pam grier
Pam Grier at L6 convention, in 2009. [1]
Actress Pam Grier grew up on U.S. Air Force bases in Europe and near Denver, Colorado. [2]
The reigning queen of the 1970s blaxploitation genre, Pam Grier was born May 26, 1949, in Winston-Salem, NC. [3]
She became famous in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation film s such as 1974’s Foxy Brown. [1]
… with Corman’s aid, she made her film debut in the 1970 Russ Meyer cult classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, followed by an appearance in Jack Hill ’s 1971 cheapie The Big Doll House. [3]
Beautiful and leggy, Grier played a tough and foxy chick in a string of action movies in the 1970s — dubbed “blaxpoitation” films — most notably Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974). [2]
She is one of a few African-American actresses to receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. [4]
After small but regular roles in TV’s Miami Vice and Crime Story in the late 1980s, Grier’s film career heated up again. [2]
Interestingly, Womack’s composition and 1972 recording of the song “Across 110th Street” was the theme song of the film Jackie Brown (1997), which marked a major comeback for Grier in the starring and title role. [5]
Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino ’s film Jackie Brown. [1]
After relocating to Los Angeles, Grier struggled to mount an acting career, and worked as a switchboard operator at the studios of Roger Corman ’s American International Pictures. [...] Playing a nurse seeking vengeance against the drug dealers responsible for her sister’s descent into heroin addiction, Grier immediately rose to the forefront of the so-called “blaxploitation” genre, a group of action-adventure films aimed squarely at African-American audiences. [3]
She didn’t land either role, until Jackie Brown (1997) came along. [5]
“I never thought of television, of fans, movie stars, signing autographs. [2]
Pam was one of four children born to Air Force mechanic Clarence Grier and Gwendolyn Samuels, a nurse. [6]
Sources:
[1] Pam Grier
[2] Pam Grier: Biography from Answers.com
[3] Pam Grier Movies
[4] Pam Grier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[5] Pam Grier - Biography
[6] Pam Grier - IMDb