BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Pam Grier
Pam Grier
An Evening With Pam Grier (6830131549).jpg
Grier at a reception for "An Evening with Pam Grier" at the Canadian Film Centre, 2012.
Born Pamela Suzette Grier
May 26, 1949 (age 66)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
Nationality American
Education East High School
Metropolitan State College
Occupation Actress
Years active 1970–present
Known for Coffy Coffin in Coffy – 1973
Foxy Brown in Foxy Brown – 1974
Sheba Shayne in Sheba Baby – 1975
Friday Foster in Friday Foster – 1975
Jackie Brown in Jackie Brown – 1997
Partner(s) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1970–73)
Richard Pryor (1975–78)
Kevin Evans (1997–99)
Awards San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress – Jackie Brown
Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films like The Big Bird Cage (1972), Coffy (1973), Foxy Brown (1974) and Sheba Baby (1975). Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film Jackie Brown, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for a SAG Award as well as a Satellite Award for her performance in Jackie Brown. Grier is also known for her work on television, for 6 seasons she portrayed Kate 'Kit' Porter on the television series The L Word. She received an Emmy Award nomination for her work in the animated program Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child. Rotten Tomatoes has ranked her as the second greatest female action heroine in film history.[1] Director Quentin Tarantino remarked that she may have been cinema's first female action star.[2] She played the manipulative Amanda Waller, head of the Checkmate organisation, in the longrunning TV series, "Smallville".
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
Early life
Pam Grier was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the daughter of Gwendolyn Sylvia (née Samuels), a homemaker and nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier, Jr., who worked as a mechanic and Technical Sergeant in the United States Air Force. She has one sister and one brother.[3] Grier has stated that she is of mixed ancestry consisting of African-American, Hispanic, Chinese, Filipino and Cheyenne Indian heritage.[4]
At age 6, Grier was raped by two boys when she was left unattended at her aunt's house. "It took so long to deal with the pain of that," she says, "You try to deal with it, but you never really get over it," she adds. "And not just me; my family endured so much guilt and anger that something like that happened to me."[4]
Because of her father's military career, her family moved frequently during her childhood, to various places such as England, and eventually settled in Denver, where she attended East High School. While in Denver she appeared in a number of stage productions, and participated in beauty contests to raise money for college tuition at 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 (AIP) company.[citation needed] It is believed that she was discovered by director Jack Hill,[citation needed] who cast her in his women in prison films The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972).
While under contract at AIP, she became a staple of early 1970s blaxploitation movies, playing big, bold, assertive women, beginning with Jack Hill's Coffy (1973), in which she plays a nurse who seeks revenge on drug dealers. Her 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. Grier was noted as the first African-American female to headline an action film, as protagonists of previous blaxploitation films were males. In his review of Coffy, critic Roger Ebert praised the film for its believable female lead. He noted that Grier was an actress of "beautiful face and astonishing form" and that she possessed a kind of "physical life" missing from many other attractive actresses.[5] Grier subsequently played similar characters in the AIP films Foxy Brown (1974), Sheba, Baby and Friday Foster, (both 1975).
With the demise of blaxploitation later in the 1970s, Grier appeared in smaller roles for many years. She acquired progressively larger character roles in the 1980s, including a druggie 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 had a recurring role on Miami Vice from 1985 to 1989 and made guest appearances on Martin, Night Court and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She had a recurring role in the TV series Crime Story between 1986 and 1988. Her role in Rocket Gibraltar (1988) was cut due to fears by the film's director, Daniel Petrie, of "repercussions from interracial love scenes".[6] She appeared on Sinbad, Preston Chronicles, The Cosby Show, The Wayans Brothers Show, and Mad TV. In 1994, Grier appeared in Snoop Dogg's video for "Doggy Dogg World".
Grier with moderator Jarrett Crippen during a Q&A session at the 2013 Wizard World New York Experience.
