Pamelyn Ferdin (born February 4, 1959) is an American animal rights activist and former actress. Ferdin's acting career was primarily during the 1960s and 1970s, though she appeared in projects sporadically in the 1980s and later years. She began her acting career in television commercials, made 250 television shows and films and gained renown for her work as a voice actress supplying the voice of Lucy Van Pelt in A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969), as well as in two other Peanuts television specials.
She had supporting roles in The Beguiled (1971) with Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page, and a lead role in the exploitation film The Toolbox Murders (1978) with Cameron Mitchell. She also supplied the voice of Fern Arable in Charlotte's Web (1973). Ferdin distanced herself from acting in the late 1970s, worked as a registered nurse and shifted into animal rights activism, working as an activist and protester in animal-protection programs in New York City and Los Angeles.
Early life Born in Los Angeles on February 4, 1959, to Kenneth and Wanda (Jacewitz) Ferdin, she began her career at age three, appearing in a hair color commercial. She has two older sisters, Valerie and Wendy, who acted when they were young. Ferdin attended Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, California.
In a 2016 interview with The Washington Times, she said she would have liked to have experienced "what it was like to be a normal kid in high school — without always going in and then being taken out, going back and forth."
She has said that she regretted not having many aspects of a normal childhood and that her mother pushed her into acting. In 2016, she said, "My mom put me in the business. I had a very Hollywood mother. She put me in, and I just started getting role after role after role."
Career Acting and appearances
Ferdin played the Bumsteads' daughter Cookie in the 1968–1969 CBS revival series Blondie. She was subsequently cast as Felix Unger's daughter Edna in the 1970s ABC series version of The Odd Couple and Paul Lynde's daughter Sally on the short-lived The Paul Lynde Show.
She appeared on Star Trek in 1968 as one of a group of orphaned children led by an alien with sinister motives in the episode "And the Children Shall Lead" and in the 1977 series Space Academy as Laura Gentry.
Ferdin's distinctive voice secured her voiceover roles, and she was cast to provide the voice of Lucy Van Pelt in three Peanuts cartoons: the 1969 TV special It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, a 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the 1971 TV special Play It Again, Charlie Brown. She provided the voice of Sally, the little girl in the 1971 animated TV special of Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat. Ferdin was a frequent guest star on episodic television in the 1960s and 1970s, with appearances on Bewitched; Green Acres; The Andy Griffith Show; Branded; Daniel Boone; Custer; The Monkees; The Flying Nun; The Second Hundred Years; Gunsmoke; Shazam!; The High Chaparral; Mannix; The Brady Bunch; Family Affair; Love, American Style; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Sigmund and the Sea Monsters; Apple's Way; The Streets of San Francisco; Baretta; CHiPS; and 240-Robert.
She had a brief and uncredited role in The Reluctant Astronaut (1967) and was featured in the Walt Disney musical The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968). Her association with Walt Disney earned an appearance with him in a color TV magazine advertisement, looking over Disney's right shoulder. She appeared as Mary Constable in the supernatural TV movie Daughter of the Mind and as Abby Clarkson in the horror film The Mephisto Waltz (1971) with Alan Alda. The same year, Ferdin appeared in The Christine Jorgensen Story, based on the life of the first person in the United States to undergo sex reassignment surgery, and in The Beguiled alongside Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. She then appeared in the Kurt Vonnegut adaptation Happy Birthday Wanda June, and in the exploitation horror film The Toolbox Murders (1978).
She voiced Fern Arable, the little girl who raises Wilbur the pig, in the 1973 animated film Charlotte's Web.
Ferdin was considered for the role of Regan MacNeil, the demon-possessed girl in the 1973 William Friedkin film The Exorcist, but casting directors decided she was too well-known and cast the less familiar actress Linda Blair.
Her last acting roles were as the voice of the character Shelley Kelley in the Kids' WB series Detention in 1999 and as Christmas the Horse in the feature film Elf Sparkle Meets Christmas the Horse in 2008.
In 2020, Ferdin co-hosted two episodes of the television talk show "Ken Boxer Live" on TVSB TV, originating in Santa Barbara, California.
Activism After leaving her job as a public relations director in the mid-1990s, Ferdin began working for the Center for Animal Care and Control in New York City. In August 2004, Ferdin accepted the presidency of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), according to statements filed under oath in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The incumbent, Kevin Kjonaas, resigned after being indicted on charges of conspiracy and interstate stalking. When Kjonaas and six other SHAC activists were jailed in 2006, Ferdin vowed to continue the campaign. According to salon.com, she defined her role as "a squeaky-clean representative for SHAC USA," but warned that if the SHAC seven were convicted, "[P]eople, I think, are going to get hurt. There's going to be a lot of violence."
In 2004, she accused the parents of Kelly Keen, a three-year-old child killed in a coyote attack, of murdering their daughter and using the story of an animal attack to cover up the crime. This was part of her protest against public efforts to control the coyote population near suburban homes. , "This just in: U.S. is 500 years old"], Glendale News Press by Jeff Keating, April 19, 2004.
On June 22, 2006, Ferdin was sentenced to 90 days in jail for trespassing and "targeted demonstration" outside the home of an employee of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. She stated that the conviction "is not going to affect my speaking out and exposing the atrocities occurring at our six city shelters". She served 36 hours and was released before serving the full sentence due to prison overcrowding.
