Pam Grier ethnicity, daughter, married, net worth

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The reigning <a href="/biography/pam-grier">queen</a> of the '70s blaxploitation genre that still influences culture till this day, <a href="/biography/pam-grier">Pamela Suzette Grier</a> was born May 26, 1949 in Winston-Salem, NC. The daughter of Clarence Ransom Grier Jr, a technical sergeant and mechanic with United State Air Force and Gwendolyn Sylvia Grier, who was a nurse and a home maker, Grier grew up form one brother and a sister. She is a mix of many cultures: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic">Hispanic</a>, Filipino and Chinese. Her father was black while her mom was a Cheyenne Indian. Growing up, Grier was a good student who dreamed of becoming a doctor. “When I was a young girl, I never thought of acting,” she remembers. “I never thought of television, of fans, movie stars, signing autographs. It never crossed my mind.”

When she was only six years old, a young Grier was raped by two boys when she was left alone from the house of her aunt. She said that it took too long to overcome the pain and her family had to endure too much anger and live with the guilt that something so horrible like that may have happened to her. At the age of 18 she was the victim of a date rape. Fearing repercussions on her family, Grier never said a word to anyone about either incident until she sat down to write her memoirs as an adult. “I wanted others out there to understand the emotional trauma that is involved in sexual aggression and abuse and that not all of us get over it or even survive the abuse,” she says about her decision to finally reveal the incidents. “I have that opportunity to speak about this as the icon—the object and let others know that in spite of it all, I am still here.”

During her teen years ,Pam Grier had to move too much because of her father's military career. The family had lived in many different places including England, but after a while they settled in Colorado where she attended East High School. She appeared in many stage productions there. At the age of 18, Grier entered the Miss Colorado Universe pageant; was named first runner-up, and by a mixture of talent, luck and chance, attracted the attention of Hollywood agent David Baumgarten, who signed her to a contract.

After relocating to Los Angeles for the contract, like many Hollywood dreamers, Grier struggled to mount an acting career, and worked as a switchboard operator at the studios of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Corman">Roger Corman</a>'s American International Pictures; finally, with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Corman">Corman</a>'s aid she made her film debut in the 1970 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Meyer">Russ Meyer</a> cult classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, followed by an appearance in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hill">Jack Hill</a>'s 1971 cheapie The Big Doll House. For several years, Grier languished virtually unnoticed in grindhouse fare like 1971's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Cages">Women in Cages</a> and 1973's Arena (aka Naked Warriors) before winning the title role in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hill">Hill</a>'s 1973 action outing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffy">Coffy</a>.

But Grier wasn’t satisfied. She knew that women needed to demand their respect in a male dominated Hollywood. “You know, I had to bump heads with a lot of men in the industry,” Grier says. “They were not comfortable with showing a progressive black female in an action role. As a strong woman, I was seen as a threat. There was a fear that women would mimic me in real life. I remember certain people saying: ‘Oh, she’s taking our jobs, she’s castrating men’ – as far as I was concerned, I thought: ‘We don’t need to walk behind you, we should walk beside you.'”

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After her role in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffy">Coffy</a>, Grier immediately rose to the forefront of the so-called "blaxploitation" genre, a group of action-adventure films aimed squarely at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans">African-American</a> audiences. Portraying the 1974 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxy_Brown_(film)">superheroine</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxy_Brown_(film)">Foxy Brown</a>, she became a major cult figure, as her character's fierce independence, no-nonsense attitude, and empowered spirit made her a role model for blacks and feminists alike. At the peak of her popularity, Grier even appeared on the covers of Ms. and New York magazines; her films' often racy content also made her a sex symbol.  A major role in the 1988 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Seagal">Steven Seagal</a> action hit Above the Law marked the beginning of a comeback, and after appearing in 1993's Posse, Grier starred with fellow blaxploitation vets <a href="/biography/jim-brown">Jim Brown</a>, <a href="/biography/richard-roundtree">Richard Roundtree</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Williamson">Fred "The Hammer" Williamson</a> in 1996's Original Gangstas, a throwback to the films of the early '70s.Her career was revitalized after playing in the film of <a href="/biography/quentin-tarantino">Quentin Tarantino</a> as the tilte <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Brown">character</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Brown">Jackie Brown</a>.

She received a Golden Globe nomination in the best actress category. She had also been nominated for the SAG award and Satellite Awards for the same role. Grier has also been recognized for her work in the television where she played Kate Kit Porter in The L Word. She got a nomination for an Emmy Award for her roles in different movies like the Rotten Tomatoes, Fairy Tales for Every Child, Happily, Ever After.  She ranked as the second-best action heroine. Though the famed director and her good friend, <a href="/biography/quentin-tarantino">Quentin Tarantino</a> said that she is the best action movie star of all the time.

Throughout her acting career, Grier has been linked with many male celebrities, including Freddie Prinze, <a href="/biography/kareem-abdul-jabbar">Kareem Abdul Jabbar</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain">Wilt Chamberlin</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pryor">Richard Pryor</a>. While <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pryor">Pryor</a> was with Pam Grier, he was also seeing Deborah MacGuire and they got engaged while still in a relationship with Grier.   Even if Pam Grier may have dated many men after this, she had never been married officially since there is no record of any husband or marriage.  For some time, she was engaged to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_L._Evans">Kevin Evans</a>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_L._Evans">music executive</a> but the engagement was called off.  Afterwards, she dated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hempel">Peter Hempel</a>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hempel">marketing executive</a>.

Though her heyday has passed her, Grier still does movies and is an advocate against a number of diseases including HIV. She also has not one, but two doctorates! Yes, it’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxy_Brown_(film)">Dr.</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxy_Brown_(film)">Foxy Brown</a>! 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

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