In the late 1990s, Grier was a cast member of the Showtime series Linc's. She appeared in 1996 in John Carpenter's Escape from L.A and 1997 with the title role in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, films that partly paid homage to her '70s blaxploitation movies. She was nominated for numerous awards for her work in the Tarantino film. Grier appeared on Showtime's The L Word, in which she played Kit Porter. The series ran for six seasons and ended in March 2009. Grier occasionally guest-stars in such television series as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (where she is a recurring character).
In 2010, Grier began appearing in a recurring role on the hit science fiction series Smallville as the villain Amanda Waller, also known as White Queen, head agent of Checkmate, a covert operations agency. She recently appeared as a friend and colleague to Julia Roberts' college professor in Larry Crowne.
In 2010, Grier wrote her memoir, Foxy: My Life in Three Acts, with Andrea Cagan.[7]
Personal life
In 1998 Grier was engaged to music executive Kevin Evans, but the engagement ended in 1999. From 2000 to 2008 she dated marketing executive Peter Hempel.[citation needed]. She also dated basketball superstar Wilt Chamberlain, comic legend Richard Pryor, and Soul Train host, Don Cornelius. She received her Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2011. That same year, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Langston University.[citation needed] She started the Pam Grier Community Garden and Education Center with the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum.[citation needed]. She lives in Colorado.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1970 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls Partygoer
1971 The Big Doll House Grear
Women in Cages Alabama
1972 Hit Man Gozelda
The Big Bird Cage Blossom
Cool Breeze Mona
1973 Black Mama White Mama Lee Daniels
Scream Blacula Scream Lisa
Coffy Coffy
The Twilight People Ayesa, the Panther Woman
1974 The Arena Mamawi
Foxy Brown Foxy Brown
1975 Sheba, Baby Sheba Shayne
Bucktown Aretha
Friday Foster Friday Foster
1976 Drum Regine
1977 Greased Lightning Mary Jones
Twilight of Love Sandra
1981 Fort Apache, The Bronx Charlotte
1983 Something Wicked This Way Comes Dust Witch
Tough Enough Myra
1984 The Vindicator Hunter
1985 Badge of the Assassin Alexandra 'Alie' Horn
Stand Alone Cathryn Bolan
1986 On the Edge Cora
1985–1989 Miami Vice Valerie Gordon (recurring)
1987 The Allnighter Sgt. McLeesh
1988 Above the Law Delores 'Jacks' Jackson
1989 The Package Ruth Butler
1990 Class of 1999 Ms. Connors
1991 Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Ms. Wardroe
1993 Posse Phoebe
1994 The Fresh Prince of Bel Air Janice Robertson
1994 The Sinbad Show Lynn Montgomery
1996 Mars Attacks! Louise Williams
Escape from L.A. Hershe Las Palmas
Original Gangstas Laurie Thompson
1997 Jackie Brown Jackie Brown San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Fakin' da Funk Annabelle Lee
1999 Holy Smoke! Carol
In Too Deep Det. Angela Wilson
Linc's Eleanor Braithwaite Winthrop Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (1999–2000)
Jawbreaker Detective Vera Cruz
2000 Snow Day Tina
3 A.M. George Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Actress in Network/Cable Series
Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
Wilder Detective Della Wilder
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child The Empress' Nightingale Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program
Fortress 2: Re-Entry Susan Mendenhall
2001 Ghosts of Mars Commander Helena Braddock
Bones Pearl Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture
2002 The Adventures of Pluto Nash Flura Nash
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Asst. US Attorney Claudia Williams Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2003–2004)
2004–2009 The L Word Kate "Kit" Porter Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2005–2006, 2008)
2005 Back in the Day Mrs. Cooper
2008 Ladies of the House Birdie Television film
2010 Smallville Agent Amanda Waller Three episodes: "Absolute Justice", "Checkmate" and "Sacrifice"
Just Wright Janice Wright
The Invited Zelda
2011 Larry Crowne Frances
2012 Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day Detective Barrick
2012 The Man with the Iron Fists Jane
2013 Grand Theft Auto V Herself DJ on in-game radio station 'The Lowdown 91.1'
2015 Cleveland Abductions Nurse Television film
Pam Grier
An Evening With Pam Grier (6830131549).jpg
Grier at a reception for "An Evening with Pam Grier" at the Canadian Film Centre, 2012.
