Pamelyn Ferdin

Pamelyn Ferdin
Pamelyn Ferdin, circa 1972
Born	February 4, 1959 (1959-02-04) (age 52) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, public relations director, activist
Years active	1964-1982, 1999-2000, 2009
Spouse	Jerry Vlasak, MD, 1986-2008

Pamelyn Ferdin (born February 4, 1959) is a former American television and film child actor, active both in live action and as a voice actress in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and has since appeared in several voice acting roles as late as 2009. She is currently an animal rights activist.

Acting career

Ferdin has played many character roles on television and in several feature films, since her first appearance in the film What a Way to Go! in 1964, aged 5. She also appeared in a stage production of The Wizard of Oz in 1976 as the lead character, Dorothy Gale.

Ferdin, front center, in "And the Children Shall Lead."

Situation comedy

She appeared in the 1965-1966 NBC sitcom The John Forsythe Show as Pamela, a student at a private girls' academy owned by Forsythe's character.

She played the Bumstead's daughter Cookie in the 1968-1969 CBS revival series Blondie.

She played Felix Unger's daughter Edna in the 1970s ABC series version of The Odd Couple and Paul Lynde's daughter Sally on the short-lived The Paul Lynde Show.

Science fiction / fantasy

She appeared on the original Star Trek in 1968 as one of a group of orphaned children led by an alien with sinister motives in the episode "And the Children Shall Lead", and in the 1977 series Space Academy as Laura Gentry.^[1]

Peanuts cartoons

Ferdin provided the voice of Lucy van Pelt in three Peanuts cartoons: the 1969 TV special It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, a 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the 1971 TV special Play It Again, Charlie Brown.

Psychological / supernatural thrillers

She played a girl tormented by a devilish child (portrayed by Laurie Prange) in the Night Gallery episode "Brenda."

She appeared as Mary Constable in the supernatural thriller Daughter of the Mind and as Abby Clarkson in The Mephisto Waltz (1971).

She was considered for the role of Regan MacNeil, the demon-possessed girl in the 1973 William Friedkin film "The Exorcist," but casting directors preferred the then less-familiar actress Linda Blair.^[2]

Other Acting Roles

Other films include The Reluctant Astronaut, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, The Christine Jorgensen Story, Happy Birthday Wanda June, and The Toolbox Murders. Pamelyn was a frequent guest star on episodic television in the 1960s and 1970s, with appearances on Bewitched, Green Acres, The Andy Griffith Show, Branded, Daniel Boone, Custer, The Monkees, The Flying Nun, Gunsmoke, The High Chaparral, Mannix, The Brady Bunch, Family Affair, Love, American Style, Marcus Welby, M.D., Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Apple's Way, The Streets of San Francisco, Baretta, CHiPS, and 240-Robert. She appeared in the made-for-tv films Smoke, The Forgotten Man, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Miles to Go Before I Sleep.

Work with animals

Her character Amy in the 1971 film The Beguiled turns against the Clint Eastwood character after he kills her pet turtle. [On her "Memory Alpha" webpage, she is credited as the first person who ever killed Clint Eastwood in a film—as a 10 year-old girl.] She voiced Fern Arable, the little girl who saves the life of Wilbur the pig, in the 1973 movie Charlotte's Web.

Ferdin's association with animals continued when she co-starred with the dog Lassie from 1971 to 1973. Her character, Lucy Baker, a deaf adolescent who initially had a pet wolf, loved and interacted with a variety of animals, including horses and a llama.

Activism

Ferdin left the acting world in the 1980s and became a registered nurse. She married surgeon and fellow animal-rights activist Jerry Vlasak in 1986.

In 1996 she quit her job as director of public relations for the Center for Animal Care and Control, a nonprofit organization under contract to the New York City Department of Health. She claimed there was mismanagement in the agency.

On April 1, 2004, Ferdin and her husband were interviewed for the PETA episode of the Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, though they are not members of PETA.

SHAC presidency

In August 2004, Ferdin accepted the presidency of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA, according to statements filed under oath in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The incumbent, Kevin Kjonaas, resigned after being indicted on charges of conspiracy and interstate stalking.^[3] When Kjonaas and six other SHAC activists were jailed in 2006, Ferdin vowed to continue the campaign. According to Salon.com she defines her current role as "a squeaky-clean representative for SHAC USA", but warns, "[P]eople, I think, are going to get hurt. There's going to be a lot of violence."^[4]

Arrests and convictions

Ferdin's arrest booking photo

On January 11, 2000, Ferdin faced up to six months in jail after being found guilty of possessing an elephant prod at an August 1999 protest at Pierce College in California. Circus Vargas had set up near Pierce College. Protesters demonstrated against alleged cruelty in circus training methods. Ferdin's arrest was based on a local ordinance that makes it a misdemeanor to carry a staff or rod greater than 1½ inches in diameter while engaging in protest. This law dates back to the civil rights era and was originally enacted to protect police from overly aggressive demonstrators. She received 30 days.

In 2004, Pamelyn Ferdin attended a Glendale City Council meeting regarding a proposal to cull urban coyotes. Ferdin addressed the Council wearing a shirt covered in fake blood, urging the city to oppose the cull. Ferdin mentioned the Keen event, and argued that rather than having been killed by a coyote, Kelly had been the victim of child abuse. She claimed that medical records indicated that the child died of a ruptured spleen, which could only have come from blunt trauma, not an animal bite. Her colleague, Michael Bell, went further by claiming that, after digging around in hospital records, he discovered discrepancies and missing documents. He stated that the coyote story was a cover-up for how the child really died. Robert and Cathy Keen watched the meeting live on cable and, upon hearing Bell's statement, raced to the Glendale City hall to respond to the allegations. They recounted the event to the council, and showed the death certificate, which listed the cause of the child’s injuries as "mauled by a coyote".

