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Where Are They Now? : Pam Grier

An actress, singer, model and writer, Pam Grier was a pioneering force behind getting more African American members in the media; and it just so happens that she has a long history in horror and science fiction! The former Golden Globe Nominee was born in North Carolina in May of 1949, and lived a simple life before blasting into cult stardom. In the 1970’s, Pam co-starred in a number of urban crime-dramas and thrillers including Coffy and classic Foxy Brown (1974), which lead her to become the first black woman to appear on the cover of Ms. Magazine in August 1975. During these early years, it should be noted that she was featured in The Twilight People (1972) and Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) while also playing the female lead, Lisa Fortier, in Scream Blacula Scream (1973). From there, she played Hunter in The Vindicator (1985) before jumping to television with multi-episode arcs on “Crime Story,” “Knots Landing,” “Miami Vice” and “The Sinbad Show.”

The 1990’s was an equally impressive decade, if not more-so than the 70’s and 80’s. After playing Ms. Wardroe in comedy hit Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), Pam Grier found herself as a leading lady in horror and scifi; and was the first black woman to do so in such a monumental way. She was featured in Serial Killer (1995) and Mars Attacks (1996), and played co-leading roles as Ms. Connors in Class of 1999 (1990) and Hershe Las Palmas in Escape from LA (1996). She also starred in a number of urban comedies including Fakin Da Funk, In to Deep and The Adventures of Pluto Nash, as well as playing the title role in award winning crime-drama Jackie Brown (1997) – of which she received her Best Actress Golden Globe nomination. And, if you were a young person at the time, you may recognize her from bitchy classic Jawbreaker (1999) and Nickelodeon party Snow Day (2000) with numerous rising talents.

So, where is Pam Grier now?

The 2000 and 2010 decades have been just as good to Pam. She’s kept up her presence in all her key demographics – horror, television, and various film. She saw lead roles in Ghosts of Mars (2001) as Commander Helena Braddock and Bones (2001) as Pearl, and was featured in 1st to Die (2003) and The Invited (2010). She saw an arc on “Law and Order” before being cast as Kit Porter in LGBT drama “The L Word” from 2004 to 2009. Pam also appeared in hits like The Man with the Iron Fist (2012) and Bad Grandmas (2017) and an episode of “This Is Us.” She even released her own memoir, “Foxy: My Life in Three Acts.” Pam has a new movie coming out in 2019 titled Old School Gangstas, which is incredibly fitting because she is the embodiment of that.

Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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