Pamelyn Ferdin
Encyclopedia
Pamelyn Ferdin is a former American television and film child actor
, active both in live action and as a voice actress
in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and has since appeared in several voice acting roles as late as 2009. She is currently an animal rights
activist.
in 1964, aged 5. She also appeared in a stage production of The Wizard of Oz
in 1976 as the lead character, Dorothy Gale.
sitcom The John Forsythe Show
as Pamela, a student at a private girls' academy owned by Forsythe's character.
She played the Bumstead's daughter Cookie in the 1968-1969 CBS
revival series
Blondie
.
She played Felix Unger
's daughter Edna in the 1970s ABC
series version of The Odd Couple
and Paul Lynde's daughter Sally on the short-lived The Paul Lynde Show
.
in 1968 as one of a group of orphaned children led by an alien with sinister motives in the episode "And the Children Shall Lead", and in the 1977 series Space Academy
as Laura Gentry.
in three Peanuts
cartoons: the 1969 TV special It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown
, a 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the 1971 TV special Play It Again, Charlie Brown
.
episode "Brenda."
She appeared as Mary Constable in the supernatural thriller Daughter of the Mind
and as Abby Clarkson in The Mephisto Waltz (1971).
She was considered for the role of Regan MacNeil, the demon-possessed girl in the 1973 William Friedkin
film "The Exorcist
," but casting directors preferred the then less-familiar actress Linda Blair
.
, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
, The Christine Jorgensen Story
, Happy Birthday Wanda June, and The Toolbox Murders
. Pamelyn was a frequent guest star on episodic television in the 1960s and 1970s, with appearances on Bewitched
, Green Acres
, The Andy Griffith Show
, Branded
, Daniel Boone
, Custer, The Monkees
, The Flying Nun
,
Gunsmoke
, The High Chaparral
, Mannix
, The Brady Bunch
, Family Affair
, Love, American Style
, Marcus Welby, M.D.
, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
, Apple's Way
, The Streets of San Francisco
, Baretta
, CHiPS
, and 240-Robert
. She appeared in the made-for-tv films Smoke
, The Forgotten Man, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
and Miles to Go Before I Sleep
.
turns against the Clint Eastwood
character after he kills her pet turtle. [On her "Memory Alpha" webpage, she is credited as the first person who ever killed Clint Eastwood in a film—as a 10 year-old girl.] She voiced Fern Arable, the little girl who saves the life of Wilbur the pig, in the 1973 movie Charlotte's Web
.
Ferdin's association with animals continued when she co-starred with the dog Lassie
from 1971 to 1973. Her character, Lucy Baker, a deaf adolescent who initially had a pet wolf, loved and interacted with a variety of animals, including horse
s and a llama
.
in 1986. They divorced in 2008.
In 1996 she quit her job as director of public relations for the Center for Animal Care and Control
, a nonprofit organization under contract to the New York City Department of Health. She claimed there was mismanagement in the agency.
On April 1, 2004, Ferdin and her husband were interviewed for the PETA
episode of the Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, though they are not members of PETA.
USA, according to statements filed under oath in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The incumbent, Kevin Kjonaas, resigned after being indicted on charges of conspiracy and interstate stalking. When Kjonaas and six other SHAC activists were jailed in 2006, Ferdin vowed to continue the campaign. According to Salon.com
she defines her current role as "a squeaky-clean representative for SHAC USA", but warns, "[P]eople, I think, are going to get hurt. There's going to be a lot of violence."
in California. Circus Vargas
had set up near Pierce College. Protesters demonstrated against alleged cruelty in circus training methods. Ferdin's arrest was based on a local ordinance that makes it a misdemeanor to carry a staff or rod greater than 1½ inches in diameter while engaging in protest. This law dates back to the civil rights era and was originally enacted to protect police from overly aggressive demonstrators. She received 30 days.
In 2004, Pamelyn Ferdin attended a Glendale
City Council meeting regarding a proposal to cull urban coyotes. Ferdin addressed the Council wearing a shirt covered in fake blood, urging the city to oppose the cull. Ferdin mentioned the Keen event
, and argued that rather than having been killed by a coyote, Kelly had been the victim of child abuse. She claimed that medical records indicated that the child died of a ruptured spleen, which could only have come from blunt trauma, not an animal bite. Her colleague, Michael Bell, went further by claiming that, after digging around in hospital records, he discovered discrepancies and missing documents. He stated that the coyote story was a cover-up for how the child really died. Robert and Cathy Keen watched the meeting live on cable and, upon hearing Bell's statement, raced to the Glendale City hall to respond to the allegations. They recounted the event to the council, and showed the death certificate, which listed the cause of the child’s injuries as "mauled by a coyote".