In December 2006, Ferdin's group, the Animal Defense League, Los Angeles (ADLLA), announced that it had been awarded $75,000 against the city of Los Angeles for an anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation motion.
Her ex-husband, Jerry Vlasak, "sits on a precarious perch within the animal rights movement," according to a profile in The Los Angeles Times in 2006. "Through his Animal Liberation Press Office, he is the spokesman for shadowy groups that sabotage labs, vandalize homes, firebomb properties and make death threats via late-night phone calls. But he works in the wide open, operating a website, issuing press releases, talking to journalists."
In 2008, Ferdin was found in contempt of court, after allegedly violating an injunction. The conviction was overturned and she filed a federal lawsuit against UCLA for harassment.
Personal life She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority at the University of Southern California in 1978.
She graduated from the Los Angeles County Medical Center School of Nursing in the spring of 1981 and got her first nursing job on the medical ward at UCLA Medical Center.
She married Vlasak, a surgeon, on October 12, 1986, but divorced him in 2008.
She has been a vegan since the mid-1990s. She promotes adopting rather than buying pets as well as having pets spayed or neutered.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1964What a Way to Go!Geraldine Crawley 1967Mary1968Laura Bower1969Lucy Van PeltVoice1970Dolly 1971Amy1971Abby Clarkson1971What's the Matter with Helen?Kiddie M.C.1971Happy Birthday, Wanda JuneWanda June 1973Charlotte's WebFern Arable Voice1978Laurie Ballard1982Heidi's SongKlara Voice
Television Year Title Role Notes1964Cindy Clark"The Babysitter"1965Corlis"The Bazaar"1965BrandedAbigail"A Proud Town"1965–66The John Forsythe ShowPamela"The Little Old Matchmaker", "Super Girl", "Anyone for a Fat Lip?"1966Rosey Bryant"A Burying for Rosey"1966And Baby Makes ThreeLinda JayneTV film1966-71Family Affairvarious roles4 episodes1966My Three SonsRoseann"Fly Away Home"1967Valley of MysteryPennyTV film1967CusterIrene Maloney"To the Death"1967Nancy"Luke's First Christmas"1967The Monkees Girl "Monkees at the Movies"1968Green AcresMolly Mullen"Instant Family"1968Mad Mad ScientistSally SpringerTV film1968Star TrekMary"And the Children Shall Lead"1968GunsmokeAnnie Jarvis"The Money Store"1968Linda Shapiro, Violetta"The Reconversion of Sister Shapiro", "Cousins by the Dozen"1968–69BlondieCookie BumsteadMain role1969Charlie Brown and Charles SchulzLucy Van Pelt (voice)TV documentary1969Jennie Simmons / Charity"No Bugles, No Drums", "For the Love of Carlos"1969It Was a Short Summer, Charlie BrownLucy Van Pelt (voice)TV short1969Daughter of the MindMary ConstableABC Movie of the Week1970SmokeSusieTV film1970MannixDana"Fly, Little One" (Season 3, Episode 21)1971Lucy Winters"Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up?"1971Sally (voice)TV short1971Play It Again, Charlie BrownLucy Van Pelt (voice)TV short1971Curiosity ShopPam"Special," main role in TV series1971–72Cindy, Edna Unger3 episodes1971Sharon HardyABC Movie of the Week1971Night GalleryFrances Anne Emsden"Brenda"1971Marcus Welby, M.D.Felicia"A Portrait of Debbie"1972Young Dr. KildareJulie Loomis"The Night of the Intern"1972Alice"Pilot"1972Precocia (voice)TV series (13 episodes)1972Sealab 2020Sally Murphy (voice)TV series1972Louisa / Lilibit (voice)"Oliver and the Artful Dodger: Parts 1 & 2"1972Lassie: Joyous SoundLucy BakerTV film1972–73Sally SimmsMain role1972–73LassieLucy BakerMain role (seasons 18–19)1973Marcus Welby, M.D.Amy"The Tall Tree"1973Sigmund and the Sea MonstersPeggy"Puppy Love"1974Francie NolanTV film1974These Are the DaysKathy Day (voice)Main role1974Shazam!Lynn Colby"Thou Shalt Not Kill"1974Apple's WaySally"The Flag"1975Miles to Go Before I SleepLisaTV film1976Chris Cavanaugh"Runaway"1977BarettaJudy"The Runaways"1977Space AcademyLaura GentryMain role1978CHiPsSusie"Rustling"1978VegasKatie Howard"Serve, Volley and Kill"1978Project U.F.O.Cindy Harper"Sighting 4023: The I-Man Incident"1979240-RobertNikki"The Apology"1985It's Your 20th Television Anniversary, Charlie BrownHerselfTV documentary1999DetentionShelley Kelley (voice)Main role2004Penn & Teller: Bullshit!Herself"P.E.T.A." (season 2, episode 1)2009Elf Sparkle Meets Christmas the HorseChristmas the Horse (voice)TV film
References
Sources
External links
Pamelyn Ferdin interview at Classic Film & TV Cafe AnimalScam scans of court documents Hoover High School "Scroll" yearbook, 1974 Pamelyn Ferdin: ‘From Child Actress to Animal Activist’, Washington Times, December 1, 2016