Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly (born 4 December 1949) is a
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-born
AustralianAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
clinical psychologist and writer now resident in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s. She has written several books, which include a biography of her husband
Billy ConnollyWilliam "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
, and presents a psychology-based interview show called
Shrink Rap on British television.
Early life
Stephenson was born in
TakapunaTakapuna is a central, coastal suburb of North Shore City, located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitemata Harbour...
,
AucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand. She moved to Australia in 1964 and attended the
University of New South WalesThe University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
and then Australia's
National Institute of Dramatic ArtThe National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
, from which she graduated in 1971. Stephenson was a regular cast member on television series
RyanRyan was an Australian adventure television series screened by the Seven Network from 27 May 1973. The series was produced by Crawford Productions and had a run of 39 one hour episodes....
. She moved to London in 1976, where she continued to perform.
Comedy and acting
Stephenson began acting on television by 1972. In 1973–74, she starred as Julie King on the Australian TV series
Ryan. After numerous television and film appearances, she had another recurring role as Iris Reade in the UK series
Funny Man (1981). Probably her most widely recognized television role was in the classic 1980s UK comedy television
sketch showA sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
Not The Nine O'Clock NewsNot the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
, alongside
Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
,
Mel SmithMelvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
and
Griff Rhys JonesGriffith "Griff" Rhys Jones is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith...
(1979–82). Her parodies included
Kate BushKate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
in a song called "Oh England, My Leotard", and
Olivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
in a song called "Typical bloody typical". She also had a small part in three episodes of the British TV police drama series
The ProfessionalsThe Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
. Her personal contribution as a comedian added to the success of
Not the Nine O'Clock News and led to a collaboration with comedy and satire writers Mike Lepine and Mark Leigh. This spawned a book,
How To Be A Complete Bitch, and a board game. In 1982–83, she starred in the West End production of
Joseph PappJoseph 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...
's version of
The Pirates of PenzanceThe 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...
.
She also featured in the American comedy sketch show
Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(1984–1985), becoming the first female
SNL cast member (and the second cast member overall, after
Tony RosatoTony Rosato is an Italian-Canadian animated voice actor who has appeared in television and movies in both Canada and the United States....
) to be born outside of North America. Her characters on the show included Angela Bradleigh (
Weekend UpdateWeekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance...
commentator) and celebrity impersonations of
MadonnaMadonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
(in a fake commercial parodying the singer's "Lucky Star" music video),
Billy IdolWilliam Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
, Debby Douillard,
Peggy AshcroftDame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE was an English actress.-Early years:Born as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon, Ashcroft attended the Woodford School, Croydon and the Central School of Speech and Drama...
,
Joan CollinsJoan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
and
Cyndi LauperCynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
.
Stephenson acted in a number of films, including
Superman IIISuperman III is a 1983 superhero film and the third film in the Superman film series based upon the long-running DC Comics superhero. Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure and Margot Kidder are joined by new cast members Annette O'Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Robert Vaughn and...
,
ScandalousScandalous is a 1984 British-American comedy film directed by Rob Cohen and starring Robert Hays, John Gielgud and Pamela Stephenson.-Partial cast:* Robert Hays - Frank Swedlin* John Gielgud - Uncle Willie* Pamela Stephenson - Fiona Maxwell Sayle...
with
John GielgudSir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
,
Bloodbath at the House of DeathBloodbath at the House of Death is a 1983 comedy horror film starring the British comedian Kenny Everett and featuring Vincent Price. It is an over-the-top spoof loosely inspired by The Amityville Horror and other horror films from the same period....
,
Mel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
's
History of the World, Part 1, and
Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers.
Other media appearances
In 1993, Stephenson hosted the Australian lifestyle program
SexSex, also known as Sex with Sophie Lee, is an Australian television series that ran from 1992 to 1993 on the Nine Network. It was hosted by Sophie Lee in its first season and Pamela Stephenson in its second...
.
In December 2010 Stephenson appeared in the eighth series of the BBC1 television show
Strictly Come DancingStrictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
, consistently winning praise. On 4 December Stephenson received a perfect score of 10 from each of the four judges for her
Viennese WaltzViennese Waltz is the genre of a ballroom dance. At least three different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in ballroom dancing, danced to the music of Viennese Waltz.What is now called...
and became only the eighth celebrity to do so. She then reached the final along with Matt Baker and
Kara TointonKara Louise Tointon is a British actress, best known for playing Dawn Swann in BBC soap opera EastEnders. Tointon was the 2010 winner of BBC television series Strictly Come Dancing.-Early life:...
. On 18 December, with dancing partner
James JordanJames Jordan is a British ballroom dancer and choreographer. His dance partner is wife Aleksandra "Ola" Jordan, with whom he turned professional in 2000.-Dancing career:...
