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Pam Grier Biography
Pam Grier is born Pamela Suzette Grier is an American actress. She was born May 26, 1949, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Gwendolyn Sylvia and Clarence Ransom Grier, Jr.
She attended East High School and Metropolitan State College. 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.
Pam Grier Age
She was born May 26, 1949.
Pam Grier Husband – Pam Grier Married
Grier was engaged to music executive Kevin Evans in 1998, but the engagement ended in 1999. She dated marketing executive Peter Hempel from 2000 to 2008. Grier dated comedian Richard Pryor in the late 1970s. She also dated basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, comic Freddie Prinze, and Soul Train host Don Cornelius. She also had a brief relationship with basketball player Wilt Chamberlain. Despite having a number of romantic relationships, she has never been married.
Pam Grier Children – Pam Grier Daughters
She has no children.
Pam Grier Ethnicity
Grier has stated that she is of mixed ancestry consisting of African-American, Hispanic, Chinese, Filipino and Cheyenne Indian heritage.
Pam Grier Career
She appeared in a number of stage productions and participated in beauty contests. In 1967, Grier moved to Los Angeles, California, where she was initially hired as a receptionist at American International Pictures (AIP). 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. Grier subsequently played similar characters in the AIP films Foxy Brown (1974), Sheba, Baby, and Friday Foster, (both 1975). It is believed that she was discovered by director Jack Hill, who cast her in his women in prison films The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972).
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”. She appeared on Sinbad, Preston Chronicles, The Cosby Show, The Wayans Brothers Show, and Mad TV.
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. Grier appeared on Showtime’s The L Word. 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. In 2010, Grier began appearing in a recurring role on the hit science fiction series Smallville. 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.
Pam Grier Movies and TV Shows
Pam Grier Movies
- Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
- The Big Doll House (1971)
- Women in Cages (1971)
- Hit Man (1972)
- The Big Bird Cage (1972)
- Cool Breeze (1972)
- Black Mama White Mama (1973)
- Scream Blacula Scream (1973)
- Coffy (1973)
- The Twilight People (1973)
- The Arena (1974)
- Foxy Brown (1974)
- Sheba, Baby (1975)
- Bucktown (1975)
- Friday Foster (1975)
- Drum (1976)
- Greased Lightning (1977)
- Twilight of Love (1977)
- Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)
- Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
- Tough Enough (1983)
- The Vindicator (1984)
- Stand Alone (1985)
- On the Edge (1986)
- The Allnighter (1987)
- Above the Law (1988)
- The Package (1989)
- Class of 1999 (1990)
- Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
- Posse (1993)
- Mars Attacks! (1996)
- Escape from L.A. (1996)
- Original Gangstas (1996)
- Jackie Brown (1997)
- Fakin’ da Funk (1997)
- Holy Smoke! (1999)
- In Too Deep (1999)
- Jawbreaker (1999)
- Snow Day (2000)
- Wilder (2000)
- Fortress 2: Re-Entry (2000)
- Ghosts of Mars (2001)
- Bones (2001)
- The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
- Back in the Day (2005)
- Just Wright (2010)
- The Invited (2010)
- Larry Crowne (2011)
- Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day (2012)
- Mafia (2012)
- The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)
- Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
TV Shows
- 1979 – Roots: The Next Generations
- 1980 – The Love Boat
- 1985 – Badge of the Assassin
- 1985-1990 – Miami Vice
- 1986 – Night Court
- 1986-1988 – Crime Story
- 1987 – The Cosby Show
- 1988 – Frank’s Place
- 1989 – Midnight Caller
- 1990 – Knots Landing
- 1991 – Monsters
- 1992 – Pacific Station
- 1992 – A Mother’s Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story
- 1994 – In Living Color
- 1994 – The Sinbad Show
- 1994 – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- 1995 – The Marshal
- 1995 – Martin
- 1996 – Sparks
- 1996 – The Wayans Bros.
- 1998 – Mad TV
- 1998 – Pinky and the Brain
- 1998 – Family Blessings
- 1998-2000 – Linc’s
- 1999 – The Wild Thornberrys
- 1999 – Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
- 1999 – Hayley Wagner, Star
- 2001 – The Feast of All Saints
- 2001 – 3 A.M.
- 2002 – Night Visions
- 2002 – Justice League
- 2002-2003 – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- 2003 – First to Die
- 2004-2009 – The L Word
- 2008 – Ladies of the House
- 2010 – Smallville
- 2015 – Cleveland Abduction
Pam Grier Net Worth
She has an estimated net worth of $10 million.