A close-up view of a barbed wire barb

Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire

Barbed wire, also known as barb wire^[1] (and sometimes bob-wire^[2] or bobbed wire^[3]), is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand(s). It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property. It is also a major feature of the fortifications in trench warfare (as a wire obstacle).

A person or animal trying to pass through or over barbed wire will suffer discomfort and possibly injury. Barbed wire fencing requires only fence posts, wire, and fixing devices such as staples. It is simple to construct and quick to erect, even by an unskilled person.

The first patent in the United States for barbed wire was issued in 1867 to Lucien B. Smith of Kent, Ohio, who is regarded as the inventor.^[4][5] Joseph F. Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois, received a patent for the modern invention in 1874 after he made his own modifications to previous versions.

Barbed wire was the first wire technology capable of restraining cattle. Wire fences were cheaper and easier to erect than their alternatives. (One such alternative was Osage orange, a thorny bush which was time-consuming to transplant and grow. The Osage orange later became a supplier of the wood used in making barb wire fence posts.^[6]) When wire fences became widely available in the United States in the late 19th century, they made it affordable to fence much larger areas than before. They made intensive animal husbandry practical on a much larger scale.

History[link]

Before 1865[link]

Fencing consisting of flat and thin wire was first proposed in France, by Leonce Eugene Grassin-Baledans in 1860. His design consisted of bristling points, creating a fence that was painful to cross. In April 1865 Louis François Janin proposed a double wire with diamond-shaped metal barbs; he was granted a patent. Michael Kelly from New York had a similar idea, and proposed that the fencing should be used specifically for deterring animals.^[7]

More patents followed, and in 1867 alone there were six patents issued for barbed wire. Only two of them addressed livestock deterrence, one of which was from American Lucien B. Smith of Ohio.^[8] Before 1870, westward movement in the USA was largely across the plains with little or no settlement occurring. After the American Civil War the plains were extensively settled, consolidating America's dominance over them.^[9]

Ranchers moved out on the plains, and needed to fence their land in against encroaching farmers and other ranchers. The railroads throughout the growing West needed to keep livestock off their tracks, and farmers needed to keep stray cattle from trampling their crops.^[10] Traditional fence materials used in the Eastern U.S., like wood and stone, were expensive to use in the large open spaces of the plains, and hedging was not reliable in the rocky, clay and rain-starved dusty soils. A cost-effective alternative was needed to make cattle operations profitable.^[11]

The 1873 meeting and initial development[link]

An early handmade specimen of Glidden's "The Winner" on display at the Barbed Wire History Museum in DeKalb, Illinois.

Patent drawing for Joseph F. Glidden's Improvement to barbed wire

The "Big Four" in barbed wire were Joseph Glidden, Jacob Haish, Charles Francis Washburn, and Isaac L. Ellwood.^[12] Glidden, a farmer in 1873 and the first of the "Big Four," is often credited for designing a successful sturdy barbed wire product, but he let others popularize it for him. Glidden's idea came from a display at a fair in DeKalb, Illinois in 1873, by Henry B. Rose. Rose had patented "The Wooden Strip with Metallic Points" in May 1873.^[13]

This was simply a wooden block with wire protrusions designed to keep cows from breaching the fence. That day, Glidden was accompanied by two other men, Isaac L. Ellwood, a hardware dealer and Jacob Haish, a lumber merchant. Like Glidden, they both wanted to create a more durable wire fence with fixed barbs. Glidden experimented with a grindstone to twist two wires together to hold the barbs on the wire in place. They were created from experiments with a coffee mill from his home.^[13]

Later Glidden was joined by Ellwood who knew his design could not compete with Glidden's for which he applied for a patent in October 1873.^[14] Meanwhile Haish, who had already secured several patents for barbed wire design, applied over a week before Glidden for a patent on his third type of wire, the S barb, and accused Glidden of interference, deferring Glidden's approval for his patented wire nicknamed "The Winner" until November 24, 1874.^[15]

Barbed wire production greatly increased with Glidden and Ellwood’s establishment of the Barb Fence Company in DeKalb following the success of "The Winner". The company's success attracted the attention of Charles Francis Washburn, Vice President of Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, an important producer of plain wire in the Eastern U.S. Washburn visited De Kalb and convinced Glidden to sell his stake in the Barb Wire Fence Company, while Ellwood stayed in DeKalb and renamed the company I.L Ellwood & Company of DeKalb.^[16]

Promotion and consolidation[link]

In the late 1870s, John Warne Gates of Illinois began to promote barbed wire, now a proven product, in the lucrative markets of Texas. At first, Texans were hesitant, as they feared that cattle might be harmed, or that the North was somehow trying to make profits from the South. There was also conflict between the farmers who wanted fencing and the ranchers who were losing the open range.^[10]

Demonstrations by Gates in San Antonio in 1876 showed that the wire could keep cattle contained, and sales then increased dramatically. Gates eventually parted company with Ellwood and became a barbed wire baron in his own right. Throughout the height of barbed wire sales in the late 19th century, Washburn, Ellwood, Gates, and Haish competed with one another, but Ellwood and Gates eventually joined forces again to create the American Steel and Wire Company, later acquired by The U.S. Steel Corporation.^[17]

Between 1873 and 1899 there were as many as 150 companies manufacturing barbed wire to cash in on the demand in the West: investors were aware that the business did not require much capital and it was considered that almost anyone with enough determination could make a profit from manufacture of a new wire design.^[18] There was then a sharp decline in the number of manufacturing firms, as many were consolidated into larger companies, notably the American Steel and Wire Company, formed by the merging of Gates's and Washburn's and Ellwood's industries.

