Pamela Blair Dies: ‘A Chorus Line’ & ‘All My Children’ Actress Was 73
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Veteran actress Pamela Blair, best known for originating the role of Valerie Clark in Broadway’s hit musical A Chorus Line, has died. She was 73.
Blair’s passing, which happened on Sunday (July 23) at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, after a long illness, was confirmed by her A Chorus Line co-star Baayork Lee.
“I am very sad to say my Sagittarian sister Pam Blair has gone to play with her [A Chorus Line] colleagues among the clouds,” Lee wrote on Facebook. “Walt Disney Pammie and I shared the same birthday. We always wrote to one another no matter where we were on that day.”
“What a colorful character she was as depicted in the Val monologue in the show,” Lee added. “She brought the house down every night as well as a woman standing at the edge of the orchestra shouting, ‘Wash your mouth out.’ You are free now Pammie so dance, dance, dance among the stars.”
On television, she is perhaps best remembered for her Daytime Emmy-nominated guest role as Maida Andrews on the ABC soap opera All My Children. Her other TV credits include Ryan’s Hope, Another World, Loving, and Sabrina The Teenage Witch. She also appeared in the films Annie, Mighty Aphrodite, and Me and Veronica.
Born on December 5, 1949, in Bennington, Vermont, Blair moved to New York City at 16 years old to attend The National Academy of Ballet and later studied acting at HB Studio. She began her stage career as a dancer in the musical Promises, Promises, which led to bigger roles in the likes of Seesaw, Of Mice and Men, and Sugar.
Her big break came in 1974 when she was cast as Valerie Clark in A Chorus Line, for which she received much acclaim. Blair and her fellow cast members won the 1976 Theater World Award for Ensemble Performance for the show.
From there, Blair went on to originate the role of Amber/Angel in the 1978 musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and also appeared on Broadway in King of Hearts, The Nerd, and A Few Good Men.
