Pam Dawber
Encyclopedia
Pam Dawber is an American
actress best known for her lead television sitcom
roles as Mindy McConnell in Mork & Mindy (1978 – 1982) and Samantha Russell in My Sister Sam
(1986 – 1988).
, the daughter of Thelma M. (née Fisher) and Eugene E. Dawber, a commercial artist. She attended North Farmington High School
and Oakland Community College
. She began her career as a fashion model
with Wilhelmina Models
and went on to a career as an actress. From 1978 to 1982, she played one of the title roles in the ABC
sitcom Mork & Mindy: Mindy McConnell, the comedic foil and eventual love interest for the extraterrestrial
Mork from the planet "Ork", played by Robin Williams
. The show was extremely popular in its debut season, when it averaged at #3 in the Nielsen ratings
for the year.
Dawber sang in a 1980s Los Angeles Civic Light Opera production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance
, based on the Joseph Papp
/New York Shakespeare Festival
production. Her role, as Mabel, had been played by Linda Ronstadt
in the New York run of the show.
From 1986 to 1988, Dawber again had the title role in a TV series, playing Samantha Russell in the CBS
sitcom My Sister Sam
, co-starring Rebecca Schaeffer
. The series was a success in its first season, but suffered a massive ratings drop in its second after moving to Saturday night. My Sister Sam left the air in April 1988, with half of the second season's episodes never airing on CBS, but eventually airing (along with all previous episodes) on USA Network. In July 1989, over a year after the show's demise, Schaeffer was shot and killed by an obsessed fan in front of her apartment, which devastated Dawber.
Dawber parodied her Mork & Mindy character in the 1992 movie Stay Tuned, in which she co-starred with John Ritter
, who parodied his Three's Company
role.
Dawber is a national spokeswoman for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
.
, since March 21, 1987. They have two sons: Sean Thomas Harmon (born April 25, 1988) and Ty Christian Harmon (born June 25, 1992).
The couple appeared together in the film I'll Remember April
.
She also played the part of a secretary named Karen Billings in episode 13b of the first season of The New Twilight Zone
called "But Can She Type?"
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress best known for her lead television sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
roles as Mindy McConnell in Mork & Mindy (1978 – 1982) and Samantha Russell in My Sister Sam
My Sister Sam
My Sister Sam is an American situation comedy series that aired on CBS from 1986 to 1988. It was created by Stephen Fischer and executive produced by Diane English.-Synopsis:...
(1986 – 1988).
Life and career
Dawber was born in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, the daughter of Thelma M. (née Fisher) and Eugene E. Dawber, a commercial artist. She attended North Farmington High School
North Farmington High School
North Farmington High School is located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit USA. The school currently educates a student body of 1450. Established in 1961, the current Principal is Joseph F. Greene, Jr...
and Oakland Community College
Oakland Community College
Oakland Community College is a community college established June 8, 1964 in Oakland County, Michigan. It opened September 1965 with two campuses - Highland Lakes, a renovated hospital in Union Lake, and Auburn Hills, a former Army Nike missile site in Auburn Hills.OCC is the largest of Michigan's...
. She began her career as a fashion model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
with Wilhelmina Models
Wilhelmina Models
Wilhelmina Models is a modeling agency founded in 1967 by the model Wilhelmina Cooper and her husband Bruce Cooper in Manhattan Starting in 2010, Wilhelmina Models started a sub-brand called "Digital Empire Modeling" for new digital-era modeling talents....
and went on to a career as an actress. From 1978 to 1982, she played one of the title roles in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom Mork & Mindy: Mindy McConnell, the comedic foil and eventual love interest for the extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
Mork from the planet "Ork", played by Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
. The show was extremely popular in its debut season, when it averaged at #3 in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
for the year.
Dawber sang in a 1980s Los Angeles Civic Light Opera production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance
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. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, based on the Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
/New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
production. Her role, as Mabel, had been played by Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
in the New York run of the show.
From 1986 to 1988, Dawber again had the title role in a TV series, playing Samantha Russell in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom My Sister Sam
My Sister Sam
My Sister Sam is an American situation comedy series that aired on CBS from 1986 to 1988. It was created by Stephen Fischer and executive produced by Diane English.-Synopsis:...
, co-starring Rebecca Schaeffer
Rebecca Schaeffer
Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer was an American actress best known for her role in the sitcom My Sister Sam...
. The series was a success in its first season, but suffered a massive ratings drop in its second after moving to Saturday night. My Sister Sam left the air in April 1988, with half of the second season's episodes never airing on CBS, but eventually airing (along with all previous episodes) on USA Network. In July 1989, over a year after the show's demise, Schaeffer was shot and killed by an obsessed fan in front of her apartment, which devastated Dawber.
Dawber parodied her Mork & Mindy character in the 1992 movie Stay Tuned, in which she co-starred with John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...
, who parodied his Three's Company
Three's Company
Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....
role.
Dawber is a national spokeswoman for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501 non-profit organization whose mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that try to have a measurable impact on youth....
.
Personal life
She has been married to actor, Mark HarmonMark Harmon
Mark Harmon is an American actor who has been starring in American television programs and films since the mid-1970s, after a career as a collegiate football player with the UCLA Bruins. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS series NCIS.-Early life:Harmon was born Thomas...