Smaller companies were wiped out because of economies of scale and the smaller pool of consumers available to them, compared to the larger corporations. The American Steel and Wire Company established in 1899 employed vertical integration: it controlled all aspects of production from producing the steel rods to making many different wire and nail products from the same steel; although later part of U.S. Steel, the production of barbed wire would still be a major source of revenue

Another inventor, William Edenborn, a German immigrant who later settled in Winn Parish, Louisiana, patented a machine which simplified the making of barbed wire and cut the unit price of production from seventeen to three cents per pound. His particular wire is the "humane" version that did not harm cattle. The original wire was sharp-teethed and contributed to western range wars. Edenborn's company in time supplied 75 percent of the barbed wire in the United States. A wire nail machine that he also patented reduced the price of wire nails from eight to two cents per pound.^[19][20]

Historical uses[link]

In the American West[link]

A rangeland fence

Barbed wire played an important role in the protection of range rights in the U.S. West. Although some ranchers put notices in newspapers claiming land areas, and joined stockgrowers associations to help enforce their claims, livestock continued to cross range boundaries. Fences of smooth wire did not hold stock well, and hedges were difficult to grow and maintain. Barbed wire's introduction in the West in the 1870s dramatically reduced the cost of enclosing land.^[21]

Rusted barbed wire in a roll

Barbed wire also emerged as a major source of conflict with the so called “Big Die Up” incident in the 1880s. This conflict occurred because of the instinctual migrations of cattle away from the blizzard conditions of the Northern Plains to the warmer and plentiful Southern Plains, but by the early 1880s this area was already divided and claimed by ranchers. The ranchers in place, especially in the Texas Panhandle, knew that their holdings could not support the grazing of additional cattle, so the only alternative was to block the migrations with barb wire fencing.^[22]

Many of the herds were decimated in the winter of 1885, with some losing as many as three-quarters of all animals when they could not find a way around the fence. Later other smaller scale cattlemen, especially in central Texas, opposed the closing of the open range, and began cutting fences to allow cattle to pass through to find grazing land. In this transition zone between the agricultural regions to the south and the rangeland to the north, conflict erupted, with vigilantes joining the scene causing chaos and even death. The fence cutters war came to an end with the passage of a Texas law in 1884 that stated among other provisions that fence cutting was a felony; and other states followed, although conflicts still occurred through the opening years of the 20th century.^[23] A federal law passed in 1885 forbade stretching such fences across the public domain.^[21]

In war[link]

A wiring party deploying entanglements during World War I

Barbed wire was used for the first time in the Spanish-American War during the siege of Santiago by the Spanish defenders. One year later, barbed wire was also extensively used in the Boer War, where it played a strategic role bringing spaces under control, at military outposts as well as to hold the captured Boer population in concentration camps. Less well known is its extensive usage in the Russo-Japanese War.

More significantly, barbed wire was used extensively by all participating combatants in World War I to prevent movement, with deadly consequences. Barbed wire entanglements were placed in front of trenches to prevent direct charges on men below, increasingly leading to greater use of more advanced weapons such as high powered machine guns and grenades It slowed infantry down enough that machine guns could kill them all. A feature of these entanglements was that the barbs were much closer together, often forming a continuous sequence.^[24]

Barbed wire could be exposed to heavy bombardments because it could be easily replaced, and its structure included so much open space that machine guns rarely destroyed enough of it to defeat its purpose. However barbed wire was defeated by the tank in 1916, as shown by the Allied breakthrough at Amiens through German lines on August 8, 1918.^[25]

In concentration camps[link]

Barbed wire and containment: Japanese prisoner of war 1945

In the 1930s and 1940s Europe the Nazis used barbed wire in concentration camp architecture, where it usually surrounded the camp and was electrified to prevent escape. Barbed wire served the purpose of keeping humanity contained and was cheap, easy to install, and deadly at the same time. Additionally, different nationalities were separated, men and women were separated, and working nationalities like Jews and Ukrainians were separated within the camps walls.^[26]

Infirmaries in extermination camps like Auschwitz where prisoners were gassed or experimented on were often separated from other areas by electrified wire and were often braided with branches to prevent outsiders from knowing what was concealed behind their walls.^[27]

Modern-day uses[link]

Barbed wire continues to be used today as a means of division in areas as diverse as South American rainforests dividing large landowner’s holdings from those of natives, to the U.S./Mexico border where it composes portions of the fence separating the countries. Additionally barbed wire is used to divide Israel from the Palestinian territories, while also delimiting refugee camps in areas like Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Kosovo. Detainees from Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba are also fenced in and currently contained by barbed wire.^[28]

In the United States Southwest[link]

John Warne Gates demonstrated barbed wire for Washburn and Moen in Military Plaza, San Antonio, Texas in 1876. The demonstration showing cattle restrained by the new kind of fencing was followed immediately by invitations to the Menger Hotel to place orders. Gates subsequently had a falling out with Washburn and Moen and Isaac Ellwood. He moved to St. Louis and founded the Southern Wire Company, which became the largest manufacturer of unlicensed or "bootleg" barbed wire.

An 1880 US District Court decision upheld the validity of the Glidden patent, effectively establishing a monopoly. This decision was affirmed by the US Supreme Court in 1892. In 1898 Gates took control of Washburn and Moen, and created the American Steel and Wire monopoly, which became a part of the United States Steel Corporation.

This led to disputes known as the range wars between free-range ranchers and farmers in the late 19th century. These were similar to the disputes which resulted from enclosure laws in England in the early 18th century. These disputes were decisively settled in favor of the farmers, and heavy penalties were instituted for cutting a barbed wire fence. Within 2 years, nearly all of the open range had been fenced in under private ownership. For this reason, some historians have dated the end of the Old West era of American history to the invention and subsequent proliferation of barbed wire.

Agricultural fencing[link]

Modern barbed wire

Barbed wire fences remain the standard fencing technology for enclosing cattle in most regions of the US, but not all countries. The wire is aligned under tension between heavy, braced, fence posts (strainer posts) and then held at the correct height by being attached to wooden or steel fence posts, and/or with battens in between.

The gaps between posts vary depending on type and terrain. On short fences in hilly country, steel posts may be placed every 3 yards (2.7 m), while in flat terrain with long spans and relatively few stock they may be spaced up to 30 to 50 yards (46 m). Wooden posts are normally spaced at 11 yards (10 m) (2 rods) on all terrain, with 4 or 5 battens in between. However, many farmers place posts 2 yards (1.8 m) apart as battens can bend, causing wires to close in on one another.

