Pam Ewing

Pamela Barnes Ewing
Dallas character
Victoria Principal as Pamela Ewing
Portrayed by	Victoria Principal (1978–1987) Margaret Michaels (1988)
Duration	1978–1988
First appearance	April 2, 1978 Digger's Daughter
Last appearance	October 28, 1988 Carousel
Created by	David Jacobs
Spin-off appearances	Dallas: The Early Years
Crossover appearances	Family Guy (1999)
In-universe information Other names Pamela Jean Barnes Occupation Businesswoman Retailer worker Family Barnes (by birth) Ewing (by marriage) Father Willard "Digger" Barnes (legal) Hutch McKinney (biological) Mother Rebecca Barnes Wentworth Brothers Tyler Barnes (legal brother, biological half-brother) Cliff Barnes (legal brother, biological half-brother) Sisters Catherine Barnes (legal sister, biological half-sister) Half-sisters Katherine Wentworth Husband Ed Haynes (1968; annulled) Bobby Ewing (1978–1983, 1986–1987) Adoptive sons Christopher Ewing Grandfathers Henry Barnes (legal) Aunts Maggie Monahan (legal) Nieces Pamela Rebecca Barnes First cousins Jimmy Monahan (legal)

Pamela Jean "Pam" Barnes Ewing is a fictional character from the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas. Pamela is portrayed by actress Victoria Principal, first appearing on the show in the first episode, titled "Digger's Daughter", which was first broadcast on April 2, 1978. Dallas follows the trials of the wealthy Ewing family in the city of Dallas, Texas, which Pam has married into. Principal played Pam until the end of season 10 in 1987, when the character crashes her car into a truck carrying butane and propane and her body is severely burned. A year later, she was briefly played by actress Margaret Michaels in an attempt to write the character out.^[1] Pamela's storylines in season 1 focus on her relationship with her new husband, Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), and her fight against the considerable suspicion and hostility from within the Ewing family, due to Pamela being a member of the Barnes family. Pamela's love for Bobby remains a strong character trait throughout her tenure on the show, noted for its similarities to Romeo and Juliet, with two people from hostile families falling in love.

In the early years of Dallas, Principal took measures to add depth to her character. She initially was very distant from the cast and they assumed she didn't like them. Series producer Leonard Katzman confronted her about the issue and she said, "I like everybody. It's just that I want to feel like an outsider, like Pam Barnes does, being married to a Ewing."^[2] Principal also took to other ways of improving her character, such as taking voice lessons to perfect a Texas accent.^[2] Her relationship with Patrick Duffy's character, Bobby, was a central component to the show, and when Duffy returned to Dallas in 1986, after being killed off a year earlier, the entire previous year had been written off as Pam's dream.^[3]

Principal received positive reviews for her portrayal of Pamela and a Golden Globe nomination in the category of "Best Actress in a Television Series" at the 40th Golden Globe Awards.^[4] She was nominated for a Soap Opera Digest award for "Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial" in 1986, while also sharing a nomination with Patrick Duffy for "Favorite Super Couple: Prime Time" in 1988.^[5] Hal Erickson of MSN.com opined that Pamela's exit from the series was open ended and left the audience hanging.^[6]