British-born American model and actress Emily Ratajkowski topless photos from Instagram 2017
Emily O’Hara Ratajkowski (/ˌrætəˈkaʊski/; born June 7, 1991) is a British-born American model and actress. Born to American parents in London and raised primarily in California, she rose to prominence in 2013 after appearing in the music video for Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”, which became the number one song of the year in several countries and attracted controversy over its purportedly sexist content.
Ratajkowski appeared on the cover of the March 2012 issue of the erotic magazine treats!, which led to her being asked to appear in two music videos – “Blurred Lines” and Maroon 5’s “Love Somebody”. She appeared in the 2014 and 2015 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. Ratajkowski made her professional runway modeling debut for Marc Jacobs at New York Fashion Week in 2015 and has since walked on the Paris Fashion Week runway for Miu Miu. She appeared in a Buick Super Bowl commercial during Super Bowl 50.
Ratajkowski began acting as a child in the San Diego area before she gained a recurring role on the Nickelodeon series iCarly and later roles in major films. Her feature film debut was as the mistress of Ben Affleck’s character in the 2014 film Gone Girl. Ratajkowski’s other roles have included the films Entourage and We Are Your Friends (her first leading role) as well as the miniseries The Spoils Before Dying and the anthology series Easy.
Ratajkowski is an advocate for women’s health issues as a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood and supports the right of women to express their sexuality. Her claim to being a feminist has been both supported and disputed.
Emily O’Hara Ratajkowski was born on June 7, 1991, in Westminster, London, the only child of Kathleen Balgley and John David “J.D.” Ratajkowski, both American. Balgley, a professor of English, was teaching under the Fulbright Program, when she met J.D., a painter and art teacher, while they were both teaching at San Dieguito Academy. At the time of their daughter’s birth, they were aged 39 and 45, respectively, and unmarried. Ratajkowski describes her mother as a “feminist and intellectual”. The family lived in West Kensington and Bloomsbury before they settled in the United States in San Diego, California, when Ratajkowski was five. She was raised primarily in nearby Encinitas in a small house near the ocean. Balgley formerly taught at California Polytechnic State University.
Ratajkowski is of Irish, German, and Polish descent. Her father was raised Catholic, while her mother was raised Jewish. Ratajkowski describes her heritage as “Polish Israeli”. She lived in, and traveled to, many parts of Europe as a youth, including long periods in the Irish town of Bantry and on the Spanish island of Mallorca. She spent her young adult summers in Ireland until she became a full-time model.
Before Ratajkowski left London at the age of five, she was obsessed with theater. She began acting as a child, staging shows for her family. Ratajkowski’s first formal role was as Elsa in an adaptation of The Little Match Girl at the North Coast Repertory Theatre School in Solana Beach, California. Later, in 2004, she played Harriet in the interactive Lyceum Theatre production of Harriet Potter and the Throne of Applewort. Ratajkowski grew up without television; she tried soccer, acting, and ballet before modeling.
Ratajkowski visited nude beaches in Europe with her family during her youth. Exposure to the nude female figure in photography and art during her formative years, including the work of her father, as well as the photography of Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts, prepared Ratajkowski for nude work. She is comfortable with the naked body, and states, “We have this culture of men, especially, watching pornography, but then [they are] offended by a classic nude portrait or photograph, and I’ve never felt that way.” Ratajkowski was also influenced by third-wave feminism and works such as The Beauty Myth and Promiscuities by Naomi Wolf. She claims that her role selection is swayed by the Bechdel test. She was a physically mature young teenager who endured pressure to limit expressing her sexuality and how she presented herself.