Barbed wire for agricultural fencing is typically available in two varieties: soft or mild-steel wire and high-tensile. Both types are galvanized for longevity. High-tensile wire is made with thinner but higher-strength steel. Its greater strength makes fences longer lasting because it resists stretching and loosening better, coping with expansion and contraction caused by heat and animal pressure by stretching and relaxing within wider elastic limits. It also supports longer spans, but because of its elastic (springy) nature it is harder to handle and somewhat dangerous for inexperienced fencers. Soft wire is much easier to work but is less durable and only suitable for short spans such as repairs and gates, where it is less likely to tangle.

In high soil-fertility areas where dairy cattle are used in great numbers 5- or 7-wire fences are common as the main boundary and internal dividing fences. On sheep farms 7-wire fences are common with the second (from bottom) to fifth wire being plain wire. In New Zealand wire fences must provide passage for dogs since they are the main means of controlling and driving animals on farms.

Gates[link]

Barbed wire fence in west Texas

As with any fence, barbed wire fences require gates to allow the passage of persons, vehicles and farm implements. Gates vary in width from 12 feet (3.7 m) to allow the passage of vehicles and tractors, to 40 feet (12 m) on farm land to pass combines and swathers.

Gates for cattle tend to have 4 wires when along a three wire fence, as cattle tend to put more stress on gates, particularly on corner gates. The fence on each side of the gated ends with two corner posts braced or unbraced depending on the size of the post. An unpounded post (often an old broken post) is held to one corner post with wire rings which act as hinges. On the other end a full length post, the tractor post, is placed with the pointed end upwards with a ring on the bottom stapled to the other corner post, the latch post, and on top a ring is stapled to the tractor post, the post is tied with a Stockgrower's Lash or one of numerous other opening bindings. Wires are then tied around the post at one end then run to the other end where they are stretched by hand or with a stretcher, before posts are stapled on every 4 feet (1.2 m), often this type of gate is called a portagee fence or a portagee gate in various ranching communities of coastal Central California.

Most gates can be opened by push post. The chain is then wrapped around the tractor post and pulled onto the nail, stronger people can pull the gate tighter but anyone can jar off the chain to open the gate.

Human-proof fencing[link]

Chain link fence with barbed wire on top

Most barbed wire fences, while sufficient to discourage cattle, are passable by humans who can simply climb over the fence, or through the fence by stretching the gaps between the wires using non-barbed sections of the wire as hand holds. To prevent humans crossing, many prisons and other high-security installations construct fences with razor wire, a variant which instead of occasional barbs features near-continuous cutting surfaces sufficient to injure unprotected persons who climb on it. However, it has been banned in the United Kingdom; and any person(s) erecting anti-human wire fences can be prosecuted under applicable laws.

A commonly seen alternative is the placement of a few strands of barbed wire at the top of a chain link fence. The limited mobility of someone climbing a fence makes passing conventional barbed wire more difficult. On some chain link fences these strands are attached to a bracket tilted 45 degrees towards the intruder, further increasing the difficulty.

Razor wire is a curved variation of barbed wire.

Barbed wire began to be widely used as an implement of war during World War I. Wire was placed either to impede or halt the passage of soldiers, or to channel them into narrow defiles in which small arms, particularly machine guns, and indirect fire could be used with greater effect as they attempted to pass. Artillery bombardments on the Western Front became increasingly aimed at cutting the barbed wire that was a major component of trench warfare, particularly once new "wire-cutting" fuzes were introduced midway through the war.

As the war progressed the wire was used in shorter lengths that were easier to transport and more difficult to cut with artillery. Other inventions were also a result of the war, such as the screw picket, which enabled construction of wire obstacles to be done at night in No Man's Land without the necessity of hammering stakes into the ground and drawing attention from the enemy.

During the Soviet-Afghan War, the accommodation of Afghan refugees into Pakistan was controlled in Pakistan's largest province, Balochistan, under General Rahimuddin Khan, by making the refugees stay for controlled durations in barbed wire camps (see Controlling Soviet-Afghan War Refugees).

The frequent use of barbed wire on prison walls, around concentration camps, and the like, has made it symbolic of oppression and denial of freedom in general. For example, in Germany the totality of the complex German Democratic Republic border regime is commonly referred to with the short phrase "Mauer und Stacheldraht" (that is, "wall and barbed wire"), and Amnesty International has a barbed wire in their symbol. Recently, Britain and France have begun restricting the use of barbed wire due to the risk of injury it poses to trespassers.^[29]

Injuries caused by barbed wire[link]

Barbed wire and razor wire

Movement against barbed wire can result in moderate to severe injuries to the skin and, depending on body area and barbed wire configuration, possibly to the underlying tissue. Humans can manage not to injure themselves excessively when dealing with barbed wire as long as they are cautious. Restriction of movement, appropriate clothing, and slowing movement when close to barbed wire aid in reducing injury.

Infantrymen are often trained and inured to the injuries caused by barbed wire. Several soldiers lay across the wire forming a bridge for the rest of the formation to pass over. Often any injury thus incurred is due to the tread of those passing over and not to the wire itself.^{[citation needed]}

Injuries caused by barbed wire are typically seen in horses, bats, or birds. Horses panic easily, and once caught in barbed wire, large patches of skin may be torn off. For this reason barbed wire was the single most important factor in rendering the U.S. Cavalry ineffective and led to the Cavalry's eventual dismantling.^{[citation needed]} At best, such injuries may heal, but they may cause disability or death (particularly due to infection). Birds or bats may not be able to perceive thin strands of barbed wire and suffer injuries.

For this reason horse fences may have rubber bands nailed parallel to the wires. More than 60 different species of wildlife have been reported in Australia as victims of entanglement on barbed wire fences, and the wildlife friendly fencing project is beginning to address this problem. The project is funded mainly by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Grazing animals with slow movements that will back off at the first notion of pain (e.g., sheep and cows) will not generally suffer the severe injuries often seen in other animals.

Barbed wire has been reported as a tool for human torture.^[30] It is also frequently used as a weapon in hardcore professional wrestling matches, most often as a covering for another type of weapon—Mick Foley was infamous for using a two-by-four wrapped in barbed wire—and infrequently as a covering of or substitute for the ring ropes.

Installation of barbed wire[link]

The most important and most time-consuming part of a barbed wire fence is constructing the corner post and the bracing assembly. A barbed wire fence is under tremendous tension, often up to half a ton, and so the corner post's sole function is to resist the tension of the fence spans connected to it. The bracing keeps the corner post vertical and prevents slack from developing in the fence.

