Pamela Tiffin: Hollywood to Rome, 1961-1974

by Tom Lisanti

Dark-haired 60s cult pop icon Pamela Tiffin debuted in Summer and Smoke (1961) and was a scene-stealing comedienne opposite James Cagney in Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three (1961) before becoming the queen of teenage drive-in movies in State Fair (1963), Come Fly with Me (1963), For Those Who Think Young (1964), The Lively Set (1964) and The Pleasure Seekers (1964). After landing a sexy adult role opposite Paul Newman in Harper (1966), she went blonde and ran away to Italy to star in such films as Kiss the Other Sheik (1968), The Fifth Cord (1971) and Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears (1973). This thoroughly researched career retrospective pays tribute to the talented Tiffin, hailed by Cagney for her "remarkable flair for comedy," and addresses why she did not achieve superstardom. Interviews with co-stars, including Franco Nero, and film historians offer a behind-the-scenes look at her most popular films.

280 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2015

About the author

Tom Lisanti is an award-winning author/film historian specializing in1960s/1970s film and television. He began writing professionally in 1998. His latest books are Texas: An Oral History of Daytime TV's Answer to Dallas from BearManor Media; Dueling Harlows: The Race to Bring the Actress's Life to the Silver Screen from McFarland & Company; and Ryan's Hope: An Oral History of Daytime's Groundbreaking Soap from Citadel Press/Kensington Books.

In 2010, Tom co-wrote with former actress Gail Gerber her memoir Trippin' with Terry Southern: What I Think I Remember, which won the Independent Publisher Book Award Silver Medal for Best Memoir of 2010. He recently made appearances on the NYC cable access talk show, The Diana Montford Show; PBS's Steve Beverly's TV Classics; The Playboy Murders; and co-hosted with Ben Mankiewicz a week of 1960s beach movies on TCM. Tom is also featured in the documentary The Green Girl. He has been interviewed on a number of YouTube Programs (The Locher Room, The Jim Masters Show, The Michael Fairman Channel, Soaps dot com, The Avrum Rosensweig Show); radio shows (TV Confidential, Nutmeg Chatter. The Online Movie Show with Phil Hall, WNYC's SoundCheck); and podcasts (Forgotten Hollywood, The San Francisco Experience, Forgotten Films; Junot Files; NitrateVille; Ticklish Films) talking about his books.

Tom also has written for such magazines as Cinema Retro, Cinema of the '70s, Films of the Golden Age; and Scary Monsters.

Follow Tom on Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, and Threads. He resides in New York.