Through The Decades: 70s Stars Then And Now

Like it? Share it!

Facebook

Pinterest

Reddit

Twitter

Google+

Pam Grier

Pinterest

Pam Grier moved to LA where she was initially hired to work the switchboard at American International Pictures (AIP). She was discovered, then cast in several women-in-prison films like The Big Doll House and The Big Bird Cage. While under contract at AIP, she became a staple of early 1970s blaxploitation movies, playing big, bold, assertive women. Her film, Coffy, made her the first African American female to headline an action film, as protagonists of the previous blaxploitation films were male. She subsequently played similar characters in films like Foxy Brown, Sheba, Baby, and Friday Foster. With the demise of blaxploitation later in the 70s, she appeared in smaller roles from then on. In 2011 she received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Maryland, and then founded the Pam Grier Community Garden and Education Center in order to teach people about organic gardening, health, and nutrition.