Pam Grier

Pam Grier gave us something new: not just a female action movie star, but an African-American female action movie star. On the heels of the Civil Rights movement she burst into the American consciousness to become one of the sexiest icons in history.
She was working as a receptionist when director Jack Hill discovered her and cast her in the women-in-prison flick The Big Doll House (1971) and its follow-up in ’72, The Big Bird Cage. It was a supporting role, but Pam stood out with her gorgeous face and powerful screen persona. Hill gave her the lead in his next film, Coffy (1973), and Pam’s career took off. ‘74’s Foxy Brown followed.




“The baddest one-chick hit-squad that ever hit town!”




Through the eighties and most of the nineties Pam was more-or-less inactive in film, but in ’97 Quentin Tarantino cast her as the lead in Jackie Brown, and a whole new generation discovered her. She’s been active since, most notably in the cable series The L Word and most recently as a recurring character on the cop show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.