Name
Pam Grier
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1949-05-26 (77 years old)
Place of Birth
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
Biography
Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress. Described by director Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star, she achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action, blaxploitation, and women in prison films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures. Her accolades include nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Satellite Award, and a Saturn Award.
Grier came to prominence with her titular roles in the films Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974); her other major films during this period included The Big Doll House (1971), Women in Cages (1971), The Big Bird Cage (1972), Black Mama, White Mama (1973), Scream Blacula Scream (1973), The Arena (1974), Sheba, Baby (1975), Bucktown (1975), and Friday Foster (1975). She portrayed the title character in Quentin Tarantino's crime film Jackie Brown (1997), and also appeared in Escape from L.A. (1996), Jawbreaker (1999), Holy Smoke!, (1999), Bones (2001), Just Wright (2010), Larry Crowne (2011), and Poms (2019).
On television, Grier portrayed Eleanor Winthrop in the Showtime comedy-drama series Linc's (1998–2000), Kate "Kit" Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word (2004–2009), and Constance Terry in the ABC sitcom Bless This Mess (2019–2020). She received praise for her work in the animated series Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1999).
Known For
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- 1996 Mars Attacks! as Louise Williams
- 1997 Jackie Brown as Jackie Brown
- 2001 Ghosts of Mars as Commander Helena Braddock
- 1991 Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey as Ms. Wardroe
- 1996 Escape from L.A. as Hershe Las Palamas
- 1986 The Vindicator as Hunter
- 1973 Coffy as Coffy
- 1974 Foxy Brown as Foxy Brown
- 1972 The Big Bird Cage as Blossom
- 2001 Bones as Pearl
- 2002 The Adventures of Pluto Nash as Flura Nash
- 1999 In Too Deep as Det. Angela Wilson
- 1990 Class of 1999 as Ms. Connors
- 1989 The Package as Ruth Butler
- 1981 Fort Apache, the Bronx as Charlotte
- 1983 Something Wicked This Way Comes as Dust Witch
- 1986 On the Edge as Cara
- 1988 Above the Law as Delores 'Jacks' Jackson
- 2005 Back in the Day as Mrs. Cooper
- 1975 Sheba, Baby as Sheba Shayne
- 1971 Women in Cages as Alabama
- 1996 Original Gangstas as Laurie Thompson
- 1973 Black Mama, White Mama as Lee Daniels
- 1999 Holy Smoke as Carol
- 1977 Twilight of Love as Sandra
- 1974 The Arena as Mamawi
- 1993 Posse as Phoebe
- 1977 Greased Lightning as Mary Jones
- 1973 Scream Blacula Scream as Lisa Fortier
- 1971 The Big Doll House as Grear
- 2000 Wilder as Detective Della Wilder
- 2015 Kings of Cult as (archive footage)
- 1972 Hit Man as Gozelda
- 2000 Snow Day as Tina
- 2010 Just Wright as Janice Wright
- 1987 The Allnighter as Sargeant McLeish
- 1983 Tough Enough as Myra
- 1997 Fakin' Da Funk as Annabelle Lee
- 2003 Love the Hard Way as Linda Fox
- 2008 Ladies of the House as Birdie
- 2002 BaadAsssss Cinema as Self
- 1999 Jawbreaker as Detective Vera Cruz
- 1995 Serial Killer as Capt. Maggie Davis
- 2001 Feast of All Saints as Suzette Lermontant
- 1975 Friday Foster as Friday Foster
- 1972 The Twilight People as Ayesa, the Panther Woman
- 2011 Larry Crowne as Frances
- 1976 Drum as Regine
- 2003 First to Die as Claire Washburn
- 1975 Bucktown as Aretha
- 2012 Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day as Detective Barrick
- 2012 The Man with the Iron Fists as Jane
- 1972 Cool Breeze as Mona
- 1999 No Tomorrow as Diane
- 2011 Mafia as James Womack
- 2023 Pet Sematary: Bloodlines as Majorie Washburn
- 2023 Cinnamon as Mama
- 1985 Stand Alone as Cathryn Bolan
- 1985 Badge of the Assassin as Alexandra 'Alie' Horn
- 2023 As We Know It as Beverly Jones
- 2001 It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures as Self
- 1970 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls as Fourth Woman
- 1999 Hayley Wagner, Star as Sam
- 1997 Strip Search as Janette
- 2010 The Invited as Zelda
- 1996 Sinbad: Son of a Preacher Man as Self