Ferdin's stance remained unchanged; "I stand by my beliefs that a coyote did not kill (the girl)." Her accusation was met with harsh criticism. Councilman Frank Quintero stated "What the activists said at the dais was cruel and absolutely uninformed... Knowing the mother, it broke my heart that they would do that to her. When they were making the accusations, I was considering stopping them."
On June 22, 2006, Ferdin was sentenced to 90 days in jail for trespassing and "targeted demonstration" outside the home of an employee of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. She stated that the conviction "is not going to affect my speaking out and exposing the atrocities occurring at our six city shelters."
In December 2006, Ferdin's group the Animal Defense League, Los Angeles (ADLLA) announced that it had been awarded $75,000 against the city of Los Angeles for an anti-SLAPP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation
) motion. In 2008 Ferdin was convicted of contempt of court
, after violating an injunction
barring the harassment of University of California, Los Angeles
faculty members. She served one day in jail.
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
, active both in live action and as a voice actress
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and has since appeared in several voice acting roles as late as 2009. She is currently an animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
activist.
Acting career
Ferdin has played many character roles on television and in several feature films, since her first appearance in the film What a Way to Go!What a Way to Go!
What a Way to Go! is a 1964 American comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Margaret Dumont, Bob Cummings and Dick Van Dyke.-Plot:...
in 1964, aged 5. She also appeared in a stage production of The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
in 1976 as the lead character, Dorothy Gale.
Situation comedy
She appeared in the 1965-1966 NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom The John Forsythe Show
The John Forsythe Show
The John Forsythe Show began as a situation comedy in the fall of 1965 on NBC, but at mid-season it switched to a spy show. In the first phase of the series, John Forsythe appeared as United States Air Force veteran John Foster, who inherited the private Foster School for Girls in San Francisco,...
as Pamela, a student at a private girls' academy owned by Forsythe's character.
She played the Bumstead's daughter Cookie in the 1968-1969 CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
revival series
Revival (television)
A television revival is an attempt to revive a defunct series by producing new episodes created for broadcast. Network executives may decide to attempt to revive a television program when they feel that a market once again exists for it....
Blondie
Blondie (1968 TV series)
Blondie is a short-lived American sitcom that aired on CBS during the 1968-1969 television season. The series is an updated version of the 1957 TV series that was based on the comic strip of the same name. The series starred Will Hutchins as Dagwood Bumstead and Jim Backus as his boss Mr...
.
She played Felix Unger
Felix Unger
Felix Unger was one of the principal characters in Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple. Felix was portrayed in the original Broadway production of the play by Art Carney, in the film by Jack Lemmon, and in the television series by Tony Randall.-Character overview:Felix is a divorced, middle-aged man...
's daughter Edna in the 1970s ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
series version of The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple (TV series)
The Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....
and Paul Lynde's daughter Sally on the short-lived The Paul Lynde Show
The Paul Lynde Show
The Paul Lynde Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC. The series stars Paul Lynde and aired from September 13, 1972 to September 8, 1973.-Setting:...
.
Science fiction / fantasy
She appeared on the original Star TrekStar Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
in 1968 as one of a group of orphaned children led by an alien with sinister motives in the episode "And the Children Shall Lead", and in the 1977 series Space Academy
Space Academy
Space Academy was a live-action sci-fi children's television program produced by Filmation that originally aired Saturday mornings on the CBS television network, from September 10, 1977, to December 17, 1977. A total of fifteen half-hour episodes were made.-Cast:The program starred veteran actor...
as Laura Gentry.
Peanuts cartoons
Ferdin provided the voice of Lucy van PeltLucy van Pelt
Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt is a fictional character in the syndicated comic strip :Peanuts, written and drawn by Charles Schulz. She is the main bully and the older sister of Linus and Rerun. Lucy is a crabby and cynical eight-year old girl, and often bullies the other characters in the strip,...
in three Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
cartoons: the 1969 TV special It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown
It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown
It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown is the sixth prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. It was directed by Bill Meléndez and originally aired on CBS on September 27, 1969...
