was a Major in the British Army, while her Anglican mother was a teacher at Kempshott Infant School. She has an older sister, Kate, and a younger brother Michael James Hurley.