, since March 21, 1987. They have two sons: Sean Thomas Harmon (born April 25, 1988) and Ty Christian Harmon (born June 25, 1992).
The couple appeared together in the film I'll Remember April
I'll Remember April (film)
I'll Remember April is a 1999 film starring Pat Morita, Pam Dawber, Haley Joel Osment and Yuki Tokuhiro, directed by Bob Clark.- Plot :Four children capture a Japanese soldier who washes ashore during the Second World War....
.
Films and TV movies
- A WeddingA WeddingA Wedding is a 1978 black comedy film directed by Robert Altman, starring Carol Burnett, Lillian Gish, Geraldine Chaplin, Vittorio Gassman, Mia Farrow, Lauren Hutton, Craig Richard Nelson, Pam Dawber, Desi Arnaz, Jr., Paul Dooley, Dennis Christopher, and Howard Duff...
(1978) - Tracy Farrell - The Girl, the Gold Watch & EverythingThe Girl, the Gold Watch & EverythingThe Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything is a science fiction novel written by John D. MacDonald, considered "a classic screwball mystery".-Plot synopsis:...
(1980) - Bonny Lee Beaumont - Remembrance of Love (1982) - Marcy Rabin
- Through Naked Eyes (1983) - Anne Walsh
- Last of the Great Survivors (1984) - Laura Matthews
- Faerie Tale Theatre: The Little Mermaid
- This Wife for Hire (1985) - Marsha Harper
- Wild Horses (1985) - Daryl Reese
- American Geisha (1986) - Gillian Burke
- Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story (1988) - Lucy Wedemeyer
- Do You Know the Muffin Man?Do You Know the Muffin Man?Do You Know the Muffin Man? is a CBS Network docudrama starring Pam Dawber. It was directed by Gilbert Cates and also stars Stephen Dorff, John Shea, Anthony Geary, Dee Dee Rescher and Brian Bonsall....
(1989) - Kendra Dollison - The Face of FearThe Face of FearThe Face of Fear is a novel by best-selling author Dean Koontz, first published in 1977. It was originally released under the pseudonym Brian Coffey.-Plot summary:...
(1990) - Connie Weaver - Stay Tuned (1992) - Helen Knable
- The Man with Three Wives (1993) - Robyn
- Web of DeceptionWeb of DeceptionDirector Richard A. Colla’s Web of Deception is a 1994 TV movie.Forensic psychologist Philip Benesch who finds himself framed for the apparent murder of disturbed court stenographer Corrie Calvin...
(1994) - Ellen Benesch - A Child's Cry for HelpA Child's Cry for HelpA Child's Cry for Help is a 1994 television film starring Pam Dawber and Veronica Hamel, with a supporting role by a young Tobey Maguire.-Plot:A recent transplant from California, Dr...
(1994) - Monica Shaw - A Stranger to Love (1995) - Andie
- Trail of TearsTrail of TearsThe Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...
(1999) - Cheryl Harris - I'll Remember AprilI'll Remember April (film)I'll Remember April is a 1999 film starring Pat Morita, Pam Dawber, Haley Joel Osment and Yuki Tokuhiro, directed by Bob Clark.- Plot :Four children capture a Japanese soldier who washes ashore during the Second World War....
(1999) - Barbara Cooper - Don't Look Behind YouDon't Look Behind YouDon't Look Behind You is a 1990 young adult thriller novel by Lois Duncan.-Plot summary:Because of April's father's work in the Federal Investigation Bureau, a hitman in a black camaro is after her family so they have to be put under the Federal Witness Protection Program...
(1999) - Liz Corrigan - Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars documentary (2006)
Television series
- Mork & Mindy (1978–82) - Mindy McConnell
- My Sister SamMy Sister SamMy Sister Sam is an American situation comedy series that aired on CBS from 1986 to 1988. It was created by Stephen Fischer and executive produced by Diane English.-Synopsis:...
(1986–88) - Samantha 'Sam' Russell - Life... and Stuff (1997) - Ronnie Boswell
She also played the part of a secretary named Karen Billings in episode 13b of the first season of The New Twilight Zone
The New Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is the first of two revivals of Rod Serling's acclaimed 1950/60s television series of the same name. It ran for two seasons on CBS before producing a final season for syndication.-Series history:...
called "But Can She Type?"
Voice
- Swan LakeSwan Lake (1981 film)is an anime film based on the ballet Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The film was released in Japan on 14 March 1981 by Toei.The film was produced by the Japanese company Toei Animation and directed by Kimio Yabuki. The adaptation uses Tchaikovsky's score and remains relatively faithful to the story...
(1981) - Princess Odette - The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley with the Fonz Show (TV Series) (1982) - Mindy McConnell
- Nick and Noel (1993) (TV) - Leslie
- The Bears Who Saved Christmas (TV) (1994) - Mom
- 101 Dalmatians: The Series101 Dalmatians: The Series101 Dalmatians: The Series is a animated television series produced by the Walt Disney Company based on the classic 1961 Disney animated feature of the same name and its 1996 live-action remake.-Premise:...
(TV Series) (1997) - Perdy