Pam Grier
| Pam Grier | ||
 | ||
| Background information | ||
| Born as: | Pamela Suzette Grier | |
| Born | May 26, 1949 / 74 yo Winston-Salem, NC USA 
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| Alma Mater: | Metropolitan State College (Denver) | |
| Relatives: | Rosey Grier (cousin) | |
| Occupation: | Actress | |
| Years active: | 1970–present | |
| Height: | 5' 8" (1.73m) | |
| IMDB #: | 0000427 | |
Pamela Grier (born Pamela Suzette Grier, May 26, 1949) is an American actress. Described by 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 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 starred as the titular character in Quentin Tarantino's crime film Jackie Brown (1997), and subsequently starred in Jawbreaker (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).
Personal life
Grier lives on a ranch in Colorado.
Relationships
Grier has never married but has had several high-profile relationships.
She met basketball player Ferdinand Lewis (Lew) Alcindor before he became a Muslim; soon after they began dating, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar proposed to Grier, but gave her an ultimatum to convert to Islam. He said, "If you don't commit to me today, I'm getting married at 2 pm this afternoon. She's a converted Muslim, and she's been prepared for me," adding, "once you become Muslim, you might appreciate another wife." Grier declined, so he got married that day.
Grier met comedian Freddie Prinze while promoting her film Coffy in 1973. They began a relationship and considered marriage. Prinze wanted her to have his baby, but she was reluctant due to his history of depression and drug addiction. They remained in touch after she left him. She was one of the last people Prinze spoke to before he fatally shot himself in 1977.
Grier met comedian Richard Pryor through her relationship with Prinze, but they did not begin dating until they were both cast in Greased Lightning. She helped Pryor learn to read and tried to help him with his drug addiction. After six months of sobriety, he relapsed. In her memoir, Grier described how her sexual relationship with Pryor caused cocaine to enter her system. During an appointment, she was informed that she had a "buildup of cocaine residue" around her cervix and vagina that her doctor called an "epidemic" in Beverly Hills. He asked her if Pryor might have put cocaine on his penis to sustain his erection; she was unsure. He then asked if her mouth went numb while performing oral sex on Pryor, and she said it did. The doctor linked it to the Novocaine-like effects of cocaine. Grier confronted Pryor about protecting her health, but he refused to use a condom. Pryor married another woman while dating Grier in 1977.
Grier was formerly romantically linked to Jimmie “Big Wheel" Wheeler, a famous boxing promoter, Soul Train host Don Cornelius and basketball player Wilt Chamberlain.
In 1998, Grier was engaged to RCA Records executive Kevin Evans, but the engagement ended in 1999.
Health
Grier was diagnosed with stage-four cervical cancer in 1988 and was told she had 18 months to live. Through vigorous treatment, she made a recovery and has been in remission.
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Pam_Grier ]
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