, a 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the 1971 TV special Play It Again, Charlie Brown
Play It Again, Charlie Brown
Play It Again, Charlie Brown is the seventh prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on the CBS network on March 28, 1971. It was the first Peanuts TV special of the 1970s...
.
Psychological / supernatural thrillers
She played a girl tormented by a devilish child (portrayed by Laurie Prange) in the Night GalleryNight Gallery
Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
episode "Brenda."
She appeared as Mary Constable in the supernatural thriller Daughter of the Mind
Daughter of the Mind
Daughter of the Mind is a made-for-television suspense film starring Don Murray, Ray Milland and Gene Tierney. It was first broadcast on ABC on December 9, 1969 as the ABC Movie of the Week.-Plot:...
and as Abby Clarkson in The Mephisto Waltz (1971).
She was considered for the role of Regan MacNeil, the demon-possessed girl in the 1973 William Friedkin
William Friedkin
William Friedkin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director...
film "The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
," but casting directors preferred the then less-familiar actress Linda Blair
Linda Blair
Linda Denise Blair is an American actress. Blair is best known for her role as the possessed child, Regan, in the 1973 film The Exorcist, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and two Golden Globes, winning one. She reprised her role in 1977's Exorcist II: The Heretic.-Biography:Blair...
.
Other Acting Roles
Other films include The Reluctant AstronautThe Reluctant Astronaut
The Reluctant Astronaut is a Universal Pictures feature film starring Don Knotts in a story about a kiddie-ride operator who is hired as a janitor at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston and is eventually sent into space. The film was produced and directed by Edward J...
, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band is a 1968 musical film based on a biography by Laura Bower Van Nuys, directed by Michael O'Herlihy, with original music and lyrics by the Sherman Brothers...
, The Christine Jorgensen Story
The Christine Jorgensen Story
The Christine Jorgensen Story is a 1970 fictionalized biographical movie about transgendered Christine Jorgensen. While the overall premise of the film is accurate, many of the details are fictionalized for the continuity of the film. It was directed by Irving Rapper and based on Christine...
, Happy Birthday Wanda June, and The Toolbox Murders
The Toolbox Murders
The Toolbox Murders is a 1978 slasher film starring Cameron Mitchell, Tim Donnelly, Pamelyn Ferdin, and Wesley Eure. It is notorious for its reputation as a video nasty due to its violent murder scenes in the film's first act...
. Pamelyn was a frequent guest star on episodic television in the 1960s and 1970s, with appearances on Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
, Green Acres
Green Acres
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
, The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, Branded
Branded
Branded is a Western series which aired on NBC from 1965 through 1966, sponsored by Procter & Gamble in its Sunday night 8:30pm Eastern Time period, and starred Chuck Connors as Jason McCord, a United States Army Cavalry captain who had been drummed out of the service following an unjust accusation...
, Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
, Custer, The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
, The Flying Nun
The Flying Nun
The Flying Nun is an American sitcom produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book The Fifteenth Pelican, by Tere Rios, which starred Sally Field as Sister Bertrille...
,
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, The High Chaparral
The High Chaparral
The High Chaparral is a Western-themed television series starring Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell which aired on NBC from 1967 to 1971. The show was created by David Dortort, who had previously created the hit Bonanza for the network...
, Mannix
Mannix
Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
, The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional...
, Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...
, Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...
, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters was an American children's television series that ran from 1973 to 1975, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft and aired on Saturday mornings...
, Apple's Way
Apple's Way
Apple's Way is a television dramedy which aired on CBS from 1974-1975. It was created by Earl Hamner, Jr..-Premise:The Apples, a family from Los Angeles, seek refuge from the hectic pace of city living and relocate to the father's hometown of Appleton, Iowa, which was founded by the father's...
, The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros...
, Baretta
Baretta
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma...
, CHiPS
CHiPs
CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol...
, and 240-Robert
240-Robert
240-Robert is an American drama series that ran on ABC from 1979 to 1981. The series title is a reference to the call-sign designation for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's search and rescue/paramedic teams.-Synopsis:...
. She appeared in the made-for-tv films Smoke
Smoke
Smoke is a collection of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product of fires , but may also be used for pest...
, The Forgotten Man, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn may refer to:*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , a novel by Betty Smith*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , the cinema adaptation of the novel*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , the stage adaptation of the novel...
and Miles to Go Before I Sleep
Miles to Go Before I Sleep
Miles to Go Before I Sleep is a quotation from the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.It may also refer to:* Miles to Go Before I Sleep , a 1975 television movie....
