Pamela Stephenson

Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly (born December 4, 1949) is a New Zealand actress, comedian and clinical psychologist, now a resident of New York City, USA. Stephenson was born in Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand. After attending the University of New South Wales and then Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art, from which she graduated in 1971, Stephenson pursued a successful acting career in Australia for several years before moving to Lo... more

Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly (born December 4, 1949) is a New Zealand actress, comedian and clinical psychologist, now a resident of New York City, USA. Stephenson was born in Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand. After attending the University of New South Wales and then Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art, from which she graduated in 1971, Stephenson pursued a successful acting career in Australia for several years before moving to London in 1976, where she continued to act (theatrically and in television). Probably her most widely recognised role was in the classic 1980s UK comedy television sketch show Not The Nine O'Clock News, alongside Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It was on this programme that she met Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, whom she married in 1989. Her personal contribution as a comedian added to the success of Not The Nine O'Clock News and led to a collaboration with comedic/satirist writers Mark Lepine and Mike Leigh. This spawned a... less