The Plot Thickens

Growing up in Colorado, young Pam Grier endures racism and trauma, but finds solace in horses and the beautiful countryside. As a teen, she visits LA for the first time and gets caught in the middle of the historic Watts Rebellion.

Newly arrived in Los Angeles, Pam learns underground filmmaking at UCLA and sings backup for some of the biggest musical acts of the 60s. She also has her first serious romance, with a towering basketball phenom named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Pam heads to the Philippines to star in a pair of “women in prison” movies. She endures volatile weather, skimpy costumes, cobra encounters and learns everything she can about filmmaking, and her raw talent is soon recognized on the set.

Pam’s career hits new heights as Black-themed movies take the country by storm. She stars in four low-budget films in the span of one year, including two bonafide hits: Coffy and Foxy Brown.

As the Blaxploitation craze comes to an end, Pam fights for better roles + hobnobs with the biggest names in showbiz. She meets the love of her life, a hot young comedian named Freddie Prinze - whose demons lead to heartbreak and tragedy.

Pam finds love on a movie set when she’s cast opposite superstar comedian Richard Pryor. She sets out to change Richard’s self-destructive ways, and succeeds – for a little while.

After receiving a devastating diagnosis, Pam leaves Hollywood and heads home to Colorado. But she’s lured back into the spotlight when the hottest director in Hollywood gives her the role of a lifetime.

More from Ben Mankiewicz’s interview with Quentin Tarantino, who speaks about making Jackie Brown, enjoying Blaxploitation, and first seeing Pam when he was an impressionable 10 year-old boy.

Ben Mankiewicz speaks to professor, TCM host, Director and President of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Jacqueline Stewart about Pam Grier’s star image, the legacy of Blaxploitation, and meeting Pam at the TCM Classic Film Festival.

Legendary stunt performers Jadie David and Bob Minor go in-depth about their most dangerous stunts, working with Pam Grier, and breaking through as Black stuntpeople in the early 70s.

Film scholars Racquel Gates and Donald Bogle detail the rise and fall of Blaxploitation, and how Pam Grier transcended the genre and stayed iconic for decades afterwards.