Pam Dawber

Pam Dawber (born October 18, 1951) is an American actress best known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell in Mork & Mindy (1978 – 1982) and Samantha Russell in My Sister Sam (1986 – 1988).

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 sang 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. The series was a success in its first season, but suffered a massive ratings drop in its second after moving to Saturday night. My Sister Sam left the air in April 1988, with half of the second season's episodes never airing on CBS, but eventually airing (along with all previous episodes) on USA Network. In July 1989, over a year after the show's demise, Schaeffer was shot and killed by an obsessed fan in front of her apartment, which devastated Dawber.^{[citation needed]} Dawber, and her My Sister Sam co-stars Joel Brooks, David Naughton and Jenny O'Hara reunited to film a public service announcement about violence prevention.

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. They have two sons: Sean Thomas Harmon (born April 25, 1988) and Ty Christian Harmon (born June 25, 1992). ^[3] The couple appeared together in the film I'll Remember April.

Films and TV movies

• A Wedding (1978) - Tracy Farrell
• The Girl, the Gold Watch and 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

External links

• Pam Dawber at the Internet Movie Database