Pamela Brown

Who was Pamela Brown?

Pamela Mary Brown was an English stage and film actress.

She was born in Hampstead, London to George Edward Brown, a journalist, and his wife, Helen Blanche. Brought up in the Roman Catholic faith, she attended St Mary's School, Ascot. After attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she made her stage debut in 1936 as Juliet in a Stratford-upon-Avon production of Romeo and Juliet. Three of her early film roles were in Powell and Pressburger films: her first screen part in One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, a memorable supporting role in I Know Where I'm Going!, and in the fantasy film-opera The Tales of Hoffmann. She played a bitter spinster in Personal Affair, starring Gene Tierney.

From the early 1950s, her arthritic condition, began to make playing on the stage difficult; her mobility was restricted and she was in great pain, which was kept at bay by drugs. Nevertheless, she was a notable success as Jennet in the London production of The Lady's Not For Burning, opposite Richard Burton, Claire Bloom and John Gielgud, which transferred to Broadway for an extended run. Time magazine wrote: "As the lady, Pamela Brown proves that Fry did not write the part for her in vain. No one has a more gloriously uppity charm; no voice can simultaneously so rasp and thrill; no one ever made standoffishness more come-hitherable."