.
Work with animals
Her character Amy in the 1971 film The BeguiledThe Beguiled
The Beguiled is a 1971 drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel written by Thomas P. Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil...
turns against the Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
character after he kills her pet turtle. [On her "Memory Alpha" webpage, she is credited as the first person who ever killed Clint Eastwood in a film—as a 10 year-old girl.] She voiced Fern Arable, the little girl who saves the life of Wilbur the pig, in the 1973 movie Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web (1973 film)
Charlotte's Web is a 1973 American animated musical film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Sagittarius Productions and based upon the 1952 children's book of the same name by E. B. White...
.
Ferdin's association with animals continued when she co-starred with the dog Lassie
Lassie
Lassie is a fictional collie dog character created by Eric Knight in a short story expanded to novel length called Lassie Come-Home. Published in 1940, the novel was filmed by MGM in 1943 as Lassie Come Home with a dog named Pal playing Lassie. Pal then appeared with the stage name "Lassie" in six...
from 1971 to 1973. Her character, Lucy Baker, a deaf adolescent who initially had a pet wolf, loved and interacted with a variety of animals, including horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s and a llama
Llama
The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....
.
Activism
Ferdin left the acting world in the 1980s and became a registered nurse. She married surgeon and fellow animal-rights activist Jerry VlasakJerry Vlasak
Jerry Vlasak is an American trauma surgeon and animal rights activist. He is a press officer for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, a former director of the Animal Defense League of Los Angeles, and an advisor to SPEAK, the Voice for the Animals.Vlasak came to public attention in...
in 1986. They divorced in 2008.
In 1996 she quit her job as director of public relations for the Center for Animal Care and Control
Center for Animal Care and Control
Animal Care & Control of New York City , formerly known as The Center for Animal Care and Control , is the operator of New York City's municipal shelter system. It is registered as a 5013 not-for-profit organization but receives the majority of its income as grants from New York City Department of...
, a nonprofit organization under contract to the New York City Department of Health. She claimed there was mismanagement in the agency.
On April 1, 2004, Ferdin and her husband were interviewed for the PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
episode of the Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, though they are not members of PETA.
SHAC presidency
In August 2004, Ferdin accepted the presidency of Stop Huntingdon Animal CrueltyStop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty is an international animal rights campaign to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences , Europe's largest contract animal-testing laboratory. HLS tests medical and non-medical substances on around 75,000 animals every year, from rats to primates...
USA, according to statements filed under oath in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The incumbent, Kevin Kjonaas, resigned after being indicted on charges of conspiracy and interstate stalking. When Kjonaas and six other SHAC activists were jailed in 2006, Ferdin vowed to continue the campaign. According to Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
she defines her current role as "a squeaky-clean representative for SHAC USA", but warns, "[P]eople, I think, are going to get hurt. There's going to be a lot of violence."
Arrests and convictions
On January 11, 2000, Ferdin faced up to six months in jail after being found guilty of possessing an elephant prod at an August 1999 protest at Pierce CollegeLos Angeles Pierce College
Los Angeles Pierce College, also known as Pierce College, Pierce, is a community college that serves more than 23,000 students in the northern Chalk Hills of Woodland Hills, a community within the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.The college began with 70 students...
in California. Circus Vargas
Circus Vargas
Circus Vargas is an American circus based in California. It was built on the premise to bring an old time circus to everyone; currently it has been billed as one of the world’s biggest traveling circuses still using a big top tent...
had set up near Pierce College. Protesters demonstrated against alleged cruelty in circus training methods. Ferdin's arrest was based on a local ordinance that makes it a misdemeanor to carry a staff or rod greater than 1½ inches in diameter while engaging in protest. This law dates back to the civil rights era and was originally enacted to protect police from overly aggressive demonstrators. She received 30 days.
In 2004, Pamelyn Ferdin attended a Glendale
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
City Council meeting regarding a proposal to cull urban coyotes. Ferdin addressed the Council wearing a shirt covered in fake blood, urging the city to oppose the cull. Ferdin mentioned the Keen event
Kelly Keen Coyote Attack
The Kelly Keen coyote attack was a fatal coyote attack which took place in Glendale, California in August, 1981. The victim was 3-year-old Kelly Lynn Keen, who was the first recorded victim of a fatal coyote attack in the USA.- The attack and aftermath :...
