| Pamela Barnes Ewing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dallas character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Victoria Principal as Pamela Ewing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by |
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| Duration | 1978–1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | April 2, 1978 Digger's Daughter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | October 28, 1988 Carousel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | David Jacobs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances | Dallas: The Early Years | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Crossover appearances | Family Guy (1999) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pamela Jean "Pam" Barnes Ewing is a fictional character from the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas. Pamela is portrayed by actress Victoria Principal, first appearing on the show in the first episode, titled "Digger's Daughter", which was first broadcast on April 2, 1978. Dallas follows the trials of the wealthy Ewing family in the city of Dallas, Texas, which Pam has married into. Principal played Pam until the end of season 10 in 1987, when the character crashes her car into a truck carrying butane and propane and her body is severely burned. A year later, she was briefly played by actress Margaret Michaels in an attempt to write the character out.[1] Pamela's storylines in season 1 focus on her relationship with her new husband, Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), and her fight against the considerable suspicion and hostility from within the Ewing family, due to Pamela being a member of the Barnes family. Pamela's love for Bobby remains a strong character trait throughout her tenure on the show, noted for its similarities to Romeo and Juliet, with two people from hostile families falling in love.
In the early years of Dallas, Principal took measures to add depth to her character. She initially was very distant from the cast and they assumed she didn't like them. Series producer Leonard Katzman confronted her about the issue and she said, "I like everybody. It's just that I want to feel like an outsider, like Pam Barnes does, being married to a Ewing."[2] Principal also took to other ways of improving her character, such as taking voice lessons to perfect a Texas accent.[2] Her relationship with Patrick Duffy's character, Bobby, was a central component to the show, and when Duffy returned to Dallas in 1986, after being killed off a year earlier, the entire previous year had been written off as Pam's dream.[3]
Principal received positive reviews for her portrayal of Pamela and a Golden Globe nomination in the category of "Best Actress in a Television Series" at the 40th Golden Globe Awards.[4] She was nominated for a Soap Opera Digest award for "Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial" in 1986, while also sharing a nomination with Patrick Duffy for "Favorite Super Couple: Prime Time" in 1988.[5] Hal Erickson of MSN.com opined that Pamela's exit from the series was open ended and left the audience hanging.[6]
- ^ Haque, Ashan (2008). "Family Guy Flashback: "Da Boom" Review". IGN. News Corp. Archived from the original on March 12, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
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