- 2015 Cleveland Abduction as Carla
- 2000 Fortress 2 as Susan Mendenhall
- 2001 3 A.M. as George
- 2003 A Decade Under the Influence as Self
- 1997 Afro Promo as Self (archive footage)
- 2011 Corman's World as Self - Actress
- 2017 Bad Grandmas as Coralee
- 2013 Quentin Tarantino: 20 Years of Filmmaking as Self
- 2013 Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic as Self (archive footage)
- 1998 Paul Robeson: Speak of Me as I Am as Narrator (voice)
- 2010 Machete Maidens Unleashed! as Self
- 2002 Jackie Brown: How It Went Down as Self
- 1998 Family Blessings as Mrs. Quincy
- 1996 Badass Supermama as (archive footage)
- 2019 Poms as Olive
- 2017 Being Rose as Lily
- 2019 A Christmas Wish as Mary
- 2016 Do I Look Like a Lady? (Comedians and Singers) as Self (archive footage)
- 2020 Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness as Self
- 2020 Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies as Self
- 1998 Pete Rock: Soul Survivor as Pam Grier
- 2021 How It Feels to Be Free as Self (archival footage)
- 1992 A Mother's Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story as Linda Holman
- 2010 Celebrity Nude Revue: The Saucy 70's Volume 1 as Self
- 2021 Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend as Self (archive footage)
- 2005 Bad Girls Behind Bars as Alabama (archive footage)
- 2024 Mystery Cuddlers as Juniper
- 1998 All Saints: The Video as Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2020 Beautiful Like a Poem as Self (archive footage)
- 2026 The Way Things Seem to Be as Self
- Soon Diggin’ Up "Bones" as Self
- 1984 Night Court ( 2 episodes ) as Benet Collins
- 1992 Martin ( 1 episode ) as Pam Grier
- 1990 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ( 1 episode ) as Janice
- 1984 Miami Vice ( 0 episode )
- 1995 The Wayans Bros. ( 1 episode ) as Erica
- 1993 The Sinbad Show ( 1 episode )
- 1998 The Wild Thornberrys ( 1 episode ) as Mother Springbok (voice)
- 1997 The View ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1996 E! True Hollywood Story ( 1 episode )
- 1999 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ( 2 episodes ) as Assistant US Attorney Claudia Williams
- 1979 Knots Landing ( 2 episodes ) as Lieutenant Guthrie
- 2004 The L Word ( 71 episodes ) as Kit Porter
- 1998 Linc's ( 37 episodes ) as Eleanor Braithwaite Winthrop
- 2001 Smallville ( 3 episodes ) as Amanda Waller
- 1995 MADtv ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest Host
- 1979 Roots: The Next Generations ( 1 episode ) as Francey
- 1999 The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 2001 Justice League ( 2 episodes ) as My'ria'h (voice)
- 1993 Intimate Portrait ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1998 Hollywood Squares ( 5 episodes ) as Self - Panelist
- 2019 The Kelly Clarkson Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2022 Sherri ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 1995 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child ( 1 episode ) as Nightingale (voice)
- 2009 Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Guest
- 1993 Late Night with Conan O'Brien ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 2019 Bless This Mess ( 26 episodes ) as Constance
- 2009 Celebrity Ghost Stories ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1986 Crime Story ( 4 episodes ) as Suzanne Terry
- 2021 Them ( 8 episodes ) as Athena
- 2021 The Great North ( 1 episode ) as Neckbone (voice)
- 1987 Frank's Place ( 1 episode ) as Neema Sharone
- 1996 The Daily Show ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 1977 The Love Boat ( 2 episodes ) as Cynthia Wilbur
- 2016 This Is Us ( 2 episodes ) as Grandma
- 2022 The Jennifer Hudson Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1991 Pacific Station ( 1 episode ) as Grace Ballard
- 1984 Miami Vice ( 2 episodes ) as Valerie Gordon
- 1984 The Cosby Show ( 1 episode ) as Samantha
- 1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2011 Bob's Burgers ( 1 episode ) as Evelyn (voice)
- 1975 People's Choice Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1988 Monsters ( 1 episode ) as Matilde
- 2020 Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2001 Strange Frequency ( 1 episode )