, and argued that rather than having been killed by a coyote, Kelly had been the victim of child abuse. She claimed that medical records indicated that the child died of a ruptured spleen, which could only have come from blunt trauma, not an animal bite. Her colleague, Michael Bell, went further by claiming that, after digging around in hospital records, he discovered discrepancies and missing documents. He stated that the coyote story was a cover-up for how the child really died. Robert and Cathy Keen watched the meeting live on cable and, upon hearing Bell's statement, raced to the Glendale City hall to respond to the allegations. They recounted the event to the council, and showed the death certificate, which listed the cause of the child’s injuries as "mauled by a coyote".
Ferdin's stance remained unchanged; "I stand by my beliefs that a coyote did not kill (the girl)." Her accusation was met with harsh criticism. Councilman Frank Quintero stated "What the activists said at the dais was cruel and absolutely uninformed... Knowing the mother, it broke my heart that they would do that to her. When they were making the accusations, I was considering stopping them."
On June 22, 2006, Ferdin was sentenced to 90 days in jail for trespassing and "targeted demonstration" outside the home of an employee of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. She stated that the conviction "is not going to affect my speaking out and exposing the atrocities occurring at our six city shelters."
In December 2006, Ferdin's group the Animal Defense League, Los Angeles (ADLLA) announced that it had been awarded $75,000 against the city of Los Angeles for an anti-SLAPP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation
Strategic lawsuit against public participation
A strategic lawsuit against public participation is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition....
) motion. In 2008 Ferdin was convicted of contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
, after violating an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
barring the harassment of University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
faculty members. She served one day in jail.
Filmography
- What a Way to Go!What a Way to Go!What a Way to Go! is a 1964 American comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Margaret Dumont, Bob Cummings and Dick Van Dyke.-Plot:...
(1964) .... Geraldine Crawley - The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family BandThe One and Only, Genuine, Original Family BandThe One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band is a 1968 musical film based on a biography by Laura Bower Van Nuys, directed by Michael O'Herlihy, with original music and lyrics by the Sherman Brothers...
(1968) .... Laura Bower - A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) (voice) .... Lucy Van Pelt
- The Christine Jorgensen StoryThe Christine Jorgensen StoryThe Christine Jorgensen Story is a 1970 fictionalized biographical movie about transgendered Christine Jorgensen. While the overall premise of the film is accurate, many of the details are fictionalized for the continuity of the film. It was directed by Irving Rapper and based on Christine...
(1970) .... Dolly (child) - Happy Birthday, Wanda JuneHappy Birthday, Wanda JuneHappy Birthday, Wanda June is a play by Kurt Vonnegut, and a 1971 film adaptation, directed by Mark Robson.-Plot:The opening of this play is "This is a simple-minded play about men who enjoy killing, and those who don't."...
(1971) .... Wanda June - What's the Matter with Helen?What's the Matter with Helen?What's the Matter With Helen? is a 1971 thriller film starring Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters.-Plot:The movie starts with a Hearst Metrotone newsreel from the 1930s that tells of the Iowa murder of Ellie Banner by Leonard Hill and Wesley Bruckner...
(1971) .... Kiddy M.C. - The Mephisto Waltz (1971) .... Abby Clarkson
- The BeguiledThe BeguiledThe Beguiled is a 1971 drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel written by Thomas P. Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil...
(1971) .... Amelia - Charlotte's WebCharlotte's Web (1973 film)Charlotte's Web is a 1973 American animated musical film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Sagittarius Productions and based upon the 1952 children's book of the same name by E. B. White...
(1973) (voice) ... Fern Arable - The Toolbox MurdersThe Toolbox MurdersThe Toolbox Murders is a 1978 slasher film starring Cameron Mitchell, Tim Donnelly, Pamelyn Ferdin, and Wesley Eure. It is notorious for its reputation as a video nasty due to its violent murder scenes in the film's first act...
(1978) .... Laurie Ballard - Heidi's SongHeidi's SongHeidi's Song is a 1982 animated musical feature film produced by Hanna-Barbera. The film is based on the novel Heidi by Johanna Spyri. Among the voice cast of the film are Lorne Greene as Grandfather, Margery Gray as Heidi and Sammy Davis Jr...
(1982) (voice) .... Klara - Elf Sparkle Meets Christmas the Horse (2009) .... Christmas the Horse
Television
- The John ForsytheJohn ForsytheJohn Forsythe was an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning four decades and three genres: as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the crime drama Charlie's...
