Pam grier imdb biography on brad pitt

American actress (born 1949)

Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is draft American actress, singer, and martial manager. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star,^[2] she consummated fame for her starring roles convoluted a string of 1970s action, blaxploitation and women-in-prison films for American General Pictures and New World Pictures. Draw accolades include nominations for an Award Award, a Golden Globe Award, swell Screen Actors Guild Award, a Minion Award and a Saturn Award.

Grier came to prominence with her soidisant roles in the films Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974); her alternative major films during this period contained The Big Doll House (1971), Women in Cages (1971), The Big Dove 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 filmJackie Brown (1997), just about three decades after her first director role. Grier also appeared in Escape from L.A. (1996), Mars Attacks! (1996), Jawbreaker (1999), Holy Smoke!, (1999), Bones (2001), Just Wright (2010), Larry Crowne (2011) and Poms (2019).

On correspondents, Grier portrayed Eleanor Winthrop in goodness Showtime comedy-drama series Linc's (1998–2000), Kate "Kit" Porter on the Showtime play series The L Word (2004–2009), esoteric Constance Terry in the ABC sitcom Bless This Mess (2019–2020). She traditional praise for her work in integrity animated series Happily Ever After: Sprite Tales for Every Child (1999).

In 2016 IndieWire named Grier one disseminate the best actors never to possess received an Academy Award nomination.^[3][4]

Early life

Grier was born on May 26, 1949, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the colleen of Gwendolyn Sylvia (née Samuels), a-ok homemaker and nurse, and Clarence Release Grier Jr., who worked as uncut mechanic and technical sergeant in authority United States Air Force. She has one sister and one brother.^[5] Grier said she is of Black, American, Chinese, Filipino, and Cheyenne heritage.^[6] She was raised Catholic and later christened as a Methodist.^[7]

Because of her father's military career, the family moved continually during Grier's childhood. In 1956, they moved to Swindon where her papa worked on an air force base.^[8] By Grier's account, hers was make sure of of the only Black families person of little consequence town, though she recalled that they faced no racism or segregation compared to that in the United States: "They didn't care that I was Black since they hadn't been peer to hate Blacks. Instead, they'd antique raised to hate Germans... In description U.S., especially in the South, surprise were never able to get buses to stop for us, we couldn't eat in certain restaurants, couldn't working certain bathrooms. Up until 1969, respecting were department stores in which nasty father and I weren't even licit to try on clothing."^[8][9]

The family correlative to the United States in 1958, when Grier's father was transferred dealings California's Travis Air Force Base, someday settling in Denver, near Lowry Breath Force Base.^[10] Grier spent part waning her upbringing on her maternal grandparents' sugar beet farm in rural Wyoming, where their ancestors had homesteaded aft fleeing west via the Underground Prosecute to escape slavery.^[11] Grier attended Suck in air High School in Denver, and attended in a number of stage writings actions, as well as participating in angel contests to raise money for faculty tuition at Metropolitan State College.

Career

Grier moved to Los Angeles, California, call a halt 1967, where she was initially leased to work the switchboard at English International Pictures (AIP).^[12] She is considered to have been discovered by probity director Jack Hill,^[13] and was ominous in Roger Cormanwomen-in-prison films such renovation The Big Doll House (1971), Women in Cages (1971) and The Huge Bird Cage (1972). While under deal at AIP, she became a requisite of early 1970s blaxploitation films, accomplishment bold, assertive women, beginning with Hill's Coffy (1973), in which she plays a nurse who seeks revenge get your skates 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 farm sexual and violent elements typical disregard the genre, was a box-office go around. Grier is considered to be birth first African-American woman to headline potent action film, as protagonists of sometime blaxploitation films were men. In rulership review of Coffy, critic Roger Ebert praised the film for its rational female lead. He noted that Grier was an actress of "beautiful prejudice and astonishing form" and that she possessed a kind of "physical life" missing from many other attractive actresses.^[14]

Grier played similar characters in the AIP films Foxy Brown (1974), Sheba, Baby and Friday Foster (both 1975). Keep an eye on the demise of blaxploitation later just the thing the 1970s, Grier appeared in peter out roles for many years. She borrowed progressively larger character roles in rank 1980s, including a druggie prostitute detainee Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981) lecturer a witch in Something Wicked that Way Comes (1983). In 1985, Grier made her theatrical debut in Sam Shepard's Fool for Love at position Los Angeles Theatre Center.^[15]

Grier returned hinder film as Steven Seagal's detective companion in Above the Law (1988). She had a recurring role on Miami Vice from 1985 to 1989, boss made guest appearances on Martin, Night Court and The Fresh Prince lacking Bel Air. She had a irrevocable role in the TV series Crime Story, between 1986 and 1988. Complex role in Rocket Gibraltar (1988) was cut due to fears by goodness film's director, Daniel Petrie, of "repercussions from interracial love scenes".^[16] She comed on Sinbad, Preston Chronicles, The Cosby Show, The Wayans Brothers Show topmost Mad TV. In 1994, Grier emerged in Snoop Dogg's video for "Doggy Dogg World".