Born Pamela Suzette Grier
May 26, 1949 (age 66)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
Nationality American
Education East High School
Metropolitan State College
Occupation Actress
Years active 1970–present
Known for Coffy Coffin in Coffy – 1973
Foxy Brown in Foxy Brown – 1974
Sheba Shayne in Sheba Baby – 1975
Friday Foster in Friday Foster – 1975
Jackie Brown in Jackie Brown – 1997
Partner(s) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1970–73)
Richard Pryor (1975–78)
Kevin Evans (1997–99)
Awards San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress – Jackie Brown
Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films like The Big Bird Cage (1972), Coffy (1973), Foxy Brown (1974) and Sheba Baby (1975). Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film Jackie Brown, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for a SAG Award as well as a Satellite Award for her performance in Jackie Brown. Grier is also known for her work on television, for 6 seasons she portrayed Kate 'Kit' Porter on the television series The L Word. She received an Emmy Award nomination for her work in the animated program Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child. Rotten Tomatoes has ranked her as the second greatest female action heroine in film history.[1] Director Quentin Tarantino remarked that she may have been cinema's first female action star.[2] She played the manipulative Amanda Waller, head of the Checkmate organisation, in the longrunning TV series, "Smallville".
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
Early life
Pam Grier was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the daughter of Gwendolyn Sylvia (née Samuels), a homemaker and nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier, Jr., who worked as a mechanic and Technical Sergeant in the United States Air Force. She has one sister and one brother.[3] Grier has stated that she is of mixed ancestry consisting of African-American, Hispanic, Chinese, Filipino and Cheyenne Indian heritage.[4]
At age 6, Grier was raped by two boys when she was left unattended at her aunt's house. "It took so long to deal with the pain of that," she says, "You try to deal with it, but you never really get over it," she adds. "And not just me; my family endured so much guilt and anger that something like that happened to me."[4]
Because of her father's military career, her family moved frequently during her childhood, to various places such as England, and eventually settled in Denver, where she attended East High School. While in Denver she appeared in a number of stage productions, and participated in beauty contests to raise money for college tuition at 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 (AIP) company.[citation needed] It is believed that she was discovered by director Jack Hill,[citation needed] who cast her in his women in prison films The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972).
While under contract at AIP, she became a staple of early 1970s blaxploitation movies, playing big, bold, assertive women, beginning with Jack Hill's Coffy (1973), in which she plays a nurse who seeks revenge on drug dealers. Her 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. Grier was noted as the first African-American female to headline an action film, as protagonists of previous blaxploitation films were males. In his review of Coffy, critic Roger Ebert praised the film for its believable female lead. He noted that Grier was an actress of "beautiful face and astonishing form" and that she possessed a kind of "physical life" missing from many other attractive actresses.[5] Grier subsequently played similar characters in the AIP films Foxy Brown (1974), Sheba, Baby and Friday Foster, (both 1975).
With the demise of blaxploitation later in the 1970s, Grier appeared in smaller roles for many years. She acquired progressively larger character roles in the 1980s, including a druggie 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 had a recurring role on Miami Vice from 1985 to 1989 and made guest appearances on Martin, Night Court and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She had a recurring role in the TV series Crime Story between 1986 and 1988. Her role in Rocket Gibraltar (1988) was cut due to fears by the film's director, Daniel Petrie, of "repercussions from interracial love scenes".[6] She appeared on Sinbad, Preston Chronicles, The Cosby Show, The Wayans Brothers Show, and Mad TV. In 1994, Grier appeared in Snoop Dogg's video for "Doggy Dogg World".
Grier with moderator Jarrett Crippen during a Q&A session at the 2013 Wizard World New York Experience.
