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Pam Dawber

 
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Pam Dawber
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Though she has performed in dozens of television shows, Pam Dawber will always be remembered for her starring role in the 1970's sitcom, Mork and Mindy, which also starred comedian Robin Williams. Dawber was born on October 18, 1951, in Detroit, MI, where she did some modelling while she was in college. Moving to New York, Dawber was signed to do more modelling, and was seen in magazine advertisements and TV commercials, but decided she would like to act. She won a leading role in a stock production of Sweet Adeline in Connecticut, and from there went on to a role in Robert Altman's film, A Wedding. She signed an exclusive contract with ABC-TV, which led to the part of Mindy, in Mork and Mindy, and she has been a familiar face on the small screen ever since. She played in the titular role of My Sister Sam, 1986-88. Dawber is married to actor Mark Harmon, and they have two children.

Last updated: March 18, 2009.

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Actor: Pam Dawber
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Oct 18, 1951 in Farmington Hills, Michigan
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '80s-'90s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: A Child's Cry for Help, Wild Horses, Stay Tuned
  • First Major Screen Credit: Mork & Mindy: Season 01 (1978)

Biography

Pam Dawber grew up in Detroit, where her father was a commercial artist and her mother ran a stock-photo agency. Blessed with a four-octave soprano voice, Dawber prepared for a singing career while attending Oakland Community College. After suffering the traditional setbacks, she began working as a model in New York. This led to a string of commercials, including one of the early "Tupperware Lady" musical ads. In 1977, she made her first film appearance in Robert Altman's A Wedding, making an unforgettable entrance on horseback. The following year, she was cast as Mindy McConnell on the weekly Robin Williams sitcom Mork & Mindy. Though Dawber was generally relegated to straight woman and sounding board for Mork's zany antics, Williams did his utmost to see that his co-star was given a few isolated moments to shine. After Mork & Mindy ended its four-year run, Williams went on to theatrical features, while Dawber busied herself in made-for-TV movies. In 1986, she was top-billed in another successful TV comedy, My Sister Sam, which came to an abrupt end in 1988 when her co-star, Rebecca Schaeffer, was murdered by a crazed fan who was stalking her. Since that time, Dawber has appeared on-stage and in a handful of films, including the much-delayed fantasy Stay Tuned (1992), in which, courtesy of animation director Chuck Jones, she was briefly glimpsed in cartoon form. She has also been active as national spokesperson for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. Pam Dawber is married to actor Mark Harmon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: Pam Dawber
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Pam Dawber
Born October 18, 1951 (1951-10-18) (age 58)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.[1]
Spouse(s) Mark Harmon (1987 – present)

Pam Dawber (born October 18, 1951) is an American actress, best known for her title roles as Mindy McConnell in the 1978–82 sitcom Mork & Mindy and as Samantha Russell in My Sister Sam (1986–88). Dawber has a four-octave soprano voice.

Contents

Life and career

Dawber was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Thelma M. (née Fisher) and Eugene E. Dawber, a commercial artist.[1] She attended North Farmington High School and Oakland Community College. She began her career as a fashion model with Wilhelmina Models and went on to a career as an actress. From 1978 to 1982, she played one of the title roles in the ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy: Mindy McConnell, the comedic foil and eventual love interest for the extraterrestrial Mork from the planet "Ork", played by Robin Williams. The show was extremely popular in its debut season, when it averaged at #3 in the Nielsen Ratings for the year.[2]

Dawber got to use her four-octave soprano voice in a 1980s Los Angeles Civic Light Opera production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, based on the Joseph Papp/New York Shakespeare Festival production. Her role, as Mabel, had been played by Linda Ronstadt in the New York run of the show.

From 1986 to 1988, Dawber again had the title role in a TV series, playing Samantha Russell in the CBS sitcom My Sister Sam, co-starring Rebecca Schaeffer. Schaeffer was shot and killed by an obsessed fan in front of her apartment in 1989, which devastated Dawber.

Dawber parodied her Mork & Mindy character in the 1992 movie Stay Tuned, in which she co-starred with John Ritter, who parodied his Three's Company role.

Dawber is a national spokeswoman for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

Personal life

She has been married to actor Mark Harmon since March 21, 1987. The couple appeared together in the film I'll Remember April, and have two sons: Sean Thomas Harmon (born April 25, 1988) and Tyrone Christian Harmon (born June 25, 1992).[3]

Films & TV movies

  • A Wedding (1978) - Tracy Farrell
  • The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything (1980) - Bonny Lee Beaumont
  • Remembrance of Love (1982) - Marcy Rabin
  • Through Naked Eyes (1983) - Anne Walsh
  • Last of the Great Survivors (1984) - Laura Matthews
  • Faerie Tale Theatre: The Little Mermaid
  • This Wife for Hire (1985) - Marsha Harper
  • Wild Horses (1985) - Daryl Reese
  • American Geisha (1986) - Gillian Burke
  • Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story (1988) - Lucy Wedemeyer
  • Do You Know the Muffin Man? (1989) - Kendra Dollison
  • The Face of Fear (1990) - Connie Weaver
  • Stay Tuned (1992) - Helen Knable
  • The Man with Three Wives (1993) - Robyn
  • Web of Deception (1994) - Ellen Benesch
  • A Child's Cry for Help (1994) - Monica Shaw
  • A Stranger to Love (1995) - Andie
  • Trail of Tears (1999) - Cheryl Harris
  • I'll Remember April (1999) - Barbara Cooper
  • Don't Look Behind You (1999) - Liz Corrigan
  • Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars documentary (2006)[4]

Television series

  • Mork & Mindy (1978-82) - Mindy McConnell
  • My Sister Sam (1986-88) - Samantha 'Sam' Russell
  • Life... and Stuff (1997) - Ronnie Boswell

She also played the part of a secretary named Karen Billings in episode 13b of the first season of The New Twilight Zone called "But Can She Type?"

Voice

  • Swan Lake (1981) - Princess Odette
  • The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley with the Fonz Show (TV Series) (1982) - Mindy McConnell
  • Nick and Noel (1993) (TV) - Leslie
  • The Bears Who Saved Christmas (TV) (1994) - Mom
  • 101 Dalmatians: The Series (TV Series) (1997) - Perdy

References

  1. ^ a b http://www.filmreference.com/film/86/Pam-Dawber.html
  2. ^ http://www.amug.org/~scrnsrc/top_tv_shows_70s.html
  3. ^ http://www.parade.com/celebrity/2008/09/in-step-with-mark-harmon
  4. ^ http://www.Teacher1986.com

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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