Melanie Kinnaman (born December 18, 1953) is an American dancer, film and stage actress. She is best known for her role as Pam in the 1985 horror film '' Friday the 13th: A New Beginning''. She later co-starred with

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...

in ''

Best of the Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

''. Kinnaman has an upcoming role in the Kevin Costner produced ''The Gray House'' Kinnaman has also made guest appearances on television in programs such as ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'', '' The People Next Door'' and ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

''. She is still acting and working on projects for stage, television and film.

Biography

Kinnaman was born and raised in

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

, where she attended

Holyoke High School Holyoke High School is a public high school in western Massachusetts, United States that serves the City of Holyoke. Since 2015, the school, along with the district, has been in state receivership and through a series of changes in practices, such ...

, and later, the

Williston Northampton School Williston Northampton School (simply referred to as Williston) is a private, co-educational, day and boarding college-preparatory school in Easthampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1841. History Williston Seminary wa ...

in Easthampton. After graduating from high school, Kinnaman relocated to New York City where she appeared in several

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

productions, attempted to obtain roles in soap operas as well as appearing in commercials. She relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1982, and eight months later appeared in a thirteen-week run of ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

''. In 1984, Kinnaman was cast as a drug-addicted prostitute in

Cannon Films The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested ...

's ''Thunder Alley'' (1985). She was subsequently cast as the lead heroine, Pam, in '' Friday the 13th: A New Beginning''. She was originally going to reprise her role as Pam (who evidently survived in the previous film) in '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'', but

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

changed the concept of the sequel and the character was written out.

Filmography

References

Works cited

External links

* 1953 births Living people American female dancers American dancers American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses Actresses from Massachusetts People from Holyoke, Massachusetts Williston Northampton School alumni {{US-screen-actor-stub