Page "Erin Brockovich" Paragraph 1

She was born Erin Pattee in Lawrence, Kansas, to Frank Pattee, an industrial engineer and Betty Jo O ' Neal-Pattee, a journalist.

She attended Lawrence High School then Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, and graduated with an Associate in Applied Arts Degree from Wades Business College in Dallas, Texas.

She worked as a management trainee for Kmart in 1981 but quit after a few months and entered a beauty pageant.

After winning Miss Pacific Coast in 1981, she gave up pageant life.

She has lived in California since 1982.