It's not every day that celebrities leave Hollywood behind for a normal life.
For those that do, however, a life of luxury, pleasure, and vast wealth isn't enough to
bring them happiness.
In this video, we'll be discussing one drop-dead gorgeous actress who exited the spotlight
after it started conflicting with her principles.
Born in 1942 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, actress Pamela Tiffin began her career as a teen model
in Chicago.
She was "discovered" by famed producer Hal B. Wallis, who insisted upon having her screen-tested.
This led her to being cast in the 1961 film Summer and Smoke.
She followed that up with an appearance in the 1961 comedy One, Two, Three.
Tiffin quickly found herself with a promising Hollywood career, appearing in numerous hit
films alongside Hollywood heartthrobs like Paul Newman and James Cagney.
She then appeared in a string of smash-hit Italian comedies before flashing the camera
a little a skin while posing for Playboy.
Tiffin was certainly a talented actress, but it was very clear that one of her biggest
strengths was her looks.
The brown-eyed, bouffant-haired brunette rose to fame when she was just 19 and immediately
became one of the hottest sex symbols of her time.
Join Facts Verse as we take a look at some Seductive Photos of Pamela Tiffin in Her Prime
Years.
We'll also be covering most of her life story and career highlights.
Her name might have fallen into obscurity in the years since she left the big screen
behind in 1974, but her story is still worth telling.
So, let's go ahead and dive on in.
Tiffin's Meteoric Rise
Pamela Tiffin Wonso was born on the 13th of October, 1942, in Oklahoma City.
Her parents were Stanley Wonso and Grace Irene.
Early in her life, Pamela's family moved to suburban Chicago.
It was in the windy city that Tiffin found early success as a teen model at the age of
13.
At first, she mainly appeared in print ads, but in time she was also doing runway shows.
Three years later, she and her mother relocated to the Big Apple.
While attending Hunter College in New York City, Tiffin appeared in the short film Music
of Williamsburg.
While she remained focused on her modeling career, this early experience behind the camera
proved to be quite inspirational.
At 19, while she was vacationing in Hollywood, Tiffin paid a visit to the Paramount Pictures
lot.
It was there that she was spotted by producer Hal B. Wallis, best known for producing films
like Casablanca and True Grit.
Wallis, knowing a future star when he saw one, had Tiffin screen tested.
This led to her landing an audition for the film adaptation of Summer and Smoke, which
hit theaters in 1961.
Tiffin wowed the casting directors at the audition and was given the role of Nellie
Ewell.
Summer and Smoke was based upon a play by Tennessee Williams about a spinster and her
love for a local doctor.
These two roles were played in the movie by Geraldine Page and Laurence Harvey, respectively.
Tiffin's character Nellie was the young, innocent woman who stole doc away from Ms. Page.
The same year that Summer and Smoke hit the silver screen, Tiffin played the feisty daughter
of a Coca-Cola exec in the political comedy One, Two, Three.
In that film, Tiffin's character traveled to Berlin and married a dashing young communist
man played by Horst Bucholz.
Of course, by doing that, she was very much so ticking off her corporate big-wig father,
played by James Cagney.
Tiffin received Golden Globe nominations for both of her first two feature films.
At that time, she was seen as being one of Hollywood's most promising newcomers.
Fame Suited Her
After starring in two hit films, Tiffin's third film was the 1962s State Fair.
The movie was a remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1945 musical film.
Pamela played a farmer's teen daughter who was looking for romance at the eponymous fair.
Tiffin made two dozen films in the 60s and early 70s.
In 1963, Tiffin played a noobie flight attendant in the rom-com Come Fly With Me.
She followed that up by playing a wealthy man's flirty daughter in 1966s Harper.
During this time, Tiffin became known for appearing in films geared toward teenage audiences.
For example, in 1964, she co-starred with Jame Darren in both For Those Who Think Young
and The Lively Set.
In 1966, Tiffin made her one and only appearance on Broadway, playing the character Kitty Packard
in the Kaufman and Ferber comedy Dinner at Eight.
