Pamela Dawber (born October 18, 1951)
is an American actress best known for her lead television
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
roles as Mindy McConnell in ''
Mork & Mindy
''Mork & Mindy'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 14, 1978, to May 27, 1982. A spin-off after a highly successful episode of ''Happy Days'', "My Favorite Orkan", it starred Robin Williams as Mork, an extraterrest ...
'' (1978–1982) and Samantha Russell in ''
My Sister Sam
''My Sister Sam'' is an American television sitcom starring Pam Dawber and Rebecca Schaeffer that aired on CBS from October 6, 1986, to April 12, 1988.
Synopsis
The sitcom follows the lives of a 29-year-old San Francisco freelance photographer ...
'' (1986–1988).
Early life
Dawber was born in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, the older of two daughters of Thelma M. (née Fisher) and Eugene E. Dawber, a commercial artist.
She went to Reid Elementary School in
Goodrich and attended
North Farmington High School
North Farmington High School is a public high school located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The school was established in 1961 and, as of the 2019–2020 school year, educates a student body of over 1300. The principal is Joseph Greene.
Hi ...
and
Oakland Community College (OCC), with the intention of transferring to a four-year college. She deferred her studies at OCC to do some modeling work and eventually dropped out after deciding to go into modeling full-time.
Career
Dawber moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and was initially a
fashion model
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...
with
Wilhelmina Models
Wilhelmina International Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM), formerly Wilhelmina Models, is a full service modeling and talent agency headquartered in New York City, United States. The company also has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. Founded in 196 ...
before switching to acting. She appeared in several television commercials during the 1970s (
Fotomat
Fotomat was an American retail chain of photo development drive-through kiosks located primarily in shopping center parking lots. Fotomat Corporation was founded by Preston Fleet in San Diego, California, in the 1960s, with the first kiosk ope ...
,
Noxzema
Noxzema ( ) is a brand of skin cleanser marketed by Unilever. Since 1914, it was sold in a small cobalt blue jar; but is now sold in a blue plastic jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, phenol and eucalyptus, among other ingredients. Originally ...
,
Neet
NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", refers to a person who is unemployed and not receiving an education or vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s, and its use ha ...
,
Underalls Underalls was a brand of undergarments for women manufactured by the Hanes hosiery and underwear company of North Carolina and marketed in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from the introduction of the product in 1976 until the halt of productio ...
, etc.).
[
Dawber screen-tested for the title role in '']Tabitha
Tabitha () is an English feminine given name, originating with (or made popular through) Saint Tabitha, mentioned in the New Testament.
In the Bible
Tabitha or Dorcas is a woman mentioned in the New Testament. The English name is derived fro ...
,'' a 1977–1978 situation comedy spun off from ''Bewitched
''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...
'', but the role instead went to Lisa Hartman
Lisa Hartman Black is an American actress and singer.
Career
After some minor television appearances, Hartman starred on the short-lived '' Bewitched'' spin-off, ''Tabitha'' during 1977–78. She subsequently appeared frequently on television i ...
. However, ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
executives were impressed enough with her to enroll her in its "talent development" program, which paid its participants until they could find appropriate roles. Garry K. Marshall recruited her from this program.
Breakthrough: ''Mork & Mindy''
Dawber's professional breakthrough came when Marshall chose her, despite her having relatively little acting experience and not having auditioned for the part, as one of the two title characters of the ABC sitcom ''Mork & Mindy
''Mork & Mindy'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 14, 1978, to May 27, 1982. A spin-off after a highly successful episode of ''Happy Days'', "My Favorite Orkan", it starred Robin Williams as Mork, an extraterrest ...
,'' which ran from 1978 to 1982. She portrayed Mindy McConnell, the comedic foil
A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases fo ...
and eventual love interest for the extraterrestrial Mork from the planet Ork, played by a then-unknown Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
. The show was extremely popular in its debut season, when it averaged at number three in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
for the year. The only major difficulty for her on set was that she often found it impossible to maintain the proper composure in character in the face of her co-star's comedic talent. Also, pressure came from the TV network to sexualize her character as the series progressed, which Dawber successfully resisted, with Williams' support.
''The Pirates of Penzance''
Dawber sang in a 1980s Los Angeles Civic Light Opera production of Gilbert & Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ''H.M.S. Pina ...
's ''The Pirates of Penzance
''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 187 ...
,'' based on the Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created a y ...
/New York Shakespeare Festival
Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions ar ...
production. Her role, as Mabel, had been played by Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...
in the New York run of the show.
''My Sister Sam''
From 1986 to 1988, Dawber again had the title role in a television series, playing Samantha Russell in the CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
sitcom ''My Sister Sam
''My Sister Sam'' is an American television sitcom starring Pam Dawber and Rebecca Schaeffer that aired on CBS from October 6, 1986, to April 12, 1988.
Synopsis
The sitcom follows the lives of a 29-year-old San Francisco freelance photographer ...
