Pamela Sue Martin (born January 5, 1953) is an American actress, who is best known for starring as

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a Fictional character, fictional character appearing in several Mystery fiction, mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published ...

on the television series ''

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries ''The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries'' (re-titled ''The Hardy Boys'' for season three) is an American television mystery series based on the ''Hardy Boys'' and ''Nancy Drew'' juvenile novels. The series, which ran from January 30, 1977, to Janu ...

'' and as socialite

Fallon Carrington Colby Fallon Carrington is a fictional character from the ABC television series ''Dynasty'' and its spin-off ''The Colbys''. Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro, the role of Fallon was originated by Pamela Sue Martin in the show's first episode in 1 ...

on the

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 ...

soap opera ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', winning a

Bambi Award The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and ot ...

for the latter in 1984.

Life and career

Born in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

, Martin began modeling at 17 and appeared in '' The Poseidon Adventure'' in 1972, at age 19. More films followed, including '' Our Time'' and '' Buster and Billie''. Later, her work as ABC-TV's

made her something of a teen idol. Initially, the ABC program alternated each week between ''The Nancy Drew Mysteries'' and ''The Hardy Boys Mysteries''. In season 2, the shows were merged and renamed ''The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries,'' which led to Nancy's role being reduced. This frustrated Martin, who left the series as a result. Her final appearance as Nancy aired on January 1, 1978. Martin appeared in a cover pictorial in the July 1978 issue of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' magazine, with the headline "TV's Nancy Drew Undraped". In the magazine, she cited the merger of the two shows as her reason for quitting the series. Martin portrayed feisty and spoiled heiress

on the

nighttime soap opera ''

'' from its debut in 1981 through to the end of the fourth season in 1984. After Martin left (of her own accord), the character was initially portrayed as "missing and presumed dead". The series recast the role with actress

Emma Samms Emma Elizabeth Wylie Samuelson MBE known professionally as Emma Samms, (born 28 August 1960) is an English actress and TV host, known for her role as Holly Sutton on the American daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'' and as the second actress ...

at the end of the fifth season in 1985. Martin hosted ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' on February 16, 1985. In the 2000s, she was artistic director of the Interplanetary Theater Group, in Idaho. Since then, she has worked sporadically in film and television. Martin has spoken about her struggle with

interstitial cystitis Interstitial cystitis (IC), a type of bladder pain syndrome (BPS), is chronic pain in the bladder and pelvic floor of unknown cause. It is the urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome of women. Symptoms include feeling the need to urinate right awa ...

. In 1984, Martin, who has long been involved in

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

al causes, appeared in a public service announcement to help save pink dolphins in the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

. The ad was directed by Clyde Lucas, who appeared on ''The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.''

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Pamela Sue 1953 births Living people Actresses from Connecticut American film actresses American soap opera actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Female models from Connecticut People from Westport, Connecticut 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses