Pamela K. Long is an American writer and executive producer. Long won several Emmys for her work on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

soap opera '' Guiding Light'' from 1983 to 1990. She was also writer and executive producer on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

film ''Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors''.

Career

Before writing and acting, Long won the title of

Miss Alabama The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition. Alabama has won three Miss America titles: Deidre Downs in 2005, Heather Whitestone (the first deaf w ...

in 1974 and competed for the title of Miss America 1975. At the time, she was attending the

University of North Alabama The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes ...

, and was involved in the

Phi Mu Phi Mu () is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same y ...

sorority. After graduation, she moved to New York City and landed the role of Ashley Linden on ''

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

'' from 1981 to 1982. She began writing scripts for the show while she was still part of the cast, and in 1982, Long was named head writer of ''Texas''. The show began to improve in quality, but the ratings in the U.S. remained low.Grunwald, D: "Who Shot Texas", pages 23–27. ''TV Guide'' (Canadian edition), March 5, 1983. However, in Canada, ''Texas'' topped the daytime ratings charts for many weeks. The last episode of ''Texas'' aired on December 31, 1982. In March 1983, Long became head writer of CBS Daytime's '' Guiding Light'', and

Gail Kobe Gail Kobe (born Gabriella Kieliszewski; March 19, 1932 – August 1, 2013) was an American actress and television producer. Early years Kobe was born Gabriella Kieliszewski in Hamtramck, Michigan (near Detroit) to Benjamin and Theresa Kobe. She ...

, Long's former executive producer at ''

'', joined the show in the same role. Long created several key characters on ''Guiding Light'', including vixen

Reva Shayne Reva Shayne is a fictional character from '' Guiding Light'', played by four-time Daytime Emmy Award winner Kim Zimmer from November 28, 1983, to July 23, 1990, and August 14, 1995, until the show's final episode on September 18, 2009. Zimmer has ...

, complicated

Alexandra Spaulding Alexandra Spaulding is a fictional character from '' Guiding Light'', an American soap opera on the CBS network. Beverlee McKinsey originally played the role from February 10, 1984, to August 21, 1992. McKinsey made the character one of the mo ...

, and rough-around-the-edges ingenue Harley Davidson Cooper. Long left her role as head writer in 1985, but returned for a second stint from 1987 to 1990. She had stints as head writer for several other daytime soap operas during her career. Long was creator and executive producer of the prime-time drama ''

Second Noah ''Second Noah'' is a television drama that was broadcast in the United States on ABC television from February 5, 1996 to June 8, 1997. Premise The series stars Daniel Hugh Kelly as Noah Beckett, whose wife Jesse (Betsy Brantley) is a veterina ...

'' for ABC, for which she won th
Child Advocate Award
She also wrote and produced the critically acclaimed ''Christy'' for CBS, winning the

Templeton Prize The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...

. Numerous pilot developments, TV movies and a feature film followed, as well as writing and producing the first scripted drama series for MTV ''Undressed'' with

Roland Joffe Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

. Long was named lead consultant for the launch of all of MTV's scripted dramas, and was executive producer and head writer for PAX's Twice in a Lifetime, winning multiple

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Norther ...

nominations, including best drama. In 2015, Long was writer and executive producer of the film '' Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors'' which garnered over 15 million viewers its first showing, NBC's highest ratings for a film in seven years.

Personal life

Long was once married to actor Jay Hammer and was credited for a time as Pamela Long Hammer. They have two sons together

Positions held

'' Guiding Light'' *Head Writer: March 1983 to November 1985, July 1987 to December 1990 *Co-Head Writer: December 1985 to January 1986 '' One Life to Live'' *Head Writer: March 1998 to December 199

'' Santa Barbara (TV series), Santa Barbara'' *Head Writer: February 1992 to January 1993 ''

Search for Tomorrow ''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986. Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show fo ...

'' *Executive Story Consultant: May 1986 to December 198

''

'' *Actress: February 1981 to December 1982 *Head and Script Writer: October 1982 to December 1982 ''

Her Hidden Truth ''Her Hidden Truth'' is a thriller/drama television film starring Kellie Martin, Antonio Sabato Jr. and Ken Howard. It was directed by Dan Lerner and written by Pamela K. Long, who was also one of the film's producers. The film first aired on Sund ...

'' *Script Writer: November 1995 *Producer: November 1995 ''

'' *Producer

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

* Wins: 1986 & 1990, Best Writing, ''Guiding Light'' * Nominations: 1985 & 1989, Best Writing, ''Guiding Light'' Writers Guild of America Award * Nominations: 1985 & 1989 seasons, ''Guiding Light''; 1993 season, ''Santa Barbara''

References

External links

Miss Alabama official website
*
Clips from ''Texas'' episodes

Writing history

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Pam 1950s births Living people American soap opera writers Daytime Emmy Award winners Miss Alabama winners Miss America 1975 delegates University of North Alabama alumni Women soap opera writers Screenwriters from Alabama Place of birth missing (living people)