Pamela Stephenson | |
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 Stephenson in 1992 | |
| Born | Pamela Stephenson (1949-12-04)4 December 1949 (age 75) Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Alma mater | California Graduate Institute (PhD, Clinical Psychology) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1971–present |
| Known for | |
| Works | Full list |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
Pamela Stephenson, Lady Connolly (born 4 December 1949) is a New Zealand-born psychologist, writer, actress and comedian. She moved with her family to Australia in 1953 and studied at theNational Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). After playing several stage and television roles, Stephenson emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1976.
Stephenson appeared in British television shows, includingSpace: 1999,New Avengers,The Professionals andTales of the Unexpected before her breakthrough role alongsideRowan Atkinson,Mel Smith andGriff Rhys Jones in the satirical sketch showNot the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982). In 1981, for her part in that series, Stephenson was shortlisted forBAFTAs in the Actress and Light Entertainment performance categories. She appeared in the filmsHistory of the World, Part I (1981) andSuperman III (1983), and from 1984 to 1985, she was cast inseason 10 of the American comedy-sketch television showSaturday Night Live.
In the late 1980s, Stephenson co-founded the protest group Parents for Safe Food, which successfully campaigned for a UK ban on the possibly carcinogenicplant growth regulatorAlar being sprayed on apples and pears for human consumption. Since a career-change to clinical psychology and obtaining a doctorate, Stephenson has written several books, including two about her husbandBilly Connolly. She has presented a psychology themed interview show calledShrink Rap (2007), and has writtenHead Case: Treat Yourself to Better Mental Health (2009) andSex Life: How Our Sexual Encounters and Experiences Define Who We Are (2011). Since 2007, Stephenson has written a sexual-advice column forThe Guardian. She was a finalist in the eighth series of the BBC television showStrictly Come Dancing in 2010. Her autobiographyThe Varnished Untruth was published in 2012.
Pamela Stephenson was born on 4 December 1949 inTakapuna,Auckland, New Zealand.[1] In 1953, she moved to Australia with her scientist parents and her two sisters.[2]: 26 She attended Boronia Park Primary School,Sydney, and thenSydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School,Darlinghurst.[2]: 35 According to Stephenson's autobiography, she was raped at age 16 by a 35-year-old heroin addict and contracted asexually transmitted infection (STI).[3] She concealed the incident but when her parents learnt of her infection, they expelled her from the family home; according to Stephenson: "I remember the feeling well, because I still experience it every time someone rejects me, even in some relatively small way".[4] Stephenson studied at theUniversity of New South Wales but soon switched to theNational Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney.[5][6]
After graduating from NIDA in 1970,[2]: 35 Edgar Metcalfe employed Stephenson on a six-month contract for theNational Theatre Company, and she performed in six plays atThe Playhouse Theatre,Perth, in 1971.[7] Meanwhile, she appeared withChips Rafferty in the short filmWilly Willy (1970 or 1971).[1][8] Subsequent theatre roles included a part inPeer Gynt and June in the musicalGypsy.[9] Stephenson also appeared in the television programmesDivision 4,Homicide andMatlock Police. She then starred in the filmPrivate Collection (1973).[10] Stephenson starred as Elsie in theABC-TV production of the operaThe Yeomen of the Guard (1972).[11] From 1972 to 1973, she played Julie King in the Australian television seriesRyan[12] and in 1974, she played Josephine in theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) production ofMalcolm Williamson's operaThe Violins of Saint-Jacques.[13]
In 1976, Stephenson moved to the UK,[5] where she worked in film and television;[1] her roles included Michelle Osgood in theSpace: 1999 episode "Catacombs of the Moon" (1976);[14] Wendy inNew Avengers episode "Angels of Death" (1977);[15] and a supporting role in "Man from the South", the inaugural episode ofRoald Dahl'sTales of the Unexpected (1979).[16]: 803 Stephenson played three roles in the British crime-action television seriesThe Professionals in 1978.[1] According to media scholar Leon Hunt, a scene in which Stephenson plays a nurse from the inside of whose blouse one of the leads retrieves a live hand-grenade epitomises the programme.[17] She also played a nurse inStand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977).[18]
Among Stephenson's first appearances in the UK was a live, on-stage role inThe Comic Strip with leadsRik Mayall,Peter Richardson andAlexei Sayle atRaymond Revuebar inSoho. This was not a happy experience; according to an interview she gave in 2014: "Doing stand-up was like a war with everyone playing this game of 'I can be funnier than you' ".[19]
