PAM GRIER

'Pamela Suzette Grier' (born May 26, 1949) is an iconic American actress. She came to fame in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women-in-prison and blaxploitation films, and has generally remained in the public eye, starring in B-movies such as 1974's ''Foxy Brown'', and in mainstream films such as Quentin Tarantino's 1997 film, ''Jackie Brown''. But due to her box office smash films, Pam Grier has become the Queen Of 70s films.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Awards/nominations

Filmography

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Grier was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S., to African-American parents Clarence Ransom Grier, who worked as a mechanic in the United States Air Force, and Gwendolyn Sylvia (née Samuels), a homemaker and nurse.^[1] She has two sisters and one brother. She is a cousin of former football star Rosey Grier. Because of her father's military career, Pam's family moved frequently during her childhood, to various places such as England, and eventually settled in Denver, Colorado, where Pam attended East High School. While there she appeared in a number of stage productions, and participated in beauty contests to raise money for college tuition toward Metropolitan State College.

Career

Grier moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1967, where she was initially hired as a receptionist at the American International Pictures company. She was discovered by director Roger Corman, who cast her in his women in prison films ''The Big Doll House'' (1971) and ''The Big Bird Cage'' (1972). She became a staple of early
1970s blaxploitation movies, playing big, bold, buxom roles, beginning with 1973's ''Coffy'', in which Pam plays a nurse who seeks revenge on drug dealers; her film character was advertised in the trailer as the "baddest one-chick hit-squad that ever hit town!" The film, which was filled with sexual and violent elements typical of the genre, was a box office hit, and Grier was noted as the first African-American female to headline a film, as protagonists of previous blaxploitation films were all male. In his review of ''Coffy'', film critic Roger Ebert noted that Pam Grier was an actress of "beautiful face and astonishing form" and that she possessed a kind of "physical life" missing from other actresses.^[2] Grier subsequently played similar characters in the films ''Foxy Brown'' (1974), ''Friday Foster'', and ''Sheba, Baby'' (both 1975).
With the demise of blaxploitation, Grier's career went on hiatus for several years. She acquired progressively larger character roles in the 1980s, including notably the stoned prostitute in ''Fort Apache the Bronx'' (1981), a witch in ''Something Wicked this Way Comes'' (1983), and Steven Seagal's detective partner in ''Above the Law'' (1988). She made a guest appearance on ''Miami Vice'' in 1985, and made a guest appearance on ''The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'' as a woman who slept with her daughter's boyfriend, Will Smith.

Grier highlighted a successful television series during the 1990s on BET. She again appeared in 1997 as the titular stewardess in Quentin Tarantino's ''Jackie Brown'', which many consider her best work to date. As of 2004, she appears in the cable television series ''The L Word'' as Kit Porter and occasionally guest-stars in such television series as '' (where she is a recurring character).

Personal life

Grier dated basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during the early 1970s and actor/comedian Richard Pryor in 1977. She was also romantically linked to actor/comedian Freddie Prinze in the 1970s. In 1998, she was engaged to music executive Kevin Evans, but they split in 1999.
According to one of the many John Lennon biographies, she was at the famed Troubador night club in Hollywood the night Lennon was ejected for drunkenly heckling The Smothers Brothers.

Awards/nominations

★ Black Reel Awards

★
★ 2002, Best Actress: Bones (Nominated)

★ Daytime Emmy Awards

★
★ 2000, Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program: Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Ever Child (Nominated)

★ Golden Globe

★
★ 1998, Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy: Jackie Brown (Nominated)

★ Image Awards

★
★ 2006, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: The L Word (Nominated)

★
★ 2005, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: The L Word (Nominated)

★
★ 2004, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Law & Order: SVU (Nominated)

★
★ 2003, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Law & Order: SVU (Nominated)

★
★ 2002, Outstanding Actress in a Mini-Series/ Television Movie: 3 a.m. (Nominated)

★
★ 2000, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series: Linc's (Nominated)

★
★ 1999, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series: Linc's (Nominated)

★
★ 1998, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Jackie Brown (Nominated)

★ Satellite Awards

★
★ 1998, Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy Motion Picture: Jackie Brown (Nominated)

★ Screen Actors Guild

★
★ 1998, Oustanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Jackie Brown (Nominated)

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	'' Back in the Day''	Mrs. Cooper
2002	''The Adventures of Pluto Nash''	Flura Nash
2001	''Bones''	Pearl
	''Ghosts of Mars''	Commander Helena Braddock
2000	''Snow Day''	Tina
1999	''Holy Smoke!''	Carol
	''In Too Deep''	Det. Angela Wilson
	''Jawbreaker''	Detective Vera Cruz
1997	''Jackie Brown''	Jackie Brown
1996	''Mars Attacks!''	Louise Williams
	''Escape from L.A.''	Hershe Las Palmas
	''Original Gangstas''	Laurie Thompson
1993	''Posse''	Phoebe
1991	''Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey''	Ms. Wardroe
1990	''Class of 1999''	Ms. Connors
1989	''The Package''	Ruth Butler
1988	''Above the Law''	Delores 'Jacks' Jackson
1987	''The Allnighter''	Sgt. McLeesh
1986	''On the Edge''	Cora
1983	''Something Wicked This Way Comes''	Dust Witch
	''Tough Enough''	Myra
1981	''Fort Apache the Bronx''	Charlotte
1977	''Greased Lightning''	Mary Jones
1976	''Drum''	Regine
1975	''Friday Foster''	Friday Foster
	''Bucktown''	Aretha
	''Sheba, Baby''	Sheba Shayne
1974	''Foxy Brown''	Foxy Brown
1973	''The Arena''	Mamawi
	''Scream Blacula Scream''	Lisa
	''Coffy''	Coffy
	''The Twilight People''	Ayesa, the Panther Woman
1972	''Hit Man''	Gozelda
	''Black Mama, White Mama''	Lee Daniels
	''The Big Bird Cage''	Blossom
	''Cool Breeze''	Mona
1971	''Women in Cages''	Alabama
	''The Big Doll House''	Grear
1970	''Beyond the Valley of the Dolls''	Partygoer

References

1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/88/Pam-Grier.html
2. RogerEbert.com

External links

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