,'' co-starring Rebecca Schaeffer
Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer (November 6, 1967 – July 18, 1989) was an American actress and model. She began her career as a teen model before moving on to acting. In 1986, she landed the role of Patricia "Patti" Russell in the CBS comedy ''My Sis ...
. The series was a success in its first season, but it suffered a massive ratings drop in its second after moving to Saturday night. ''My Sister Sam'' was cancelled in April 1988, with half of the second season's episodes never shown on CBS, but eventually broadcast (along with all previous episodes) on USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
.
In July 1989, over a year after the show's cancellation, Schaeffer was shot and killed in front of her apartment in Los Angeles by Robert John Bardo
Robert John Bardo (born January 2, 1970) is an American man serving life imprisonment without parole after being convicted in October 1991 for the July 18, 1989, murder of American actress and model Rebecca Schaeffer, whom he had stalked for t ...
, a man who had stalked her for three years. Dawber was reportedly "devastated" by her former co-star's death. Dawber and her other surviving ''My Sister Sam'' co-stars, Joel Brooks
Joel Brooks (born December 17, 1949) is an American actor, known for his roles in '' Stir Crazy'', ''My Sister Sam'', '' Six Feet Under'', '' The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green'' and '' Phil of the Future''. Brooks also had a recurr ...
, David Naughton
David Walsh Naughton (born February 13, 1951) is an American actor and singer known for his starring roles in the horror film '' An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and the Disney comedy '' Midnight Madness'' (1980), as well as for a long-run ...
and Jenny O'Hara
Patricia Joanne "Jenny" O'Hara (born February 24, 1942) is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is best known for Dixie in ''My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988), Janet Heffernan in ''The King of Queens'' (2001–2007), and Nita in ''B ...
, all participated in a filmed public service announcement
A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...
about gun violence prevention, and Dawber herself became a gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
advocate. With the birth of her second child, she largely retired from the entertainment industry for family reasons, acting sporadically during the 1990s.
Film work
Although mostly known for her television work, Dawber has starred in several films, including the comedy movie '' Stay Tuned'' (1992) with John Ritter
Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ...
and the period movie '' I'll Remember April'' (1999), alongside husband Mark Harmon.
Return to television
In 1997, Dawber starred in the short-lived sitcom '' Life... and Stuff'' on CBS.
In 2014, she reunited with Robin Williams on his comedy series ''The Crazy Ones
''The Crazy Ones'' is an American television sitcom created by David E. Kelley, and starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. The single-camera series aired for one season on CBS, from September 26, 2013, to April 17, 2014. It was p ...
'' as a love interest of Williams's character. But the reunion failed to boost the show's ratings, and it was cancelled shortly afterwards. Williams, already suffering from Lewy body disease
Lewy body dementias are two similar and common subtypes of dementia—dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and
Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Both are characterized by changes in thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. The two conditions have sim ...
by this time, died by suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
later that year.
Dawber is a national spokeswoman for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to "create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth". Adult volunteers are matched with children from ag ...
. Garry K. Marshall, the film-and-television comedy writer-producer-director who enabled Dawber's professional breakthrough, died in 2016. That year, Dawber made a guest appearance on ''The Odd Couple Odd Couple may refer to:
Neil Simon play and its adaptations
* ''The Odd Couple'' (play), a 1965 stage play by Neil Simon
** ''The Odd Couple'' (film), a 1968 film based on the play
*** ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series), a 1970–1975 televisi ...
'' in a tribute episode to Marshall, along with other Marshall alumni Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...
, Garry's sister Penny Marshall
Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, director and producer. She is known for her role as ...
, Cindy Williams
Cynthia Jane Williams (born August 22, 1947) is an American actress and producer, known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1975–1979), and ''Laverne & Shirley'' (1976–1982).
Early life
Williams was bo ...
, Anson Williams, Don Most
Don Most (born August 8, 1953) is an American actor and singer, best known for his role as Ralph Malph on the television series ''Happy Days''.
Early life
Most was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City. He lived in Flatbush, Brook ...
and Marion Ross
Marion Ross (born Marian Ellen Ross; October 25, 1928) is a American former actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom '' Happy Days'', on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and for which she recei ...
.
For the first time in her career, she appeared with her husband and fellow actor, Mark Harmon on CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
' '' NCIS'' in 2021 for seven episodes as '"seasoned investigative journalist" Marcie Warren.
Personal life
Dawber married actor Mark Harmon on March 21, 1987, in a private ceremony. They have two sons: Sean Thomas Harmon (born April 25, 1988), also an actor, and Ty Christian Harmon (born June 25, 1992). The couple maintains a private family life and rarely appear in public with their children, or speak about one another in interviews.
Filmography
;Television
;Film
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawber, Pam
1951 births
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from Detroit
Female models from Michigan
American film actresses
American television actresses
American voice actresses
North Farmington High School alumni
Oakland Community College alumni
Living people
People from Farmington Hills, Michigan