Stephenson gained prominence with her part in the UKsketch-comedy television showNot the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982) alongsideRowan Atkinson,Mel Smith andGriff Rhys Jones.[20][16]: 591 [21] It was a satirical sketch show, influenced by thesurreal humour ofMonty Python's Flying Circus.[22] InThe Guinness Book of Classic British TV,Paul Cornell,Martin Day andKeith Topping wrote Stephenson "took up the punk ethic of outraging the audience with directness",[23]: 150 and that "most critics were united in their praise of Atkinson and Stephenson".[23]: 151 Stephenson caricatured newsreadersAngela Rippon andJan Leeming in the show.[23]: 150–1 In one sketch, she parodied musicianKate Bush with a song called "Oh England, My Leotard", which references Bush's song "Oh England My Lionheart" and is musically similar to "Them Heavy People".[24][25] Bush's biographer Graeme Thomson said the spoof has "clever and very funny" elements.[25]
In oneNot theNine O'Clock News sketch that became famous,[26][27] Stephenson played a car-rental receptionist who, when asked by a customer if he can use anAmerican Express card, she replies: "That will do nicely, sir, and would you like to rub my tits, too?", and unbuttons her blouse.[2]: 16 [28][26] The sketch satirises the slogan "That'll do nicely, sir" the American Express company used in its advertising.[29] According to a 2007 editorial inArt Monthly, this sketch "perfectly captured the 'greed is good' spirit of the 80s, the legacy of which is still being felt".[30]The Guardian columnistSimon Hoggart said the sketch is "[not] exactly subversive".[31]
Not the Nine O'Clock News was awarded theGolden Rose for innovation at the 1980Montreux Festival.[23]: 151 It won theBAFTA for Best Light Entertainment Programme in 1981, and Stephenson was shortlisted in the performance categories Actress and Light Entertainment performance.[32] Spin-offs from the show included books, record albums, and the stage showNot in Front of the Audience.[23]: 152 Stephenson made a comedy-sketch television pilot calledStephenson's Rocket, which was not taken up.[33]
Stephenson acted inMel Brooks' comedy filmHistory of the World, Part I (1981); she later said she found it a dull experience due the lack of influence she had over the production.[34] In 1982, she starred in theWest End production ofJoseph Papp's version ofThe Pirates of Penzance;The Times criticIrving Wardle wrote Stephenson "reveals unsuspected coloratura powers as Mabel, but the part wastes her comic gift".[35][36]
Stephenson appeared in the music video forLandscape's single "Norman Bates" (1981); the video is a pastiche ofAlfred Hitchcock's moviePsycho (1960) with Stephenson in theJanet Leigh role.[37] Also in 1981, Stephenson appeared in performances ofClive James's 2,000-line poem "Charles Charming's Challenges On The Pathway To The Throne", which he wrote in expectation ofPrince Charles announcing his engagement. The poem was performed for a two-week run in London starting in June, with James, Stephenson andRussell Davies, and was and released as an album.[38] The following year, Stephenson released a four-trackdouble single; the tracks were written byRichard James Burgess and one featuredGary Kemp on guitar.[39] Several regional newspapers poorly reviewed the single.[39][40] Stephenson was the subject of an episode ofBehind the Scenes with ... (1981), aBBC1 series about the creative process.[41] David Williams ofDaily Post said the programme "tarnished her image a little".[42] In 1982, Stephenson was a guest onBBC Radio 4 showDesert Island Discs.[43]
DirectorRichard Lester called Stephenson for a part inSuperman III (1983) on the basis of her performances inNot The Nine O'Clock News.[21] Her character was Lorelei Ambrosia, theKant-reading girlfriend of the film's antagonist Ross Webster.[21] In the opening sequence, Ambrosia is the foil for a series of sight gags that reference Lester'sThe Knack ...and How to Get It (1965);[44] the character also has a love scene withSuperman at the top of theStatue of Liberty.[21] Joe Baltake of thePhiladelphia Daily News rated Stephenson's performance in the film as "excellent"[45] and Steve Jensen highlighted praised her performance inThe Berkeley Gazette[46] butColin Greenland ofImagine said she was "completely wasted in a part which would have been too dumb for Goldie Hawn".[47] Stephenson starred alongsideJohn Gielgud andRobert Hays inScandalous (1984), whichRob Cohen directed;[21][48] critic Ben McCann said the film is "notable only for wasting the talents of all concerned".[48] Also in 1984, Stephenson appeared in thecomedy horror filmBloodbath at the House of Death, which according toBarry Forshaw's negative review inStarburst is a "shameful waste of talented performers like Pamela Stephenson".[49] Stephenson's performance inFinders Keepers (1984) received mixed reviews;[50]: 333–334 Andrew Yule, in his biography of the director Lester, praised "a deft appearance by the wonderfully funny, ridiculously underrated Pamela Stephenson"[50]: 334 but in 1989, Jon Casimir wrote: "As sure an indicator of imminent mediocrity as any, Pamela Stephenson is cast as a supporting actress".[51]
