| | Padma Lakshmi |
| March, 2006 ''Newsweek'' cover |
| '''Born''' |
| ''(Day/Month Unknown)'', 1970 <br />Madras, Tamil Nadu, India |
| '''Occupation''' |
| Actress, Model, Writer, TV Host |
| '''Career milestones''' |
| ''Easy Exotic'' (1999)<br />''Padma's Passport'' (2001)<br />''Boom'' (2003)<br />''Sharpe's Challenge'' (2006) |
'''Padma Lakshmi''' is a New York-based Indian-American model, actress, talk show host and award-winning cookbook author. She was born in Madras, India in 1970, and is fluent in five languages - English, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, and Tamil. Her first name literally means "lotus flower" in Hindi.
She is married to novelist Salman Rushdie. Her cookbook ''Easy Exotic'' was awarded Best First Book at the 1999 World Cookbook Awards at Versailles. She was host of the Food Network series, ''Padma's Passport'' which is part of the larger series, ''Melting Pot''. She has also been a guest host on parts of the British culinary tourism show, Planet Food. She hosted the segments on India and Spain. Other notable television roles include a guest appearance as an imperious princess in what is often considered the absolute worst episode of ''Star Trek: Enterprise.'' It is rumoured that she also took part in a battle scene disguised as a reptilian. She was host of ''Domenica In'', Italy's top-rated television show. She also starred in ''Glitter'' with Mariah Carey and in ''Boom'' with Amitabh Bachchan. In 2006 she starred in ABC's ''The Ten Commandments'' with Dougray Scott, Naveen Andrews, and Omar Sharif. She played Sean Bean's nemesis in the iTV film ''Sharpe's Challenge.'' She is a graduate of Clark University in Massachusetts, where she majored in Theater Arts.
Beginning in October 2006, she will host the Bravo reality show ''Top Chef''.
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Genre | Role |
| 1995 | ''Unzipped'' | Documentary (High Fashion) | Herself |
| 1997 | ''Linda e il brigadiere''<br> ''ep: Il fratello di Linda'' | TV Series (Italian, Comedy) | "Indian Lady" |
| 1998 | ''Figlio di Sandokan, Il'' | TV Series (Italian, Drama) | N/A |
| 1999 | ''Caraibi'' | TV Series (Italian, Adventure) | Malinche |
| 2000 | ''Planet Food'' | Documentary (Cooking) | Host |
| 2001 | ''Glitter'' | Film (US, Drama) | Sylk |
| 2001 | ''Melting Pot: Padma's Passport'' | TV Series (US, Cooking) | Host |
| 2002 | ''Star Trek: Enterprise''<br> ep: ''Precious Cargo'' | TV Series (US, Sci-Fi) | Kaitaama |
| 2003 | ''Boom'' | Film (Indian, Drama) | Shiela Bardez |
| 2005 | ''The Mistress of Spices'' | Film (Indian, Drama) | Geeta |
| 2006 | ''The Ten Commandments'' | TV Series (US, Biblical) | Princess Bithia |
| 2006 | ''Sharpe''<br> ep: ''Sharpe's Challenge'' | TV Movie (Action/History/War) | Madhuvanthi |
External links
* Padma Lakshmi official website.* Padma Lakshmi's Roots
Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!