Brace posts are placed in-line about 8 feet (2.4 m) from the corner post. A horizontal compression brace connects the top of the two posts, and a diagonal wire connects the top of the brace post to the bottom of the corner post. This diagonal wire prevents the brace post from leaning, which in turn allows the horizontal brace to prevent the corner post from leaning into the brace post. A second set of brace posts (forming a double brace) is used whenever the barbed wire span exceeds 200 feet (61 m).

When the barbed wire span exceeds 650 ft (200 m), a braced line assembly is added in-line. This has the function of a corner post and brace assembly but handles tension from opposite sides. It uses diagonal brace wire that connects the tops to the bottoms of all adjacent posts.

Line posts are installed along the span of the fence at intervals of 8 to 50 ft (2.4 to 15 m). An interval of 16 ft (4.9 m) is most common. Heavy livestock and crowded pasture demands the smaller spacing. The sole function of a line post is not to take up slack but to keep the barbed wire strands spaced equally and off the ground.

Once these posts and bracing have been erected, the wire is wrapped around one corner post, held with a hitch (a timber hitch works well for this) often using a staple to hold the height and then reeled out along the span of the fence replacing the role every 400 m. It is then wrapped around the opposite corner post, pulled tightly with wire stretchers, and sometimes nailed with more fence staples, although this may make readjustment of tension or replacement of the wire more difficult. Then it is attached to all of the line posts with fencing staples driven in partially to allow stretching of the wire.

There are several ways to anchor the wire to a corner post:

• Hand-knotting. The wire is wrapped around the corner post and knotted by hand. This is the most common method of attaching wire to a corner post. A timber hitch works well as it stays better with wire than with rope.
• Crimp sleeves. The wire is wrapped around the corner post and bound to the incoming wire using metal sleeves which are crimped using lock cutters. This method should be avoided because while sleeves can work well on repairs in the middle of the fence where there is not enough wire for hand knotting, they tend to slip when under tension.
• Wire vise. The wire is passed through a hole drilled into the corner post and is anchored on the far side.
• Wire wrap. The wire is wrapped around the corner post and wrapped onto a special, gritted helical wire which also wraps around the incoming wire, with friction holding it in place.

Barbed wire for agriculture use is typically double-strand 12½-gauge, zinc-coated (galvanized) steel and comes in rolls of 1,320 ft (400 m) length. Barbed wire is usually placed on the inner (pasture) side of the posts. Where a fence runs between two pastures livestock could be with the wire on the outside or on both sides of the fence.

Galvanized wire is classified into three categories; Classes I, II, and III. Class I has the thinnest coating and the shortest life expectancy. A wire with Class I coating will start showing general rusting in 8 to 10 years, while the same wire with Class III coating will show rust in 15 to 20 years. Aluminum-coated wire is occasionally used, and yields a longer life.

Corner posts are 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) in diameter or larger, and a minimum 8 feet (2.4 m) in length may consist of treated wood or from durable on-site trees such as osage orange, black locust, red cedar, or red mulberry, also railroad ties, telephone, and power poles are salvaged to be used as corner posts (poles and railroad ties were often treated with chemicals determined to be an environmental hazard and cannot be reused in some jurisdictions). In Canada spruce posts are sold for this purpose. Posts are 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter driven at least 4 feet (1.2 m) and may be anchored in a concrete base 20 inches (51 cm) square and 42 inches (110 cm) deep. Iron posts, if used, are a minimum 2.5 inches (64 mm) in diameter. Bracing wire is typically smooth 9-gauge. Line posts are set to a depth of about 30 inches (76 cm). Conversely, steel posts are not as stiff as wood, and wires are fastened with slips along fixed teeth, which means variations in driving height affect wire spacing.

During the First World War, screw pickets were used for the installation of wire obstacles; these were metal rods with eyelets for holding strands of wire, and a corkscrew-like end that could literally be screwed into the ground rather than hammered, so that wiring parties could work at night near enemy soldiers and not reveal their position by the sound of hammers.

See also[link]

• Barbed tape (razor wire)
• Isaac L. Ellwood
• Jacob Haish
• Joseph Glidden

Military:

• Wire obstacle
• Concertina wire
• Bangalore torpedo, used in World War I and II to breach barbed wire obstacles

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Krell, Alan (2002). The Devil's Rope: A Cultural History of Barbed Wire. London: Reaktion Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=JSYby9zZri0C&pg=PA19&dq=Lucien+B.+Smith+Devil%27s+rope#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• McCallum, Henry D. & Frances T. (1965). The Wire that Fenced the West. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. , LoC:65-11234
• Netz, Reviel (2004). Barbed wire. An ecology of modernity. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978-0-8195-6719-2. 
• Razac, Olivier (2003). Barbed Wire: A Political History. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 1-56584-812-8. 
• Biography of John W. Gates, barbed wire promoter who monopolized the industry with the American Steel and Wire Company, accessed March 29, 2006

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Barbed wire

Look up barbed wire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Barbed Wire.

Information

• How To Build a Barbed Wire Fence
• Website of the Devils Rope Museum in McLean, Texas
• The Kansas Barbed Wire Museum in La Crosse, Kansas is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to barbed wire and the history of fencing. History of the invention of barbed wire
• Barbed Wire Photo Gallery: DeKalb photos included, barbed wire examples pgs. 3 thru 24.
• Development and Rise of Barbed Wire at University of Virginia accessed March 29, 2006
• Barbed Wire Fencing - Its Rise and Influence also at UVA, from Agricultural History, Volume 13, October 1939, accessed September 20, 2006
• Glidden's patent for barbed wire accessed March 29, 2006
• Antique Barbed Wire Society accessed September 21, 2006
• Barbed Wire in Texas
• Barbed wire changes life on the American Great Plains
• A political history of barbed wire
• The History of Barbed Wire About.com
• The Wildlife Friendly Fencing project
• Papers, 1878-1938, of Texas rancher and co-inventor Isaac L. Ellwood in Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University

Patents – (about 570 were issued):