In the late 1990s, Grier was a cast member of the Showtime series Linc's. She appeared in 1996 in John Carpenter's Escape from L.A and 1997 with the title role in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, films that partly paid homage to her '70s blaxploitation movies. She was nominated for numerous awards for her work in the Tarantino film. Grier appeared on Showtime's The L Word, in which she played Kit Porter. The series ran for six seasons and ended in March 2009. Grier occasionally guest-stars in such television series as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (where she is a recurring character).
In 2010, Grier began appearing in a recurring role on the hit science fiction series Smallville as the villain Amanda Waller, also known as White Queen, head agent of Checkmate, a covert operations agency. She recently appeared as a friend and colleague to Julia Roberts' college professor in Larry Crowne.
In 2010, Grier wrote her memoir, Foxy: My Life in Three Acts, with Andrea Cagan.[7]
Personal life
In 1998 Grier was engaged to music executive Kevin Evans, but the engagement ended in 1999. From 2000 to 2008 she dated marketing executive Peter Hempel.[citation needed]. She also dated basketball superstar Wilt Chamberlain, comic legend Richard Pryor, and Soul Train host, Don Cornelius. She received her Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2011. That same year, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Langston University.[citation needed] She started the Pam Grier Community Garden and Education Center with the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum.[citation needed]. She lives in Colorado.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1970 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls Partygoer
1971 The Big Doll House Grear
Women in Cages Alabama
1972 Hit Man Gozelda
The Big Bird Cage Blossom
Cool Breeze Mona
1973 Black Mama White Mama Lee Daniels
Scream Blacula Scream Lisa
Coffy Coffy
The Twilight People Ayesa, the Panther Woman
1974 The Arena Mamawi
Foxy Brown Foxy Brown
1975 Sheba, Baby Sheba Shayne
Bucktown Aretha
Friday Foster Friday Foster
1976 Drum Regine
1977 Greased Lightning Mary Jones
Twilight of Love Sandra
1981 Fort Apache, The Bronx Charlotte
1983 Something Wicked This Way Comes Dust Witch
Tough Enough Myra
1984 The Vindicator Hunter
1985 Badge of the Assassin Alexandra 'Alie' Horn
Stand Alone Cathryn Bolan
1986 On the Edge Cora
1985–1989 Miami Vice Valerie Gordon (recurring)
1987 The Allnighter Sgt. McLeesh
1988 Above the Law Delores 'Jacks' Jackson
1989 The Package Ruth Butler
1990 Class of 1999 Ms. Connors
1991 Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Ms. Wardroe
1993 Posse Phoebe
1994 The Fresh Prince of Bel Air Janice Robertson
1994 The Sinbad Show Lynn Montgomery
1996 Mars Attacks! Louise Williams
Escape from L.A. Hershe Las Palmas
Original Gangstas Laurie Thompson
1997 Jackie Brown Jackie Brown San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Fakin' da Funk Annabelle Lee
1999 Holy Smoke! Carol
In Too Deep Det. Angela Wilson
Linc's Eleanor Braithwaite Winthrop Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (1999–2000)
Jawbreaker Detective Vera Cruz
2000 Snow Day Tina
3 A.M. George Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Actress in Network/Cable Series
Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
Wilder Detective Della Wilder
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child The Empress' Nightingale Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program
Fortress 2: Re-Entry Susan Mendenhall
2001 Ghosts of Mars Commander Helena Braddock
Bones Pearl Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture
2002 The Adventures of Pluto Nash Flura Nash
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Asst. US Attorney Claudia Williams Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2003–2004)
2004–2009 The L Word Kate "Kit" Porter Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2005–2006, 2008)
2005 Back in the Day Mrs. Cooper
2008 Ladies of the House Birdie Television film
2010 Smallville Agent Amanda Waller Three episodes: "Absolute Justice", "Checkmate" and "Sacrifice"
Just Wright Janice Wright
The Invited Zelda
2011 Larry Crowne Frances
2012 Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day Detective Barrick
2012 The Man with the Iron Fists Jane
2013 Grand Theft Auto V Herself DJ on in-game radio station 'The Lowdown 91.1'
2015 Cleveland Abductions Nurse Television film
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