The year prior, Tiffin was cast as Marcello Mastroianni's wife in the Italian comedy Oggi,
Domani Dopodomani.
Reluctantly, Tiffin was convinced, with a great deal of quarrel, to dye her hair blond
for the role.
She ended up liking the look so much that she decided to keep rocking it.
She also decided around this time that it was about time to say goodbye to Hollywood.
Her experience with Mastroianni had been so positive that she figured that she would just
start making films in Italy instead.
This decision might have alienated her fans in the states, but it earned her a legion
of new ones in Europe.
Tiffin went on to star in at least a dozen Italian films, including 1969s The Archangel,
a crime comedy starring Vittorio Gassman, and 1971s The Fifth Cord, a crime drama starring
Franco Nero.
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And don't go anywhere just yet.
Keep watching to see more seductive photos of Pamela Tiffin in her prime.
She Left Acting Behind Altogether
When she was just barely into her 30s, Tiffin chose to retire from acting altogether.
Although, 15 years later, she came out of retirement briefly for one last screen appearance
in the 1989 Italian mini-series Quattro Storie di Donne.
Initially, Tiffin told the press that she had given up acting to instead focus on raising
a family, but she later told author Tullio Kezich that the real reason why she made that
decision was because of how erotic Italian films were becoming.
It got to the point that every audition she would go to, inevitably, she would be asked
if she was willing to appear either in the nude or partly nude onscreen.
Fortunately, she had budgeted and invested her money smartly and knew that she would
be able to get by just fine without appearing in any more films.
Tiffin's last American film was 1969s Viva Max, a comedy about a Mexican military general
in the 20th century who was trying to recapture the Alamo.
For her convenience, parts of the film were shot in Rome, where Tiffin was living at the
time.
That decision of hers to leave the glitz and glamour of stardom behind was something that
no one could have predicted.
In 1961, in an interview with New York's The Daily News, Billy Wilder called her the greatest
film discovery since Audrey Hepburn.
Later in that article, Tiffin told veteran journalist Joe Hyams why she was starting
to prefer acting to her previous career modeling.
She told Hyams that while a model sells herself, an actress sells the characters that they
play.
She went on to say that she was beginning to feel bored with simply showing off her
face and body.
Given her level of self-awareness back then, her decision to leave acting behind a little
over a decade later makes a lot more sense.
Seeing as how she had left acting behind because of how erotic Italian cinema had become, it's
somewhat ironic that she posed for Playboy in 1969.
But then again, modeling in the nude is a lot different than showing a little skin in
a raunchy film.
The former is seen by many as being relatively empowering, while the latter is sometimes
likened to 'selling out'.
Nobody can ever accuse Tiffin of 'selling out'.
If anything, she remained true to herself with greater conviction than most.
Pamela's Love Life
In 1962, Pamela Tiffin married Esquire magazine editor Clay Felker.
A year late he was made the founding editor of The Herald Tribune's Sunday supplemental
section, New York.
Eventually, this supplement became New York Magazine.
It's worth noting that while married to Felkner, Tiffin's relations with the press greatly
improved.
Felker edited the magazine until 1977.
His marriage with Tiffin, however, wouldn't be quite as long-standing, as the two got
divorced in 1969 after a lengthy separation.
Even after splitting, Tiffin and Felker remained friends and still had a lot of love for each
other.
In 1974, Tiffin married Italian Philosopher and professor Edmondo Danon.
If that name sounds familiar, that's because Edmondo was the son of filmmaker Marcello
Danon.
With him, Tiffin had two daughters, Echo and Aurora.
Pamela Tiffin died of natural causes on December 2, 2020, a New York City Hospital.
She was 78 when she passed away.
Well, that's about all the time we have left for this video.
Hopefully, you've enjoyed feasting your eyes on all
of these gorgeous photos of Pamela Tiffin.
You have to admire somebody that is willing to turn their back on their illustrious career
just to stick to their guns.
Tiffin wasn't willing to compromise even when it meant bidding farewell to the limelight
and all of the perks that go with it.
Did you know that Pamela Tiffin got her start as a model when she was 13?
And did you know that she left acting behind for good in her early 30s?
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