In 1984–1985, Stephenson was cast in the10th season of the American comedy sketch showSaturday Night Live (SNL),[52] making her the show's second—and only female—cast member to be born outside North America, joiningTony Rosato, and as of 2019[update], the show's only New-Zealander cast member.[53] Her characters on the show includedBilly Idol andCyndi Lauper.[52] In a retrospective article about SNL inRolling Stone,Rob Sheffield described Stephenson as "a bright spot in a weak season".[52] In the UK in 1986, Stephenson hosted an episode of the television showSaturday Live.[16]: 713 The same year, Stephenson appeared in the television dramaLost Empires;The Daily Telegraph critic Charles Clover called her was one of the positives in a dull series.[54] In 1987, Stephenson appeared inPrince Edward's charity television specialThe Grand Knockout Tournament with many other celebrities.[55] She had leading parts in the black comedy filmThose Dear Departed (1987) and the critically-panned and commercially unsuccessful filmLes Patterson Saves the World (1987).[56] She toured the one-woman theatre showsNaughty Night Nurses Without Panties Down Under (1985) andScandalous Behaviour (1987).[57]
Authors Mike Lepine and Mark Leigh, who had worked withAdrian Edmondson on the 1986 comedy bookHow to Be a Complete Bastard, approached Stephenson to collaborate on a companion volumeHow to Be a Complete Bitch, which was published in 1987.[58]How to Be a Complete Bitch became a top-ten bestseller in the UK[59] and sold over 300,000 copies by October that year.[60] Stephenson told Candida Baker ofThe Age she was pleased the book was described as "sexist, violent and crude".[61] The book spawned an eponymous board game.[62]
Stephenson made her radio acting debut in the BBC Radio 4 playThe Spectre of Ernie Pike (1989).[63] She presentedMove Over Darling (1990), a series of five BBC television programmes about the role of women at work and at home; the show had an all-female editorial team withJanet Street-Porter as executive producer.[64] In 1993, Stephenson hosted the Australian lifestyle programmeSex, whichThe Sydney Morning Herald's critic criticised as being "prurient".[65]
According to her autobiography, after some years of consideration and having met all of her goals in comedy, Stephenson decided to switch to a career in psychology.[2]: 214 In the early 1990s, after studying atAntioch University in the United States, Stephenson qualified as a clinical psychologist.[66][20] In 1996, she obtained a doctorate in clinical psychology from theCalifornia Graduate Institute and set up a private practice.[20][67] Her doctoral thesis topic was the "intra-psychic experience of fame".[68] With an interest insex therapy, she co-founded the Los Angeles Sexuality Centre and became an adjunct professor at theCalifornia Graduate Institute.[66][69] Stephenson's research included an investigation into the lives of transgender people in Samoa, Tonga and India.[69]
In 2002, Stephenson publishedBilly, a biography of her husbandBilly Connolly, whichKirkus Reviews considered "balances wifely affection with professional analysis".[70] It was a best-seller in Britain.[5] Two years later, she releasedBravemouth, a diary-style book focusing on Connolly in the year following his sixtieth birthday. Robbie Hudson ofThe Sunday Times wrote that it was "insubstantial" and "syrupy",[71] whileKirkus Reviews felt that, like the earlier book, it contained "incisive revelations".[72]
Starting in 2004, Stephenson took a year-long sailing voyage that followed a routeRobert Louis Stevenson had taken; she wrote about the experience inTreasure Islands: Sailing the South Seas in the Wake of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson (2005).[69]Kirkus Reviews described the book as "earnest and endearing", and said the illustrations "help make this a dreamy, empowering retirement fantasy".[73] The following year, Connolly travelled on her family's boat to follow the South Pacific route her great-great-grandfather Samuel "Salty Sam" Stephenson took. The journey was documented in a four-part series shown onSky Television and in her bookMurder or Mutiny: Mystery, piracy and adventure in the Spice Islands (2006).[74]
Shrink Rap, in which Stephenson conducted psychology-based interviews with celebrities includingSalman Rushdie,Carrie Fisher andRobin Williams premiered onMore4 in 2007.[75] Her bookHead Case: Treat Yourself to Better Mental Health was published that year,[76][77] and was followed bySex Life: How Our Sexual Encounters and Experiences Define Who We Are in 2011.[68] Since 2007, Stephenson has written a weekly advice column called "Sexual Healing" forThe Guardian in which she responds to reader-submitted sexual issues and scenarios.[20][78] At a time when celebrities were being engaged to write advice columns, Stephenson was unusual in having a relevant qualification.[79] Starting in 2009, she also wrote a relationships-advice column called "Love Matters" forAustralian Women's Weekly.[80] In 2009, she received an honorary degree fromRobert Gordon University[81] in recognition of "her achievement in the field of human sexuality where she has made a marked, sustained and international contribution".[20]
