Pamela Tiffin

Pamela Tiffin
Tiffin in 1965
Born
Pamela Tiffin Wonso

(1942-10-13)October 13, 1942
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedDecember 2, 2020(2020-12-02) (aged 78)
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
EducationHunter College
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
Years active1960–1989
Known for
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1962; div. 1969)​
  • Edmondo Danon
    ​
    (m. 1974)​
Children2

Pamela Tiffin Wonso (October 13, 1942 – December 2, 2020) was an American actress and model. She was a two-time Golden Globe Award nominee, New Star of the Year – Actress for Summer and Smoke and Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for One, Two, Three.[1] She also won a Theatre World Award for her performance in the Broadway play Dinner at Eight.

Early life and modeling career

Tiffin was born in Oklahoma City to architect Stanley Wonso and Grace Irene (Tiffin) Wonso.[2][3] She was of Russian, Scottish and British ancestry.[3] She grew up in Oak Lawn, Illinois, and studied tap and interpretive dance at the Gertrude Morgan School of Dancing in Chicago from the age of four until eleven.[3] She started modeling at the age of 12 with the Models Bureau agency, her first assignment being for 7 Up.[3]

In 1959, Tiffin moved with her mother to New York, where she attended night classes at Hunter College.[4]

After initially signing with the Frances Gill Agency, her modeling career took off when she switched to the Plaza Five Agency.[5] She began her acting career after fashion photographer Lloyd Fromm encouraged her to meet Boris Kaplan, a casting director at Paramount Pictures.[6] She made her official debut in Music of Williamsburg, a short film directed by Sidney Meyers.[7][8] In the same period, she started frequently appearing on Vogue, and collaborated with famed photographers Mark Shaw and Horst P. Horst.[7]

Acting career

Hollywood

During Thanksgiving 1960, while vacationing in Los Angeles with a group of friends, Tiffin visited the Paramount Pictures lot and was spotted by producer Hal B. Wallis, who persuaded her, despite her initial reluctance, to take a screen test.[9][10] As a result, she was cast in the film version of Summer and Smoke, directed by Peter Glenville.[10] Shortly later, she signed a 7-years contract with 20th Century-Fox, which contemplated one picture per year for $8,000, plus the option to cast her in three additional films, and a contract with Hal B. Wallis.[9]

Tiffin next played the daughter of James Cagney's boss in the comedy One, Two, Three (1961). The film's director Billy Wilder had spotted her in an ad in The New York Times, and cast her immediately after her audition.[11] He called her "the biggest find since Audrey Hepburn".[12] She earned a Golden Globe nomination for each of her first two films,[13]

She won the leading role in the Twentieth Century-Fox musical remake State Fair (1962), in which she played Bobby Darin's love interest.[14] Later, she was attached to a series of projects that never got off the ground, including an adaptation of Camelot with Laurence Olivier, and the main role in A Rage to Live, which was postponed and eventually shot in 1965 with Suzanne Pleshette; she was also offered the role of Tamiko in John Sturges' A Girl Named Tamiko, was considered for Tippi Hedren's role in Hitchcock's The Birds, and turned down a role in the Elvis Presley vehicle Girls! Girls! Girls!.[15] She eventually was chosen as one of the three leads in MGM's comedy Come Fly with Me (1963).[16]

Tiffin studied at Columbia and continued to model. She made her television debut as a "Special Guest Star" on The Girl from Little Egypt, an episode of The Fugitive,[17] and filmed a television pilot for Fox titled Three in Manhattan that did not materialize into a series.[18][12] Tiffin agreed to take part only after Fox assured her she would be released from her contract after one more film.[19] The pilot, which also starred Julie Newmar, Thelma Ritter's daughter Monica Moran and Jody McCrea, was eventually broadcast as an episode of the anthology series Vacation Playhouse.[20]

Following her TV work, Tiffin refused the female lead in Fun in Acapulco, and was considered for the Sandra Dee role in Take Her, She's Mine and for the Yvette Mimieux role in Toys in the Attic.[21] She made two films with James Darren, both aimed at teen audiences: For Those Who Think Young (1964) and The Lively Set (1964).[22] Fox cast her The Pleasure Seekers (1964), a remake of Three Coins in the Fountain (1954). She later co-starred with Burt Lancaster in the 1965 Western The Hallelujah Trail

After a series of professional disappointments, having failed to secure several roles she was considered for and deeply wanted, notably in The Great Race, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Collector, and The Group, Tiffin appeared in her most successful film, Harper (1966) alongside Paul Newman.[23]

Italy

Tiffin on the set of the 1971 Italian giallo film The Fifth Cord

Immediately after the Harper shootings wrapped, Tiffin was chosen by producer Carlo Ponti to replace Sue Lyon in a segment of the Italian anthology film Kiss the Other Sheik, alongside Marcello Mastroianni.[24] Shortly thereafter, she starred opposite Philippe Leroy in another Italian production, the comedic thriller The Almost Perfect Crime (1966), which was a box office success and helped establish her as a major star in the Italian film industry.[25] Returned to New York, she appeared as herself in the Brian De Palma's short documentary The Responsive Eye, and made her stage debut playing Kitty Packard in Dinner at Eight on Broadway.[23][26] For her performance, she received a Theatre World Award.[27]

In 1967, Tiffin returned to Italy for some re-shoots of Kiss the Other Sheik.[28] In October 1967, with her marriage in crisis, she finally decided to relocate to Rome "to find out what I want."[29][8] She then appeared in The Protagonists (1968); Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses (1968), a hugely popular comedy; and The Archangel (1969) with Vittorio Gassman.[30][8]

The February 1969 issue of Playboy included a photo feature titled "A Toast to Tiffin."