• Patent history accessed September 21, 2006
• U.S. Patent 66,182 – Lucien Smith, Kent, Ohio, Wire fence – "rotary spools with projecting spurs" (June 1867)
• U.S. Patent 67,117 – William Hunt, Scott, New York, Improvement in Fences – "sharpened spur wheels" (July 1867)
• U.S. Patent 74,379 – Michael Kelly, New York City (!), Improvement in Fences – "thorny fence" (1868)
• U.S. Patent 116,755 – Joshua Rappleye, Seneca County, New York, Improvement in Constructing Wire fence – tensioner for fence with palings (pickets) (1871)
• U.S. Patent 138,763 – Henry Rose, DeKalb County, Illinois, Improvement in Wire-fences – "strips provided with metal points" (1873)
• U.S. Patent 147,756 – Isaac Ellwood, DeKalb, Illinois Improvement in Barbed Fences – "single piece of metal with four points, attached to a flat rail" (February, 1874)
• U.S. Patent 157,124 – Joseph Glidden, DeKalb, Illinois, Improvement in Wire-fences – twisted fence wires with short spur coiled around one of the strands (November, 1874) This became the most popular patent.
• U.S. Patent 167,240 – Jacob Haish, DeKalb, Illinois, Improvement in Wire-fence Barbs – "single piece of wire bent into the form of the letter S" so that both strands are clasped (1875)
• U.S. Patent 185,346 – John Nelson, Creston, Illinois, Improvement in Wire-fence Barbs – barb installable on existing fence wire, (1876)

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth^[1] (born June 17, 1987), simply known as Kendrick Lamar, is an American rapper and songwriter from Compton, California currently signed to Top Dawg, Aftermath and Interscope. He first gained major attention after the release of his 2010 mixtape Overly Dedicated. In 2011, his album Section.80, released exclusively through iTunes, instantly ranked as one of the top digital hip hop releases of the year.^[2] Lamar has amassed a large internet following, is a member of hip hop collective Black Hippy, along with Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul, and has worked with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Wiz Khalifa, Game, Drake, Busta Rhymes and Tech N9ne among other popular artists.^[3]

Biography[link]

1987-2009: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Kendrick Lamar was born in Compton, California, a community southeast of Los Angeles city limits, to parents from Chicago, Illinois.^[4] At the age of eight, in 1995, Lamar witnessed his idols, Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre film the music video for their hit single "California Love," a very significant moment in Lamar's life.^[5] In 2003 at the young age of sixteen, Lamar released his first mixtape, Youngest Head Nigga In Charge under the name K. Dot.^[6] The mixtape was able to garner enough attention for Lamar to get a record deal with Top Dawg Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based independent record label.^[6] He then released a twenty-six track mixtape two years later titled Training Day.^[7] More recognition came Lamar's way after a video of a Charles Hamilton show surfaced, where Hamilton goes in the crowd and battles rappers at attendance. Lamar didn't hesitate and began rapping a verse over Milkbone's "Keep It Real", that would later appear on a track titled "West Coast Wu-Tang".^[5] In 2008 Lamar made a cameo appearance on Jay Rock's "All My Life (In the Ghetto)" music video. After receiving a co-sign from Lil Wayne, he released his third mixtape in 2009 titled C4, heavily themed around Tha Carter III LP.^[8] Soon after, he decided to drop his stage name K. Dot and go by his real name. This resulted in him releasing a self-titled EP; the Kendrick Lamar EP in late 2009.^[9]

[edit] 2010–2011: Overly Dedicated and Section.80

Kendrick performing at a concert in Toronto, Canada

In 2010 he toured with Tech N9ne and Jay Rock on The Independent Grind tour.^[6] On September 23, 2010 he released O(verly) D(edicated) a highly acclaimed mixtape that included a song titled "Ignorance is Bliss" in which he glorifies gangsta rap and street crime but ends each verse with "ignorance is bliss" giving the message "we know not what we do".^[10][11] It was that song specifically that made hip hop producer Dr. Dre want to work with Lamar.^[12] This led to him working with Dre and Snoop Dogg on Dre's Detox album and him considering signing to Aftermath Entertainment.^[6][13] In January 2011 Lamar said his debut album was 90% finished.^[6]

In early 2011 Lamar was featured on XXL Magazine's 2011 Freshman cover along with CyHi the Prynce, Meek Mill, Mac Miller, Yelawolf, Lil B, Big K.R.I.T. and Diggy Simmons among others.^[14] On July 2, 2011, Lamar released his third solo project Section.80 to critical acclaim. It features guest appearances from GLC, Colin Munroe, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and includes production from longtime collaborator Sounwave, Wyldfyer, Terrace Martin, J. Cole and more. On the topic of whether Section.80 would be an album or a mixtape Lamar said "I treat every project like it’s an album anyway. It’s not gonna be nothing leftover. I never do nothing like that. These are my leftover songs y’all can have ‘em, nah. I’m gonna put my best out. My best effort. I’m tryna look for an album in 2012". The first single for Section.80 was the J. Cole produced track "HiiiPower", of which the concept was to further explain the HiiiPower movement. Section.80 went on to sell over 10,000 copies in its first week^[15] without any television or radio coverage and received many very positive reviews. In the second half of 2011, Lamar appeared on Game's The R.E.D. Album, Tech N9ne's All 6's and 7's, 9th Wonder's The Wonder Years and Drake's Take Care.

In August 2011, while onstage with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Game, at the West Los Angeles concert, the three of them crowned him the "New King of the West Coast"^[16]

[edit] 2012–present: Good Kid in a Mad City

On February 15, 2012, a song titled "Cartoons & Cereal" featuring Gunplay of Triple C's was leaked.^[17] Lamar revealed later that the track was for his upcoming album and he was planning to shoot a video for it.^[18]

In March 2012, MTV announced that Top Dawg Entertainment, the independent record label Lamar is signed to, have closed a joint venture deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, marking the end of his career as an independent artist. Under the new deal, Kendrick Lamar’s projects, including his upcoming debut studio album Good Kid in a Mad City will be jointly released via Top Dawg, Aftermath and Interscope, while releases from the rest of Black Hippy will be distributed via Top Dawg and Interscope.^[19]

Lamar premiered "The Recipe", his debut single and the lead single from Good Kid in a Mad City, at Power 106 on April 2, 2012. The track was released for digital download the following day. The song was produced by Scoop DeVille and features Dr. Dre.^{[citation needed]}

It was announced on May 14, 2012, that Lamar is working on a collaborative album with J. Cole. In an interview with Bootleg Kev, Cole stated that "I just started working with Kendrick the other day. We got it in, finally, again. We got maybe four or five [songs] together."

