Pamela Gidley Biography

Pamela Catherine Gidley (born June 11, 1965) is an American actress and model.

Early life

Gidley was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, but was raised in Salem, New Hampshire, the youngest of the family with two older brothers. After she graduated from high school, she moved to New York City and, while walking down a street in Manhattan, she was discovered by a modeling agent. She won the Wilhemina Modeling Agency's "Most Beautiful Girl in the World" contest on March 12, 1985, in Sydney, Australia. As her modeling career had taken off, Gidley studied acting at the New York Academy of Dramatic Art under actress and acting teacher Stella Adler, who ran the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. She eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career in acting.

Career

Gidley has appeared in film and television. She has acted alongside several Hollywood stars including Keanu Reeves, Josh Brolin, Melanie Griffith, and Jon Cryer. She made her acting debut in the 1986 film Thrashin'. She has appeared in several films of the 1980s including Dudes, Permanent Record, The Blue Iguana, and the cult sci-fi classic Cherry 2000. Gidley has starred in many films throughout the 1990s, including Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, a prequel to the short-lived television series, Disturbed, alongside Malcolm McDowell, Highway to Hell, alongside Patrick Bergin and an early role for Ben Stiller, the comedy Jane Austen's Mafia!, the comedy horror Aberration, a film in which she starred in the lead role, and Kiss & Tell, a film in which Gidley also served as producer. In 2000, she appeared in the family comedy The Little Vampire. She has not starred in a film since 2005. Her most recent film to date is the direct-to-video comedy Cake Boy.

Gidley is perhaps best known for her roles in television series. Her first appearance in television was in an episode of the action adventure series MacGyver. She had the recurring role of Brigitte Parker in The Pretender. Her character was the first to be introduced on the show's official website before any of the episodes had aired. She played another recurring character, Teri Miller on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She appeared in the show's first and third seasons. She starred as Audrey Westin in the short-lived mystery series Strange Luck which only lasted one season. Her other television credits include Crime Story, Tour of Duty, and the serial drama Skin which was cancelled after just eight episodes, and she guest starred in an episode of The Closer which is her final appearance as an actress at present.

She directed and wrote the 2004 short film I Just Forgot.

Personal life

She was married to martial arts actor James Lew from 2005 to 2008 when they divorced.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Thrashin'	Chrissy
1987	Dudes	Elyse
1987	Cherry 2000	Cherry 2000
1988	'	Dakota
1988	Permanent Record	Kim
1990	'	Haley
1990	Disturbed	Sandy Ramirez
1991	Liebestraum	Jane Kessler
1991	Highway to Hell	Clara
1992	Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me	Teresa Banks
1992	Love Is Like That	Eloise
1993	Paper Hearts	Samantha
1994	Freefall	Katy Mazur
1994	S.F.W.	Janet Streeter
1994	'	Jennifer Pierce
1996	'	Kelly Hannon
1996	Kiss & Tell	Beta Carotene
1997	'	Bertha
1997	Aberration	Amy Harding / Alex Langdon
1997	Bombshell	Melinda Clark
1998	Mafia!	Pepper Gianini
1998	'	Dolly
1999	Liar's Poker	Linda
2000	'	Dottie Thompson
2001	Puzzled	Susan
2001	True Blue	Beck
2002	Luster	Alyssa
2002	Landspeed	Linda Fincher
2005	Cake Boy	Becky	Direct-to-video

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	MacGyver	Gina	Episode: "Final Approach"
1987	Crime Story	Teddi Butler	Episode: "Love Hurts"
1987	Tour of Duty	Lt. Nikki Raines	Episode: "Nowhere to Run"
1988	Tour of Duty	Lt. Nikki Raines	Episodes: "Angel of Mercy", "The Hill"
1988	Glory Days	Diane	TV film
1990	Blue Bayou	Deanie Fortenot Serulla	TV film
1992	Angel Street	Det. Dorothy Paretsky	TV film
1992	Angel Street	Det. Dorothy Paretsky	Main role
1995-1996	Strange Luck	Audrey Westin	Main role, 17 episodes
1997-2000	'	Brigitte	Recurring role, 17 episodes
1998	Man Made	Kitty	TV film
2000	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Teri Miller	Episode: "Who Are You?"
2000	Goodbye Casanova	Hilly	TV film
2001	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Teri Miller	Episodes: "To Halve and to Hold", "Face Lift", "Evaluation Day"
2002	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Teri Miller	Episode: "Snuff"
2003-2004	Skin	Barbara Goldman	Recurring role, 6 episodes
2006	'	Annalisa Mundy	Episode: "Head Over Heels"

Documentary

• Scratch the Surface (1997)
• Moving Through Time: Fire Walk with Me Memories (Video short 2014)