Ferdin's stance remained unchanged; "I stand by my beliefs that a coyote did not kill (the girl)." Her accusation was met with harsh criticism. Councilman Frank Quintero stated "What the activists said at the dais was cruel and absolutely uninformed... Knowing the mother, it broke my heart that they would do that to her. When they were making the accusations, I was considering stopping them."

On June 22, 2006, Ferdin was sentenced to 90 days in jail for trespassing and "targeted demonstration" outside the home of an employee of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. She stated that the conviction "is not going to affect my speaking out and exposing the atrocities occurring at our six city shelters."^[5] She served 36 hours and was released for serving the full sentence due to prison over crowding.

In December 2006, Ferdin's group the Animal Defense League, Los Angeles (ADLLA) announced that it had been awarded $75,000 against the city of Los Angeles for an anti-SLAPP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation) motion.^[6]

In 2008 Ferdin was convicted of contempt of court, after allegedly violating an injunction she was not named in barring the harassment of University of California, Los Angeles faculty members. The conviction was overturned and she is now suing UCLA for harassment in federal court^[7]

Filmography

• What a Way to Go! (1964) .... Geraldine Crawley^[8]
• The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968) .... Laura Bower
• A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) (voice) .... Lucy Van Pelt
• The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970) .... Dolly (child)
• Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971) .... Wanda June
• What's the Matter with Helen? (1971) .... Kiddy M.C.
• The Mephisto Waltz (1971) .... Abby Clarkson
• The Beguiled (1971) .... Amelia
• Charlotte's Web (1973) (voice) ... Fern Arable
• The Toolbox Murders (1978) .... Laurie Ballard
• Heidi's Song (1982) (voice) .... Klara
• Elf Sparkle Meets Christmas the Horse (2009) .... Christmas the Horse

Television

• The John Forsythe Show (1965) .... Pamela
• The Flying Nun - "The Reconversion of Sister Shapiro" (1967) .... Linda Shapiro
• Blondie (1968) TV Series .... Cookie
• Star Trek, "And the Children Shall Lead" (1968) .... Mary Janowski
• Daughter of the Mind (1969) .... Mary Constable
• It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (1969) (voice) .... Lucy Van Pelt
• The Odd Couple (1970) .... Edna Unger (1970–1971)
• Mannix - "Fly, Little One" (1970) .... Dana
• Smoke (1970) .... Susie
• The Brady Bunch - "Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up?" (1970) .... Lucy Winters
• Curiosity Shop (1971) .... Pam
• The Forgotten Man (1971) .... Sharon Hardy
• The Mephisto Waltz (1971) .... Abby Clarkson
• Play It Again, Charlie Brown (1971) (voice) .... Lucy Van Pelt
• The Roman Holidays (1972) .... Percocia Holiday
• Lassie: Joyous Sound (1972)
• Lassie (1973–74) .... Lucy Baker
• The Paul Lynde Show (1972).... Sally Simms
• The Delphi Bureau (1972) .... Alice, the Boarder
• Night Gallery: "Brenda" (1972)
• Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973) .... Peggy
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1974) .... Francie Nolan
• Apple's Way (1974) .... school assembly director
• Shazam! - "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (1974) .... Lynn Colby
• These Are the Days (1974) .... Kathy Day
• Miles to Go Before I Sleep (1975) .... Lisa
• Space Academy (1977) .... Lt. Laura Gentry
• CHiPs (1978) ... .Susie
• Detention (1999) .... Shelley Kelley
• Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law (2000) .... Sallie

References

1. ^ "Space Academy". www.70slivekidvid.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20080601040907/http://www.70slivekidvid.com/spacea.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 
2. ^ http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Pamelyn_Ferdin
3. ^ "Radical Animal Rights Group Convicted of Inciting Violence and Stalking". www.adl.org. http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_the_news/Other_Extremism/shac_convicted.htm?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_the_News. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 
4. ^ Cook, Jon. "Thugs for puppies". www.salon.com. http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/02/07/thugs_puppies/index.html. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 
5. ^ "abc7.com: Former Child Actress Sentenced to Jail 6/22/06". abclocal.go.com. http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/entertainment&id=4297927. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 
6. ^ Milionis, Allison. "Los Angeles CityBeat - SLAPPing Back". www.lacitybeat.com. http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/?id=4796&IssueNum=186. Retrieved 2008-06-15. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Judge: To protect and to unnerve’: animal rights activists accuse UCLA of intimidation tactics". laactivist.com. http://www.laactivist.com/2011/02/03/to-protect-and-to-unnerve-animal-rights-activists-accuse-ucla-of-intimidation-tactics/. Retrieved 2011-02-03. 
8. ^ Ferdin, Pamelyn (Summer 1995). "Basically, just a really nice little girl – Pamelyn Ferdin: Her Life & Work". Feminist Baseball (Seattle). http://www.pamferdin.com/interview/index.html. Retrieved August 23, 2010. 

External links

• Pamelyn Ferdin's official personal website
• Pamelyn Ferdin at the Internet Movie Database
• Pamelyn Ferdin at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Ferdin's animal rights work
• AnimalScam scans of court documents