Personal life[link]

In high school, Centennial in Compton, Lamar was a good student.^[4] Lamar said that he has seen relatives who have died in his dreams for years. Tupac Shakur is also his favorite rapper, and influences not only his music, but his day-to-day lifestyle as well. In terms of subject matter, Kendrick Lamar has often been compared to Tupac Shakur. ^[6][20][21] He revealed that his favorite and most influential rappers are Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Jay-Z and his label-mate Eminem.

Discography[link]

• Section.80 (2011)
• Good Kid in a Mad City (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kendrick Lamar on Twitter
• kedricklamar.com Official Site

Pamela Anderson
Anderson attending "The 6th Annual Hollywood Style Awards", Beverly Hills, California on October 10, 2009
Born	Pamela Denise Anderson (1967-07-01) July 1, 1967 (age 44) Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada
Other names	Pamela Anderson Lee Pam Anderson
Occupation	Actress, model, producer, activist, author, former showgirl,UK Reality TV Participant (Big Brother 2011)
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Tommy Lee (m. 1995–1998) «start: (1995)–end+1: (1999)»"Marriage: Tommy Lee to Pamela Anderson" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Pamela_Anderson) (divorced) Kid Rock (m. 2006–2007) «start: (2006)–end+1: (2008)»"Marriage: Kid Rock to Pamela Anderson" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Pamela_Anderson) (divorced) Rick Salomon (m. 2007–2008) «start: (2007)–end+1: (2009)»"Marriage: Rick Salomon to Pamela Anderson" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Pamela_Anderson) (annulled)
Partner	Tommy Lee (1999–2001; 2008–2009) Marcus Schenkenberg (2000–2001) Kid Rock (2001–2003)
Website
http://pamelaanderson.com/

Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl, known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990.^[1] For a time, she was known as Pamela Anderson Lee (or Pamela Lee) after marrying Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. She maintains dual American and Canadian citizenship.^[2]

Early life[link]

Anderson was born in Ladysmith, British Columbia, the daughter of Barry, a furnace repairman, and Carol (née Grosco) Anderson, a waitress.^[3] Her great-grandfather, Juho Hyytiäinen, was Finnish, a native of Saarijärvi, and left the Grand Duchy of Finland (which was a part of the Russian Empire at the time) in 1908,^[4] changing his name to Anderson when he arrived as an immigrant. Anderson also has Russian ancestry on her mother's side.^[5]

Career[link]

After graduating from Highland Secondary School in 1985, Anderson moved to Vancouver and worked as a fitness instructor. During the summer of 1989, Anderson went with her friends to a BC Lions game at BC Place, and during the game she was shown on the stadium screen wearing a Labatt's t-shirt, causing the crowd to cheer for the 21-year-old Anderson. She was taken down to the field to receive an ovation from the crowd. Her photographer boyfriend Dan Ilicic produced the Blue Zone Girl poster on his own.^[6] In October 1989 she appeared as the cover girl on Playboy magazine. At this stage in her modelling career, she had decided to live in Los Angeles to further pursue her career ambitions. She became a centrefold for Playboy when the magazine chose her to be their Playmate of the Month for their February 1990 issue. She then chose to get breast implants. Anderson has since appeared in Playboy several times in the 1990s and 2000s.

Acting and modeling[link]

This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (August 2011)

After her move to Los Angeles, she won a minor role as the original "Tool Time girl" on the hit television sitcom, Home Improvement. She left the show after two seasons and won the role of C. J. Parker on Baywatch, a role she played between 1992 and 1998. Anderson was still modeling for Outdoor Life and appearing on the cover of the magazine each year. In 1993, Anderson appeared in a music video "Can't Have Your Cake" by Vince Neil to promote his first solo album Exposed.

In 1994, she was cast in her first starring role in Raw Justice also known as Good Cop, Bad Cop, a film in which she costarred with Stacy Keach, David Keith and Airplane! star Robert Hays. The film won the Bronze Award at the Worldfest-Charleston in the category for dramatic theatrical films under the title Good Cop, Bad Cop. The notable cast was the focus of many reviewers. ^[7][8]

In 1996, she appeared in Barb Wire playing Barbara Rose Kopetski, which was later claimed by some sources to be Anderson's real name, although it is not. The movie, a thinly veiled futuristic remake of Casablanca, was not a commercial success. In April 1997, she guest-hosted Saturday Night Live. She appeared on one of two covers for the September issue of Playboy.

In September 1998, Anderson starred as Vallery Irons in the Sony Pictures Entertainment hit syndicated show V.I.P. created by J. F. Lawton.^[9] Blending action and humor in a fast-paced adventure series, with Anderson often poking fun at her tabloid image, the show explored the exciting and sometimes treacherous lives of the rich and famous.^[10] The series lasted through a successful four year run.^[11] In 1999, she appeared as a giantess in the music video for "Miserable" by California alternative rock band Lit. Her role as C.J. Parker gave her more popularity and gained her attention from international viewers. She returned to Baywatch for the 2003 reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding. She appeared on The Nanny as Fran's rival, Heather Biblow.

Anderson aboard USS Ronald Reagan, (2004)

In early 2004, Anderson returned to the spotlight. In May, she appeared naked on the cover of Playboy magazine. It was the first time she had appeared naked on any magazine cover. Later, she posed naked for Stuff and GQ magazines.

Anderson became a naturalized citizen of the United States on May 12, 2004, while retaining her Canadian citizenship. She has lived in Southern California since 1989.

In 2004, she released the book Star, co-written by Eric Shaw Quinn, about a teenager trying to become famous. After this, she began touring the United States, signing autographs for fans at Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Her second book, the sequel Star Struck, released in 2005, is a thinly veiled look at her life with Tommy Lee and the trials of celebrity life. In April 2005, Anderson starred in a new Fox sitcom Stacked as Skyler Dayton, a party girl who goes to work at a bookstore. It was canceled on May 18, 2006, after two seasons, although some episodes were never aired. On August 14, 2005, Comedy Central created the Roast of Pamela Anderson to honor the sex symbol for the past decade. During her final speech at the Roast, Anderson referred to her breasts as "Pancho and Lefty".