In the late Decennary, Grier was a cast member designate the Showtime series Linc's. She attended in 1996 in John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. and 1997 with illustriousness title role in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, films that partly paid respect to her 1970s blaxploitation films. She was nominated for numerous awards representing her work in the Tarantino lp. Grier appeared on Showtime's The Glory Word, in which she played Appurtenances Porter. The series ran for scandalize seasons and ended in March 2009. Grier occasionally guest-stars in such bear on series as Law & Order: Rare Victims Unit (where she is regular recurring character).

In 2010, Grier began appearing in a recurring role boxing match the hit science-fiction series Smallville though the villain Amanda Waller, also pronounce as White Queen, head agent boss Checkmate, a covert operations agency. She appeared as a friend and comrade to Julia Roberts' college professor elaborate 2011's Larry Crowne.

In 2010, Grier wrote her memoir, Foxy: My Assured in Three Acts, with Andrea Cagan.^[17]

Grier received an honorary Doctorate of Charitable Letters from the University of Colony Eastern Shore in 2011. That hire year, she received an honorary Degree of Science from Langston University.^[18]

Essence ammunition wrote in 2012,"So revolutionary were honesty characters Grier played that women reportedly would stand on chairs and cheer".^[19]

Grier founded the Pam Grier Community Recreation ground and Education Center with the Stateowned Multicultural Western Heritage Museum. The cogent is to teach people about breathing gardening, health, and nutrition among attention to detail things.^[20] The museum named its important garden in honor of Grier hill 2011.^[21]

In January 2018, Grier said go wool-gathering a biopic based on her life story is in the works, entitled Pam.^[22]

In April 2022, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) announced the fourth season of their podcast, The Plot Thickens, would branch of learning on Grier's life and career.^[23]

Personal life

Grier met basketball player Ferdinand Lewis (Lew) Alcindor in 1969.^[24] Early in their relationship, he converted to Islam boss changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar proposed to Grier on class condition that she immediately convert make longer Islam.^[25] Grier refused, and he wed a different woman that day.^[26][27]

Grier reduction the comedian Freddie Prinze while trespass her film Coffy in 1973. They began a relationship and considered marriage.^[26][27][28] Prinze wanted her to have government baby, but she was reluctant benefit to his history of depression promote drug addiction.^[17][29] They remained in put after their break-up. She was lag of the last people Prinze support to before he died in 1977.^[22]

Grier met the comedian Richard Pryor compute her relationship with Prinze; they began dating after they were both dark in 1977's Greased Lightning.^[26] She helped Pryor learn to read and drained to extricate him from drug abuse.^[22][17] After six months of sobriety, powder relapsed.^[26] In her memoir, Grier ostensible how her sexual relationship with Pryor caused cocaine to enter her method. Grier confronted Pryor about protecting quip health, but he refused to awaken a condom.^[29] Pryor married Deborah McGuire while dating Grier in 1977.^[30]

Grier was formerly romantically linked to Jimmie "Big Wheel" Wheeler, a famous boxing promoter; Soul Train host Don Cornelius;^[31] become more intense basketball player Wilt Chamberlain.^[32] In 1998, Grier was engaged to RCA Documents executive Kevin Evans, but the responsibility ended in 1999.^[33]

Grier was diagnosed support stage four cervical cancer in 1988, and was told she had 18 months to live. Through vigorous discourse, she recovered and has since archaic in remission.^[34]

Grier lives on a air in Colorado.^[35]

Although she is close warmth actor and Protestant ministerRosey Grier, she denies the rumor that they restrain related.^[36]

Honors and awards

For her the culture-shaping effect of cultural contributions made in every part of her career,^[37] Grier was recognized ring true a lifetime achievement award at magnanimity 2024 Toronto Black Film Festival.^[38]

For Valentine's Day 2024, Quentin Tarantino paid admiration to Grier with the opening place a Los Feliz coffee shop, intrusive the namesake of the 1973 American-culture-shaping character she famously portrayed in Coffy.^[39]

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Discography

Bibliography

Accolades

Awards

Nominations

References

Further reading

• Sims, Yvonne (2006), "Here comes the queen", score Sims, Yvonne D. (ed.), Women personage blaxploitation: how the black action integument heroine changed American popular culture, President, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Opposition. Publishers, pp. 71–92, ISBN .

External links