Show (1965) .... Pamela - The Flying NunThe Flying NunThe Flying Nun is an American sitcom produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book The Fifteenth Pelican, by Tere Rios, which starred Sally Field as Sister Bertrille...
- "The Reconversion of Sister Shapiro" (1967) .... Linda Shapiro - BlondieBlondie (1968 TV series)Blondie is a short-lived American sitcom that aired on CBS during the 1968-1969 television season. The series is an updated version of the 1957 TV series that was based on the comic strip of the same name. The series starred Will Hutchins as Dagwood Bumstead and Jim Backus as his boss Mr...
(1968) TV Series .... Cookie - Star TrekStar Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, "And the Children Shall Lead" (1968) .... Mary Janowski - Daughter of the MindDaughter of the MindDaughter of the Mind is a made-for-television suspense film starring Don Murray, Ray Milland and Gene Tierney. It was first broadcast on ABC on December 9, 1969 as the ABC Movie of the Week.-Plot:...
(1969) .... Mary Constable - It Was a Short Summer, Charlie BrownIt Was a Short Summer, Charlie BrownIt Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown is the sixth prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. It was directed by Bill Meléndez and originally aired on CBS on September 27, 1969...
(1969) (voice) .... Lucy Van Pelt - The Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple (TV series)The Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....
(1970) .... Edna Unger (1970–1971) - MannixMannixMannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
- "Fly, Little One" (1970) .... Dana - Smoke (1970) .... Susie
- The Brady BunchThe Brady BunchThe Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
- "Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up?" (1970) .... Lucy Winters - Curiosity ShopCuriosity ShopCuriosity Shop was an American children's educational television program produced by ABC-TV in 1971, capitalizing on the success of Sesame Street....
(1971) .... Pam - The Forgotten Man (1971) .... Sharon Hardy
- The Mephisto Waltz (1971) .... Abby Clarkson
- Play It Again, Charlie BrownPlay It Again, Charlie BrownPlay It Again, Charlie Brown is the seventh prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on the CBS network on March 28, 1971. It was the first Peanuts TV special of the 1970s...
(1971) (voice) .... Lucy Van Pelt - The Roman HolidaysThe Roman HolidaysThe Roman Holidays is a Hanna-Barbera animated television series that was broadcast in 1972 on NBC. It ran for 13 episodes before being cancelled...
(1972) .... Percocia Holiday - LassieLassie (1954 TV series)Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
: Joyous Sound (1972) - Lassie (1973–74) .... Lucy Baker
- The Paul Lynde ShowThe Paul Lynde ShowThe Paul Lynde Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC. The series stars Paul Lynde and aired from September 13, 1972 to September 8, 1973.-Setting:...
(1972).... Sally Simms - The Delphi BureauThe Delphi BureauThe Delphi Bureau was a dramatic television series aired in the United States by ABC as one of three elements of The Men, a wheel series shown as part of its 1972-73 schedule....
(1972) .... Alice, the Boarder - Night GalleryNight GalleryNight Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
: "Brenda" (1972) - Sigmund and the Sea MonstersSigmund and the Sea MonstersSigmund and the Sea Monsters was an American children's television series that ran from 1973 to 1975, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft and aired on Saturday mornings...
(1973) .... Peggy - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1974) .... Francie Nolan
- Apple's WayApple's WayApple's Way is a television dramedy which aired on CBS from 1974-1975. It was created by Earl Hamner, Jr..-Premise:The Apples, a family from Los Angeles, seek refuge from the hectic pace of city living and relocate to the father's hometown of Appleton, Iowa, which was founded by the father's...
(1974) .... school assembly director - Shazam!Shazam! (TV series)Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation , based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel....
- "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (1974) .... Lynn Colby - These Are the Days (1974) .... Kathy Day
- Miles to Go Before I Sleep (1975) .... Lisa
- Space AcademySpace AcademySpace Academy was a live-action sci-fi children's television program produced by Filmation that originally aired Saturday mornings on the CBS television network, from September 10, 1977, to December 17, 1977. A total of fifteen half-hour episodes were made.-Cast:The program starred veteran actor...
(1977) .... Lt. Laura Gentry - CHiPsCHiPsCHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol...
(1978) ... .Susie - DetentionDetention (TV series)Detention is a cartoon that premiered on Kids' WB! on September 10, 1999 and was created by Bob Doucette . This is one of the shortest lived programs by Warner Bros...
(1999) .... Shelley Kelley - Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law (2000) .... Sallie