In December 2005, NBC cut off a video of Anderson pole dancing on Elton John's "The Red Piano." NBC said that the footage was inappropriate for prime time. The video was shown on huge screens during the event, while John played "The Bitch is Back". In March 2006, it was announced that Anderson would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame thanks to her many years as a model and actress. She is only the second model to receive a star. In April 2006, Anderson hosted Canada's Juno Awards, becoming the first non-singer and model to do so.

She was referenced in the 2006 mockumentary, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, as the title character becomes obsessed with her, and plans to abduct and marry her. She appears as herself at a book signing at the end of the film, confronted by Borat in a staged botched abduction.^[12]

She performed on February 13–14, 2008 in a Valentine's Day striptease act at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris.^[13] Anderson then starred in Pam: Girl on the Loose, which debuted on August 3, 2008 on E! in the United States.

In December 2009, Anderson guest-starred as Genie of the Lamp in the pantomime Aladdin at the New Wimbledon Theatre in Wimbledon, south-west London, England.^[14][15] Anderson took over the role from comedienne Ruby Wax, with former EastEnders actress Anita Dobson and comedian Paul O'Grady also booked for the role.^[16]

Anderson is due to star in a short film The Commuter directed by the McHenry Brothers to promote the Nokia N8 smartphone in the UK^[17] Fans of Anderson, who won a Nokia UK run competition, will be starring alongside Anderson in the short film.

[edit] Playboy career

Pamela Anderson
Playboy centerfold appearance
February 1990
Preceded by	Peggy McIntaggart
Succeeded by	Deborah Driggs
Personal details
Born	July 1, 1967
Measurements	Bust: 36 in (91 cm)[1] Waist: 22 in (56 cm) Hips: 34 in (86 cm)
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]
Weight	105 lb (48 kg; 7.5 st)[1]

Anderson's Playboy career spans three decades (1989–2011), and she has appeared on more Playboy covers than anyone else.^[18] She has also made appearances in the publication's newsstand specials. Anderson wrote the foreword in the Playboy coffee table book Playboy's Greatest Covers.

Pro wrestling[link]

• During an appearance at the World Wrestling Federation's Royal Rumble in 1995, Anderson promised that she would accompany the winner of the Royal Rumble to WrestleMania. Anderson returned for her appearance at the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania XI on April 2, but as the guest valet for WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel and not the Royal Rumble winner, his opponent Shawn Michaels; Michaels ended up being accompanied to the ring by Jenny McCarthy. After pinning Michaels, Diesel left with both Anderson and McCarthy.
• In anticipation of her appearance at the Royal Rumble, several skits were produced featuring wrestlers fawning over Anderson. One commercial featured Anderson coming home and checking her answering machine. As Anderson strips down behind a curtain, messages from wrestlers such as Shawn Michaels, Diesel, and Doink the Clown can be heard.
• At the 2006 Canada's Walk of Fame induction ceremony, Anderson shared a kiss with WWE diva and fellow Canadian Trish Stratus.
• She appeared on former Pro Wrestling commentator Mark Madden's Pittsburgh-based sports talk radio show in October, 2006.

[edit] Big Brother

On July 9, 2008, Anderson entered the Australian Big Brother house for a three-day visit.^[19] This was Anderson's first foray into reality television. In November 2010, Anderson appeared on season 4 of Bigg Boss, the Indian version of the Big Brother television franchise. She stayed as a guest in the house for three days for a reported sum of Rs. 2.5 crores (approx $ 550,000 USD).^[20] Furthering her involvement in the franchise, In September 2011, Anderson took part in the 12th series of the UK version of Big Brother.^[21]

[edit] Dancing with the Stars

Anderson was a contestant on the tenth season of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with professional dancer Damian Whitewood. The season premiered on Monday, March 22, 2010,^[22] and after seven weeks, Anderson was eliminated.^[23]

In 2011, she appeared on the Argentinian version of Dancing with the Stars, entitled Bailando por un sueño (Bailando 2011). She withdrew from the competition after the fourth round.^[24]

Personal life[link]

Relationships[link]

In addition to her fame from modelling and acting, Anderson has received a great deal of press attention for her well-publicized personal life. Her relationships have made headlines in gossip magazines for years. Anderson married Tommy Lee, drummer of Mötley Crüe, on February 19, 1995, after knowing him for only 96 hours and the couple eventually had two sons, Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee, named for Anderson's great grandfather, Dale Jagger Grosco who fought in World War II. During this time, she was known professionally as Pamela Anderson Lee. Anderson filed for divorce from Lee twice and reconciled with him twice, before the couple finally broke up for good, however, she admitted to newspapers that she still often had sex with him since their divorce.^[25]

In March 2002, Anderson publicly stated that she had contracted the Hepatitis C virus from Lee (supposedly from sharing tattoo needles), and began writing a regular column for Jane magazine. In October 2003, Anderson jokingly said on Howard Stern's radio show that she does not expect to live more than 10 or 15 years,^[26] but this was misconstrued and taken seriously by many websites and tabloids.

Anderson and Kid Rock in 2003

Since her divorce, she has been engaged to the model Marcus Schenkenberg and to the singer Kid Rock (Robert J. Ritchie). She broke up with Schenkenberg in 2001 and with Kid Rock in 2003. It was announced on July 18, 2006 that she would marry Kid Rock on July 29, 2006, on a yacht near St Tropez, France. "Feels like I've been stuck in a time warp," said Anderson in her blog entry. "Not able to let go of MY family picture ... it's been sad and lonely and frustrating ... I've raised my kids alone in hope of a miracle. Well my miracle came and went. And came back and back because he knew that I'd wake up one day and realize that I was waiting for nothing." "I'm moving on," she declared. "I feel like I'm finally free ... I'm in love." There was extensive unconfirmed media speculation that the marriage was pregnancy-related, but the theory was based only on Anderson's representative's refusal to comment on the question.^[27]

