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VetFamily: Victoria Principal 
Star
Reaches for the Skies
By Roy Asfar,
Special to Veterans Advantage
 The
latest chapter in Victoria Principal’s
storied career is space travel. Daughter of an
Air Force Veteran, she has her sights on taking
to the skies like her dad and becoming one of
the first civilian women in space.
"Maybe my greatest fear in life is not
to be challenged, is to grow weary of life, and
not to be passionate about it," said Principal
who offers a resume filled with diverse accomplishments.
As an agent, actress, producer and businesswoman,
Principal is best-known around the world for
her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing (1978-1987),
the stylish, reconciled wife of oilman Bobby
Ewing (played by Patrick Duffy) on CBS' long-running
prime-time soap opera "Dallas." The
role earned Victoria a Golden Globe nomination
for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series – Drama.
Victoria Principal is the eldest of two daughters
born in Japan to Victor Principal and Ree Veal.
Her father, a U.S. Air Force sergeant, was often
transferred to different duty stations, so the
family moved regularly. Victoria grew up in London,
Florida, Puerto Rico, Massachusetts and Georgia,
among other places. Alongside her younger sister,
she attended 17 different schools. While in England,
Victoria spent two years studying at the Royal
Academy of Ballet. At that time, she was only
the second American ever accepted into the prestigious
program.
CAREER & PERSONAL
Victoria's acting career began when
she made a commercial at age five, and she began
modeling in high school. Enrolled at Miami-Dade
Community College to study chiropractic medicine,
a car accident led her to abandon her medical career
goal and reset a path to acting. She returned to
London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic
Art.
Her career in acting
spans over 30 years, and her “Body Principal” products in
the 1980s set off a unique physical fitness boom
for women across America. Principal has also
appeared on more covers of "TV Guide" than
anyone else with the exception of Lucille Ball.
Professionally, she is well known nowadays for
her skin care products often promoted on infomercials.
While she faced major adjustments after a high-profile
divorce in 2006, she finds her new life enriching:
“Well I no longer live in the city. I
live basically on the edge of the world in a
seaside community. It’s further out from
Los Angeles and from the business so to speak.
I’m living a life, which is more in unison
with nature, where life is not centered around
show business, where dinner conversations are
infrequently about show business. I feel it’s
a much more well rounded life,” she says
on the official “Dallas” Web site.
One could also say
getting more “in unison
with nature” has been taken to a higher
level. Principal recently announced she teamed
up with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic,
planning an outer space journey in September,
2008, and is reported to have begun training
for the mission.
“I have a history of enjoying unusual
experiences, thrills I suppose. Someone asked
me if I thought I was taking a risk and very
often I think when we don’t do things that
is the greater risk. I consider this living.
If you think about how many people have lost
their lives going into space more people lose
their lives every hour on the freeway,” she
says on the “Dallas” Web site.
LEADERSHIP
Over a 12-year period, Victoria served the Arthritis
Foundation as Honorary Chairperson and Ambassador
to Government, receiving special recognition
from then President Ronald Reagan as both of
her parents suffered from the disease.
Currently, she also is the co-chair of Victory
Over Violence, the LA County Domestic Violence
Council Community Advisory Board. The Community
Advisory Board is a coalition of representatives
from the entertainment industry, business, government,
and community who have come together with the
dual purposes of increasing public awareness
of issues surrounding domestic violence and increasing
shelter and victim resources.
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