Pam Grier was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, one of four children to Gwendolyn Sylvia (Samuels),a dedicated nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier Jr., an Air Force mechanic. As a prominent African-American star, her career began in 1971 when Roger Corman of New World Pictures launched her with The Big Doll House, a film about a women's penitentiary, and The Big Bird Cage, another film that showcased her talent.
Grier's strong performance led to a five-year contract with Samuel Z. Arkoff of American-International Pictures, where she became a leading lady in action films such as Jack Hill's Coffy and Foxy Brown, the comic strip character Friday Foster, and William Girdler's Sheba, Baby. She continued working with American-International, where she portrayed William Marshall's vampire victim in the Blacula sequel, Scream Blacula Scream.
During the 1980s, Grier became a regular on Miami Vice and played a supporting role as an evil witch in Ray Bradbury's and Walt Disney Pictures' Something Wicked This Way Comes. She then returned to action as Steven Seagal's partner in Above the Law. Her most famous role of the 1990s was probably Jackie Brown, directed by Quentin Tarantino, which was an homage to her earlier 1970s action roles. She occasionally did supporting roles, such as in Tim Burton's Mars Attacks!, In Too Deep, and a funny performance in Jawbreaker. She also appeared in John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars and co-starred with Snoop Dogg in Bones.
Grier's entire career of over 30 years has brought only success for this beautiful and talented actress.
