Teri McMinn (born August 18, 1951) is an American actress and model, known for her role as Pam in ''

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, w ...

'' (1974).

Life and career

McMinn was born and raised in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and grew up with an interest in the arts. After graduating high school, she was on scholarship with The Dallas Theatre Center, in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. Moving to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

for further study, the actress attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and

St. Edward's University St. Edward's University is a private, Catholic university in Austin, Texas. It was founded and is operated in the Holy Cross tradition. History Founding and early history St. Edward's University was founded by the Reverend Edward Sorin, CSC ...

in Austin, Texas. She was discovered by

Tobe Hooper Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror film, horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influenti ...

and

Kim Henkel Kim David Henkel (born January 19, 1946) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He is best known as the co-writer of Tobe Hooper's horror film ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre''. Early life Henkel was born in Virginia and g ...

, director and producer (respectively) of ''

'', after seeing an article about her in the local newspaper. After auditioning, Teri was offered the role of "Pam" in their film project. Pam was a teenager traveling with Sally Hardesty and her brother Franklin to visit the grave of the Hardestys' grandfather to investigate reports of vandalism and grave robbing. On their way, they fall victim to a family of cannibals. Her most memorable scene was being hung on a meat hook by

Leatherface Leatherface is a fictional character in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' film series created by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper. He first appears in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' as a disfigured, cannibalistic and mentally unstable mass murderer ...

(played by

Gunnar Hansen Gunnar Milton Hansen (March 4, 1947 – November 7, 2015) was an Icelandic-born American actor and author best known for playing the mentally impaired cannibal Leatherface in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' (1974). Early life Hansen was born ...

), the antagonist. Following the arduous film shoot, Teri continued acting in regional theater in Texas and the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

. After the film’s 1974 release, she studied acting in

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' ...

and

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 ...

, was a leg and foot model, did commercials and print work, and continued her work in theater. At Monster Mania Horror Convention in 2008, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Teri made a personal appearance as "Pam, the girl on the meat hook", in a cast reunion. In September 2008, the new 4-set hi-definition DVD release of the movie contained an interview with her about the making and release of the film. On August 6, 2009 she was a special guest at th
Carnival of Darkness
She attende
Son of Monsterpalooza
in Burbank, California from September 12 to 14, 2014. She now lives in California and continues to please fans by attending occasional horror film events.

Filmography

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:McMinn, Teri 1951 births Living people American film actresses Actresses from Houston University of Texas at Austin alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women