Brown, Pamela (1917–1975)

English actress. Born on July 8, 1917, in London, England; died on September 18, 1975; attended St. Mary's Convent, Ascot; dramatic training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art; briefly married to actor Peter Copley (divorced, 1953).

Selected films:

One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942); I Know Where I'm Going (1945); Tales of Hoffmann (1951); The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1952); Personal Affair (1953); Richard III (1956); The Scapegoat (1959); Becket (1964); Secret Ceremony (1968); Wuthering Heights (1970); On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970; Lady Caroline Lamb (1972).

Known for her unconventional appearance and husky voice, Pamela Brown made her stage debut in 1936 as Juliet and would continue to distinguish herself in Shakespearean roles throughout her career, performing many with the Oxford Repertory Company and the Old Vic.

In her early days, Brown spent the summers of 1938 and 1939 in Perranporth, where a performing company under the direction of Peter Bull and Robert Morley attempted to introduce American-style summer stock to British audiences. Her first outstanding London success came in 1942 with the title role of Rose Franken 's Claudia; this was followed by a performance of Ophelia in Hamlet (1944) that was criticized as "over-intelligent." In 1947, her New York debut as Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest was greeted with rave reviews, but her career did not peak until 1949 with the role of the suspect-witch Jennet Jourdemayne in The Lady's Not for Burning, a play Christopher Fry had written especially for her. When the show came to New York in 1950, Brooks Atkinson wrote: "Pamela Brown gives a warm, rich and fluent performance that gleams with humorous coquetry."

Brown continued to delight theatergoers between London and New York in plays like The Way of the World, The Country Wife, Heartbreak House, and A Question of Fact. Her offbeat image in A Question of Fact was noted by critic Richard Buckle, who praised the director for casting her. "[I]t was very clever to choose an actress so odd and special as Pamela Brown … we might have been irritated by an ordinary, nice, appealing little woman. She plays intelligently, and her bizarre personality removes any suspicion of conventional sweetness from the love scenes." Brown's last stage appearance was in Jack Ronder's This Year, Next Year, in 1960.

During her career, Pamela Brown also made occasional films; most memorably, she was seen in the non-speaking role of Jane Shore in Olivier's Richard III (1955). She also made sporadic television appearances, including a 1961 Hallmark Hall of Fame production of Victoria Regina, for which she received an Emmy. Brown was married briefly to actor Peter Copley. She died in September 1975, at age 58.

sources:

Hartnoll, Phyllis, and Peter Found, ed. The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. NY: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Morley, Robert. The Great Stage Stars. London: Angus & Robertson, 1986.