Pamela Stephenson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pamela Stephenson | |
| Born | 4 December 1949 Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Clinical psychologist, Actress |
| Spouse | Billy Connolly, 1989-present |
Pamela Stephenson also known as Pamela Stephenson Connolly, (born December 4, 1949 in Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-Australian actress, comedian and clinical psychologist, now resident in New York City, USA.
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[edit] Comedy and acting
After attending the University of New South Wales and then Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art, from which she graduated in 1971, Stephenson pursued a successful acting career in Australia for several years before moving to London in 1976, where she continued to act (theatrically and in television).
Probably her most widely recognised role was in the classic 1980s UK comedy television sketch show Not The Nine O'Clock News, alongside Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It was on this programme that she met Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, whom she married in 1989. She has recorded several singles, including Unusual Treatment, Italian Shoes, I Like Truckin', The Ayatollah Song, Oh Bosanquet, and Typing Pool as 'Pam and the Paperclips', all Not The Nine O'Clock News tie-ins.[citation needed]
Her personal contribution as a comedienne added to the success of Not The Nine O'Clock News and led to a collaboration with comedic/satirist writers Mark Lepine and Mike Leigh. This spawned a book, How To Be A Complete Bitch, and a board game.
She has also featured in the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (1984-1985), becoming the first SNL castmember to be born outside of North America (the second is Morwenna Banks, who was born in the UK). She has appeared in such films as Superman III, Bloodbath At The House Of Death and Mel Brooks's History of the World, Part 1.
[edit] Recurring characters on SNL
- Angela Bradleigh (Weekend Update commentator)
[edit] Celebrity impersonations on SNL
- Madonna, in a fake commercial parodying the singer's "Lucky Star" music video.
- Billy Idol
- Debby Douillard
- Peggy Ashcroft
- Joan Collins
- Cyndi Lauper
[edit] Celebrity impersonations on Not The Nine O'Clock News
- Kate Bush, in a song called "Oh England My Leotard".
- Janet Street-Porter
- Esther Rantzen
- Clare Grogan
[edit] Psychology
In 1996 she gained a doctorate in clinical psychology from the California Graduate Institute, California Graduate Institute is currently one of twelve unaccredited schools in the state of California; she also works in private practice in Beverly Hills. Her psychological background proved useful when she wrote a biography of her husband, Billy, in which she analysed his behaviour and related elements of it to his being sexually abused by his father, the book won the 2002 British Book of the Year award. Her qualification is licensed for use within California only and her research is known only to herself and is not available through publication in professional journals. Academic research is totally different to the activities undertaken by this person.
In her capacity as a psychologist, she uses the names "Pamela Connolly" or "P.H. Connolly".
In 2007 Connolly presented a series of programmes for British television channel More 4 called Shrink Rap in which she interviewed various celebrities using psychotherapeutic techniques. Those questioned were reality show star Sharon Osbourne, writer and performer Stephen Fry, Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York, former British Cabinet Minister David Blunkett and actor-comedian Robin Williams. While quasi-therapeutic in approach, the interviewees were briefed that the conversations were interviews and not strictly therapy. Connolly focused on relating various childhood experiences and traumas to the adult difficulties of the celebrities.
A new series of Shrink Rap began on More 4 in April 2008, with guests Joan Rivers, Gene Simmons, Kathleen Turner, Tony Curtis and Salman Rushdie.
[edit] Personal life
Initially married to actor Nicholas Ball, she met Scottish comedian Billy Connolly in 1980 when (in the guise of Janet Street-Porter) she conducted a spoof interview with him in the BBC comedy series "Not The Nine O'Clock News". The couple have three children: Daisy (b. 1983), Amy (b. 1986) and Scarlett (b. 1988), and on December 20, 1989 they were married in Fiji.
She is a practising Buddhist.[1]
Her sister Leslie is an opera singer in Switzerland
[edit] 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 Stevenson and Fanny Stevenson. 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."
[edit] Books
- Stephenson, Pamela (2002). Billy. Overlook Hardcover. ISBN 978-1-58567-308-7. referenced in List of books portraying paedophilia or sexual abuse of minors
- Stephenson, Pamela (2003). Bravemouth: Living with Billy Connolly. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7553-1284-9.
- Stephenson, Pamela (2005). Treasure Islands: Sailing the South Seas in the Wake of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7553-1285-6.
- Stephenson, Pamela (2005). Murder or Mutiny. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-1-84188-270-3.
[edit] References
- ^ The last laugh Murray Waldren (First published in The Weekend Australian, 29/9/2001.) Retrieved 2007-04-07.
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