, she came third in the competition.
Also in December 2010, Stephenson was the guest on
BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
's
Private PassionsPrivate Passions is a weekly music discussion programme which has been running for over 10 years on BBC Radio 3, presented by the composer Michael Berkeley...
, with a choice of music including
BelliniVincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
,
SatieÉric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
and
DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
.
Psychology
Pamela H. Connolly, PhD, is a USA-licensed clinical psychologist. In her private practice in Beverly Hills she provided mental health care to adult individuals and couples for a range of psychological complaints. Connolly professional specialisms include human sexuality. She was founder and president of the Los Angeles Sexuality Center, an online sexual research engine which operated for five years until she moved to New York. Connolly is a past Secretary of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT). In 2002 and 2003, she served as conference program co-chair of the annual AASECT Conference. Connolly is also a member of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health.
Connolly was an adjunct professor at the
California Graduate InstituteThe California Graduate Institute was founded in 1968 as an independent graduate school specializing in psychology, marital and family therapy, and psychoanalysis. CGI and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology formally announced in fall 2008 that they were uniting...
for 6 years, now a part of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She taught Human Sexuality and Sex Therapy, Advanced Human Sexuality and Sex Therapy, and Clinical Practicum in Sex Therapy. She also taught clinical hypnosis at CGI. She received her PhD in 1996 and then in 2009 received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the
Robert Gordon UniversityRobert Gordon University is located in Aberdeen, Scotland. Building on over 250 years involvement in education, it was granted university status in 1992. Robert Gordon University currently has approximately 16,407 students at its two campuses at Garthdee and the City Centre, studying on over 145...
for her contributions to the field of human sexuality.
Connolly has completed research projects and other field studies on the gender liminal people of Samoa, Tonga and India. She has developed a psychometric measure, the Pre-Assessment for Trauma Plus (PAT+) to assess treatment needs in young offender populations which is now being used in some British prisons.
Connolly has presented the
More4More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...
TV show
Shrink Rap, in which she conducted psychologically-based interviews with well-known people.
Activism
From the 1980s Stephenson campaigned to raise awareness of food additives and colors, particularly in children's confectionaries. She appeared on the daily variety show
Midday with Ray Martin (hosted by
Ray MartinRaymond George "Ray" Martin AM is an Australian television journalist. He is best known for his various on-air roles on Channel Nine from 1978 to 2008. In 2011 he returned to 60 Minutes....
) and painted a picture using the colors she extracted from children's
lolliesA lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. They are available in many flavors and shapes.- Types :Lollipops are available in a number of colors and...
in order to demonstrate how many are contained in them. She became involved in the Parents for Safe Food Movement.
Personal life
Stephenson was married to actor Nicholas Ball until the couple divorced. She met actor and comedian Billy Connolly in 1979 on the set of the BBC television show
Not the Nine O'Clock NewsNot the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
. They have three daughters together: Daisy (b. 1983), Amy (b. 1986) and Scarlett (b. 1988). The couple married in
FijiFiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
on 20 December 1989.
Stephenson started practising
BuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
in 1979. Her sister Lesley is an opera singer in Switzerland.
Politics
In the
United Kingdom general election, 1987The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, Stephenson was a candidate in the
Windsor and Maidenhead constituencyWindsor and Maidenhead was a county constituency in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
on behalf of the Blancmange Throwers Party - she came sixth with 328 votes.
Travels
In late 2004, she sold her house in California and spent a year on a sailing cruise around the South Pacific Ocean, following the path of
Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
and
Fanny StevensonFrances Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson was the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson and mother of Isobel and Lloyd Osbourne.-Early life:...
. She said she was inspired by Fanny (also married to a Scotsman) who had convinced her husband to travel to the tropics for the sake of his fragile health. Her travels were documented in her book, "Treasure Islands". The boat she bought was re-christened "
Takapuna" after her birthplace.
A year later, she went on another voyage to discover the fate of an ancestor, a sailing captain who had disappeared in the South Seas. The voyage was the subject of a documentary for Australian television, "Murder or Mutiny."
Books
As an author, Pamela Connolly has published six books. Her biography ‘Billy’ topped best-seller lists in Britain and several other countries. Her book, ‘Head Case’ described self help approaches for a variety of mental health problems. She has been a regular contributor to ‘Psychologies” magazine, writes a column on relationships for the
Australian Women's WeeklyThe Australian Women's Weekly is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by ACP Magazines, a division of PBL Media based in Sydney. Audited circulation in 2009 exceeded 500,000 copies monthly, making it the largest magazine in Australia.-History:...
and has a weekly sexual healing column in
The GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, written under the name Pamela Stephenson Connolly.
External links