Stephenson competed in theeighth series of the BBC1 television showStrictly Come Dancing (2010), in which she was partnered byJames Jordan.[82] They reached the final and finished third,[5] and Stephenson returned to the show for the 2016 Christmas Special.[83] Stephenson was a guest on theBBC Radio 3 programmePrivate Passions in 2010, where her music choices included pieces byVincenzo Bellini,Erik Satie andClaude Debussy.[84]
Her autobiographyThe Varnished Untruth: My Story was published in 2012. Lee Randall ofThe Scotsman described it as "compelling and emotion-churning",[85] and Jane Wheatley ofThe Sydney Morning Herald said there is plenty of "humour and vivid anecdote", and that "the real heft of this book and its leitmotif is Stephenson's childhood experience of being rejected by her parents; a legacy that dogs her life to this day".[86]
Stephenson formed a dance company with Brazilianlambazouk dancer Braz Dos Santos, and wrote and produced a dance-drama stage production calledBrazouka. Harley Medcalf was lead producer andArlene Phillips directed. The biographical show told the story of Dos Santos, who performed in the show, and his dancing. It premiered at theEdinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2014 and toured South Africa and Australia until January 2015.[87][88]
During alockdown of theCOVID-19 pandemic of the early 2020s, Stephenson wroteBum Farto – The Musical about the 1970s Florida fire chiefJoseph "Bum" Farto.[89] On the podcastConan O'Brien Needs a Friend,Sarah Silverman revealed in 2023 that Pamela Stephenson was her therapist.[90]
At the1987 United Kingdom general election, Stephenson was a candidate for the Blancmange Throwers Party in theparliamentary constituency ofWindsor and Maidenhead;[91][92] her campaign pledges included "free blancmanges for pensioners and the unemployed".[93] She finished with 328 votes, the fewest of all of the candidates.[94][a]
Stephenson co-founded the pressure group Parents for Safe Food group after becoming concerned about the spraying of the plant-growth-regulating chemicaldaminozide (also known asAlar), which is believed to becarcinogenic, on apples and pears for human consumption.[96] In 1989, she led a group of celebrity mothers who went to10 Downing Street to hand in a petition calling for a ban on the use of daminozide that was addressed to Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher.[97] Use of the chemical to spray fruit was banned in the UK later that year; news sources attributed the ban to Stephenson's group's campaign.[98][99] In 2010, Stephenson travelled to theDemocratic Republic of Congo with the international medical-aid charityMedical Emergency Relief International (Merlin) to meet survivors of sexual-and-gender-basedviolence against women.[100]
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In 1978, after filming an episode ofHazell with its starNicholas Ball, Stephenson and Ball married.[101] Stephenson converted to Buddhism in 1979, shortly before she joined the cast ofNot the Nine O'Clock News.[5][102] Stephenson left Ball to start a relationship withBilly Connolly,[102][103] and she and Ball divorced in 1984.[101] Connolly and Stephenson first met in 1979, when they filmed a sketch forNot the Nine O'Clock News and had lunch together. The following year, Stephenson and Connolly met again backstage at one of Connolly's shows.[102][34] The pair lived together for ten years before they married in Fiji on 20 December 1989;[103] Stephenson was "given away" by the comedianBarry Humphries.[34] The couple have three daughters together.[20]
Stephenson and Connolly moved to Los Angeles in 1991, and later alternated between homes in New York and Scotland.[34][104] In 2002, on the BBC Radio 4 programmeDevout Sceptics, Stephenson toldBel Mooney through Buddhism, "I could at last feel I had begun life as a wonderful piece of creation, that a person doesn't have to struggle every day to overcome darkness and sin".[105][106]
Connolly was knighted in 2017,[107] meaning Stephenson can formally style herself as Lady Connolly.[108] As of September 2022, the couple lived inKey West, Florida.[89][104]
Books
Book chapter
the odd amusing lines do not warrant four sides of material.
'Mr Wrong' ... is no more than a gimmick. ...'Pretty Boys' [lacks] any appeal for a second listen.
bland stuff
Some of the names here will be familiar only to die-hard fans; others, like Murphy, defined what was funny for generations of viewers.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)After escaping to Bali in a futile attempt to forget Connolly and her failed short marriage to British actor Nicholas Ball, Stephenson returned to the UK and her 'gypsy lover' ... A decade after their first meeting, they married in Fiji in 1989 ...
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