She appeared in her first American film in two years when she played a liberal college student and the love interest to Peter Ustinov in the comedy Viva Max! (1969). She performed in Uncle Vanya on stage and appeared in the final episode of the ABC series The Survivors, which aired in January 1970.[8]

Tiffin returned to Italy to appear in Gang War (1971), No One Will Notice You're Naked (1971), The Fifth Cord (a.k.a. Evil Fingers) (1971), E se per caso una mattina... (1972), Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears (1973), Kill Me, My Love! (1973) with Farley Granger, La signora è stata violentata! (1973) and Brigitte, Laura, Ursula, Monica, Raquel, Litz, Florinda, Barbara, Claudia, e Sofia le chiamo tutte... anima mia (1974).

She returned to Hollywood briefly to appear in the TV movie The Last of the Powerseekers (1971).

Tiffin retired from acting in the mid-1970's after marrying her second husband and becoming a mother.[31]

She appeared in the 2003 documentary Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty with her daughter Echo Danon.

A biography of Tiffin titled Pamela Tiffin: Hollywood to Rome was written by Tom Lisanti in 2015.

Personal life

Tiffin married twice. Her first marriage was to Clay Felker, an American magazine editor, whom she married in 1962 and divorced in 1969.[32] Her second marriage was to Edmondo Danon, a philosopher, and the son of Italian film producer Marcello Danon. They married in 1974 and had two daughters, Echo and Aurora.[31]

Death

Tiffin died on December 2, 2020, in a Manhattan hospital at the age of 78[33] from natural causes.[34]

Awards and nominations

Award Year Category Work Result
Golden Globe Award[1] 1962 Most Promising Female Newcomer Summer and Smoke Nominated
Best Supporting Actress One, Two, Three Nominated
Laurel Award 1962 Top Female New Personality N/a Nominated
Theatre World Award[35] 1967 N/a Dinner at Eight Won

References

  1. ^ a b "Pamela Tiffin". Golden Globes. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
  2. ^ Gates, Anita (December 6, 2020). "Pamela Tiffin, Movie Star Who Shone Brightly but Briefly, Dies at 78". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Lisanti 2015, p. 5.
  4. ^ Lisanti 2015, pp. 5–6.
  5. ^ Lisanti 2015, p. 6.
  6. ^ Lisanti 2015, pp. 6–7.
  7. ^ a b Lisanti 2015, p. 7.
  8. ^ a b c d Aba, Marika (July 6, 1969). "Pamela Tiffin---American Sex Queen in Exile". Los Angeles Times. p. l15.
  9. ^ a b Lisanti 2015, pp. 9–10.
  10. ^ a b Hopper, Hedda (July 18, 1961). "Entertainment: Pamela Tiffin New Film Cinderella 18-Year-Old Model in Third Picture, Sought for More". Los Angeles Times. p. C6.
  11. ^ Lisanti 2015, pp. 21–22.
  12. ^ a b Hopper, Hedda (February 9, 1964). "Under Hedda's hat: Pamela Tiffin, a onetime teen model from Chicago, after scoring a success thru films in Hollywood, is working on a television series about Manhattan. When you're pushing 22, what's left?". Chicago Tribune. p. h12.
  13. ^ "Tiffin Is Movies' New Cup of Tea". Los Angeles Times. January 14, 1962. p. B4.
  14. ^ Murray Schumach (July 18, 1961). "Jose Ferrer ends long film famine: Actor-Director in deal With Fox, Explains 4-Year Lapse". The New York Times. p. 33.
  15. ^ Lisanti 2015, pp. 48–49.
  16. ^ Vagg, Stephen (August 12, 2025). "Not Quite Movie Stars: Paula Prentiss". Filmink. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  17. ^ Lisanti 2015, p. 61.
  18. ^ Pauley, Gay (December 19, 1963). "Ex-Tribunite, Too: Pamela Tiffin a Busy Actress, Model, Student and Housewife". Chicago Tribune. p. f1.
  19. ^ Lisanti 2015, p. 63.
  20. ^ Lisanti 2015, pp. 63–64.
  21. ^ Lisanti 2015, p. 67.
  22. ^ Scheuer, P. K. (March 7, 1963). "Kubrick's Sellers Takes Four Parts". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 168347895.
  23. ^ a b Lisanti 2015, pp. 116–117.
  24. ^ Lisanti 2015, p. 127.
  25. ^ Lisanti 2015, pp. 135–136.
  26. ^ "The Alvin to get 'Dinner at Eight'". The New York Times. July 21, 1966. p. 20.
  27. ^ Lisanti 2015, p. 145.
  28. ^ Lisanti 2015, pp. 147–148.
  29. ^ Lisanti 2015, p. 152.
  30. ^ Masolino D'Amico (2008). La commedia all'italiana. l Saggiatore, 2008. ISBN 978-88-565-0026-4.
  31. ^ a b Barnes, Mike (December 4, 2020). "Pamela Tiffin, Actress in 'The Pleasure Seekers,' 'State Fair' and 'Come Fly With Me,' Dies at 78". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  32. ^ "Pamela Tiffin, Actress, Is Wed to Clay Felker". The New York Times. October 7, 1962. p. 90.
  33. ^ "È morta Pamela Tiffin, accanto a Tognazzi e Mastroianni nelle commedie anni Sessanta". La Repubblica. December 4, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  34. ^ Pike, Molly (December 5, 2020). "Pamela Tiffin dead: Playboy model and The Fugitive actress dies aged 78". Mirror. Archived from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  35. ^ "Pamela Tiffin – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved February 11, 2026.

Bibliography

  • Lisanti, Tom (2015). Pamela Tiffin: Hollywood to Rome, 1961–1974. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-9661-7.
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