On November 10, 2006, it was announced that Anderson had miscarried while in Vancouver shooting a new film, Blonde and Blonder.^[28] Seventeen days later, on November 27, 2006, Anderson filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court from Kid Rock, citing irreconcilable differences.^[29] Some news reports have suggested that Kid Rock's outrage during a screening of Borat, in which she plays a cameo role, led to the filing for divorce two weeks later.^[30]

Anderson told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres in September 2007 that she was engaged. On September 29, Anderson and Rick Salomon, applied for a marriage license in Las Vegas.^[31] Anderson married Salomon between her two nightly appearances at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Hans Klok's magic show in a small wedding ceremony at The Mirage on October 6, 2007.^[32] However, the couple separated on December 13, and on February 22, 2008, Anderson requested through the courts that the marriage be annulled citing fraud.^[33]

Sex tapes[link]

A sex tape of Anderson and Tommy Lee on their honeymoon was stolen from their home, and made a huge stir on the Internet. Anderson sued the video distribution company, Internet Entertainment Group. Ultimately, the Lees entered into a confidential settlement agreement with IEG. Thereafter, the company began making the tape available to subscribers to its Web sites again, resulting in triple the normal traffic on the site.^[34]

A second tape, which was made before the Tommy Lee tape, involving Anderson and musician Bret Michaels from Poison was later announced, and an abridged version of less than 60 seconds appeared on the internet. Frames of the video first appeared in Penthouse magazine in March 1998. The tape was successfully blocked by Michaels, but a four-minute sex tape is still available on the Internet.

Legal[link]

The California Franchise Tax Board cited Anderson as delinquent in state income taxes owing nearly $525,000, in a list of Top 500 Delinquent Taxpayers^[35], updated on April 12, 2012. The tax board had filed a lien against Anderson on April 7, 2009.

Charitable work, activism and advocacy[link]

Anderson promoting vegetarianism

Anderson is a vegan, an advocate for animal rights, and an active member of the animal protection organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), taking part in several campaigns for animal rights.^[36][37] She became a vegetarian in her early teens when she saw her father cleaning an animal he had hunted.^[38]

One of Anderson's campaigns as a member of PETA has been against the use of fur. In 1999, Anderson received the first Linda McCartney Memorial Award for animal rights protectors, in recognition of her campaign. In 2003, Anderson stripped down for PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" advertising campaign. On June 28, 2006, Anderson posed naked with other protesters on a window display of the Stella McCartney boutique in London, England. It was a PETA gala event before the PETA Humanitarian Awards. Anderson went inside the boutique and said she would take her clothes off if the event raised enough money for PETA, which it did. She campaigned against Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 2001, Anderson released a letter in support of PETA's campaign against Kentucky Fried Chicken, stating "What KFC does to 750 million chickens each year is not civilized or acceptable." She later made a video about KFC's treatment of chickens.^[39] In January 2006, Anderson requested that the Governor of Kentucky remove a bust of Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC, from display but her request was refused even when she offered her own bust in exchange. In February 2006, Anderson decided to boycott the Kentucky Derby because of its support for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

She has also campaigned against seal hunting in Canada. In March 2006, Anderson asked to speak to Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the annual seal hunt but she was refused. In May 2006, she petitioned random individuals on the street for their opinion on the Canadian Seal Hunt. In December, 2009, Anderson, photographed in a t-shirt with a drawn picture of a seal pup on it, was featured in a new ad campaign for PETA. She appears next to the headline "Save the Seals" in the ad and urges the public to help end "Canada's annual seal slaughter." She joined forces with PETA in a campaign for the boycott of fruit-juice maker POM. The "Pom Horrible Campaign"^[40] has resulted in the company halting animal tests. In March 2005, Anderson became a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics's MAC AIDS Fund, which helped people affected by AIDS and HIV. After becoming the official spokesmodel, Anderson raised money during events in Toronto, Tokyo, Dublin, and Athens. Anderson became the celebrity spokesperson for the American Liver Foundation, and served as the Grand Marshal of the SOS motorcycle ride fundraiser. She wrote an open letter to President Barack Obama urging the legalization of cannabis.^[41]

Anderson became the center of controversy when she posed in a bikini nearly nude for a PETA ad that was banned in Montreal, Canada on grounds that the ad was sexist. Anderson retorted saying, "In a city that is known for its exotic dancing and for being progressive and edgy, how sad that a woman would be banned from using her own body in a political protest over the suffering of cows and chickens. In some parts of the world, women are forced to cover their whole bodies with burqas – is that next? I didn't think that Canada would be so puritanical." ^[42]

She became a company spokesperson for FrogAds, Inc. in March 2012.^[43]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

• The Flintstones: Little Big League (1978)
• Charles in Charge episode "Teacher's Pest" (1990)
• Married... with Children episode "Al With Kelly" (1990)
• Married... with Children episode "Route 666: Part 2" (1991)
• Home Improvement (cast member from 1991–1993)
• Baywatch (cast member from 1992–1997)
• Days of our Lives (cast member in 1992)
• Come Die with Me: A Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Mystery (1994)
• The Nanny episode "Danny's Dead and Who's Got the Will?" (1997)
• The Nanny episode "The Heather Biblow Story" (1997)
• V.I.P. (1998–2002)
• Futurama (voice) episode "A Fishful of Dollars" (1999)
• Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003)
• Less Than Perfect episode "All About Claude" (2003)
• Stripperella (voice) (2003–2004)
• Stacked (2005–2006)
• Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson (2005)
• 8 Simple Rules episode "C.J.'s Temptation" (2005)
• 8 Simple Rules episode "Torn Between Two Lovers" (2005)
• MADtv (2005)
• Pam: Girl on the Loose (2008)
• The Sunday Night Project – Guest Host (2008)
• Big Brother Australia – House Guest for 3 days (2008)
• Dancing with the Stars (2010) – As contestant
• Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff (2010) – As roaster
• Magic Numbers (in the United Kingdom) (2010) – as guest
• Bigg Boss India – House Guest for 4 days (2010)
• Celebrity Juice – As a Guest
• Bailando 2011 (2011) – As contestant
• Les Anges de la télé-réalité (France, season 2) (2011) – as guest in Miami house
• Big Brother UK – as guest in the house (2011)
• Yalan Dünya episode number 9 (2012) – guest appearance as herself
• RuPaul's Drag Race – guest judge