What does it take to build a successful entertainment career while staying positive through life's ups and downs? Actress, model, producer, and author Pamela Hill has spent years following her passion, from her early days performing in Cincinnati to working in Hollywood. I had a wonderful time talking with Pamela about her unusual career in hand modeling, including her work on Fight Club, her appearances on popular game shows like Wheel of Fortune and To Tell the Truth, and her book The Next Contestant Is.... We also explore her work in voice acting, film production, and the creative partnership she shares with her husband, William Hill. What I especially appreciate about Pamela is her belief that success isn't just about reaching a goal. It's about persistence, kindness, gratitude, and celebrating the small wins along the way. I think you'll enjoy her stories and the lessons she's learned about staying true to yourself.
Highlights:
2:01 – How Pamela's childhood sparked her love of performing.
7:34 – The unexpected opportunity that launched her modeling career.
15:39 – What it was like working behind the scenes on Fight Club.
25:01 – How game shows became a surprising part of her career.
42:18 – The creative journey of producing a sitcom with her husband.
1:02:48 – Why persistence, gratitude, and small wins matter for success.
About the Guest:
Pamela Hill, a Cincinnati gal at heart, is a professional actress, model, and author. She began her acting and modeling career in Cincy with the love and support of her family. A shy kid...but found her voice on the stage in elementary school. She has appeared in numerous stage productions, commercials, TV, and films. Pamela has also been involved in many voice over projects.
She's married to her soulmate hubby, actor, writer, and director William Joseph Hill and they both founded Four Scorpio Productions. They have created their own content...writing, producing, and starring in several short films, which is on their Four Scorpio Productions / YouTube channel. They currently have over 4,200 subscribers.
Pamela stars as the lovable and witty girlfriend Valerie, in their comedic web series "That Darn Girlfriend"! It's an homage to the 60's and 70's TV shows and is currently in Season 4. They have produced over 25 episodes of their series. "That Darn Girlfriend" has played in film festivals around the world, including the Cote d'Azur WebFest.
Her varied roles include, appearing on episodes of NBC's daytime drama "Days of Our Lives", a dramatic turn as Michelle Morgan in "ForYou/ForMe", Rebecca in "My Roommate the Party Planner", guest starred on "Dysfunctionally Organized", and with her hubby William as the Penguin Couple on "Fresh Off the Boat". Pamela was the female lead of Dr. Kate Rand in the film "CYBER FIGHTER", written and directed by her husband. She recently voiced the Grandmother in the animated Feature Film "NORTH"! Written and directed by Bente Lohne and inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen". Ralph Guggenheim, a co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and producer of Toy Story, was the consulting producer on the film, and Mads Mikkelson voiced Severin.
Pamela is the author of her debut book "The Next Contestant is..."! She shares her exciting journey of being that smiling and energetic contestant, witticisms, and behind-the-scenes stories of her game show escapades! In her well received book ...Pamela paints a colorful picture of how using her skills, mindset, and personal life lessons all played a part in getting her to that game show stage…and how you too can become a game show contestant! Combined, Pamela and William / The Hills of the Hollywood Hills (a nickname)....have appeared on over 25 television game shows, with a very memorable stint together on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". Her book is available in Paperback, Kindle, and she narrated her Audiobook.
She's done volunteer work with children, both with the Make A Wish Foundation, and the Screen Actors' Guild Foundation BookPALS program, where she has read to elementary school students.
Her theatre performances include Cecily in "The Importance of Being Earnest" directed by Robert Allen, Sophia in "Fools" directed by Tom Durkin, Sissy (then) in "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean directed by Bob Lipka, and the Leonie the French Maid in "Someone's Been Sleeping in my Bed" at the Broadway Dinner Theatre/Terrace Hilton. On the stage in Los Angeles in the "The Howie Monologues" directed by Larry Eisenberg at GRT, "Wicked Lit" (2009-2012) with Unbound Productions, and played Lara Lords -- homeless woman/ex-lawyer in "Too Close to Home" written by Cailin Harrison and directed by Bob Telford.
Pamela's a member of the Hollywood film collective We Make Movies and has performed in their numerous staged readings and films. She has also narrated many projects with this film group. Her motto is "Keep Going for the Stars!"
Ways to connect with Pamela**:**
Personal Website: www.pamelahill.net
Production Company: www.fourscorpio.com
"The Next Contestant is..." in Paperback, Kindle & Audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/Next-Contestant-Pamela-Hill-ebook/dp/B0BSNWC2MY
"CYBER FIGHTER" Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/Ja-S5HgNK5E
"NORTH" Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zBBvLq5j5U
YouTube Channel (Four Scorpio Films): https://youtube.com/fourscorpio
"That Darn Girlfriend" SEASON 1 Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbWwHj_fmAM\&list=PLbYhzGWWTWrp1PmiJLaND8niuC4wfpHfF
"That Darn Girlfriend" SEASON 2 Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-6JGbibIZM\&list=PLbYhzGWWTWrqppHAen5x2mgGkEWpkxMBD
"That Darn Girlfriend" SEASON 3 Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E0AE5-v49k\&list=PLbYhzGWWTWrocDxZ1M8SQk7UAml06chgP
IMDb Profile: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1107523/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-hill-1a97b87/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/starringpam9/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.hill.90/
About the Host:
Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.
Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT\&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards.
https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/
https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/
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Transcription Notes:
Michael Hingson 00:04
What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe? Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingson, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head-on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together, we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Well, hi everyone, wherever you happen to be on this wonderful day. I am Michael Hingson, your host, or you can call me Mike Hingson if you want. Either way, I am your host on Unstoppable Mindset. We're really glad you're with us, and this is going to be a fun episode to record. A few weeks ago, we had on William Hill, and William talked about his acting and the other things that he does and did, and he happened to mention his wife Pamela, who we then inveigled to come on Unstoppable Mindset as well, and so she is with us today, and we're really glad that she is with us. So the next guest is there's a play on words. We'll have to talk about that, Pamela. The next guest is Pamela Hill. Do you go by Pamela, Pam, or do you care?
Pamela Hill 01:48
Oh, all the above. I don't care as long as it's coming from a good place and from you. It's all good. Thanks, Mike.
Michael Hingson 01:55
And as long as it's not late for dinner. Yeah, I know.
Pamela Hill 01:58
Right.
Michael Hingson 01:59
So, so Pam came from Cincinnati, and and has has been to various places. Anyway, we'll get to all that. So welcome anyway to Unstoppable Mindset. We're glad you're here.
Pamela Hill 02:12
Thank you, Michael. I'm so glad to be here as well. Very excited about having to having you interview me today.
Michael Hingson 02:20
Well, it's a conversation more than an interview, which makes it kind of fun. Well, tell us kind of about the early panel. I always like to start at the beginning. You know, it's I saw a TV show once. It was supposed to be kind of a some sort of a remake of Alice in Wonderland, but the way it started was This Place Is Okay in My Book by Lewis Carroll, and it was all about the beginning of Alice in Wonderland. So anyway, I like beginnings. So tell us about the earlier Pamela.
Pamela Hill 02:49
Yeah, I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and very supportive parents and family. Stage, I always say, found me as a kid, kind of like one of those stories. I was shy, youngest of three, and grade school, I started to do theater, and that's where I felt really good. I also would play music all the time and act out all my songs, and a lot of fun. One thing in our household as well, we went to a lot of carnivals or festivals where my parents took us and to win prizes. So the idea of just fun and excitement and winning things and enjoying that part of my life was really important to me. Also, just coming from a very supportive family just made it so worthwhile to continue to to do what I loved, and again, the performing part of my life found me at an early age, and I just continued with that in school as well.
Michael Hingson 03:50
Well, that sounds like a lot of fun. Did you win more than you lost?
Pamela Hill 03:55
Most of the time, yeah. I mean, that's where I got amassed a huge collection of stuffed animals, which basically my whole family did, took over bedrooms and couches and and everything. So, and my father may rest in peace. Also, my mom as well. She's still here. He would say, "Manifested. See the prize you want, and you can make it happen." So, even though it sounds magical, it's just the way I was brought up, where you believe in your at your attitude. And I know already talking to before and and hearing your story. So much of life, I believe, is an attitude. And I think that part of my life has really guided me. Is just trying to stay positive and navigate. So I think even in a carnival setting of winning, it just stayed with me. Like, oh, that okay. So sometimes it worked.
Michael Hingson 04:48
Well, here's the real burning question: Do you still have any of those stuffed animals?
Pamela Hill 04:53
Kind of. Whoa. Yes, the one I definitely do have, and it's in. I'm not trying to be ahead of myself. In my book, the next contestant is I talk about wins. As a kid, I went with my sister Debbie to Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, and starting off the day. Oh, you have? Oh, so like
Michael Hingson 05:16
this. I spoke at the Ohio Park and Recreation Association meeting in February of 2025 at Cedar Point in Sandusky.
Pamela Hill 05:24
Oh my God, that's so cool! So I think I'm going probably Michael my my story maybe tenish give or take, and it's early on, and it's those wooden bottles which you're never supposed to win the big gigantic leopard. Well, I have a metal rings, and we're just starting the day, my sister and myself, and lo and behold, it rang the bottle, and I was like, "I'm like, oh, you won!" It was like I got to carry this gigantic leopard all day long, which still remains with me. But that was the start of the day, and the leopard came with both of us all day long. But I do have that still, as long as it
Michael Hingson 05:56
doesn't bite.
Pamela Hill 05:57
No, it doesn't.
Michael Hingson 06:00
Well, that's that's kind of cool. Yeah, I enjoyed being in Sandusky. That was a lot of fun.
Pamela Hill 06:07
Yeah, yeah. One of the other things I remember about that, I don't know if it was there when you were there, but the other part of my life, which is not my whole life, I love chocolate, and I just remember they had these amazing cookies, chocolate chip cookies. I think that you can dip in the chocolate sauce on a stick. No, I
Michael Hingson 06:26
didn't experience that. I was there at the beginning. Well, in 19 or 2020 25, so it was only a year and three months, two months ago.
Pamela Hill 06:34
Mine was a little before. Okay, cool. That was a
Michael Hingson 06:36
little bit before, but still, that was a great place to go. My puppy dog Alamo enjoyed it, and it wasn't too cold, and so we did okay.
Pamela Hill 06:47
That's great.
Michael Hingson 06:48
Yeah, I really look forward to going there, and hopefully we'll have a chance to go back sometime in the future. But definitely, it was a lot of fun, and I can't complain about it at all. So that was good. So anyway, you grew up being very positive as as to what you could do and chose to do, and so on. Went to high school and all that. Did you go on to college?
Pamela Hill 07:12
I did not. I went to high school. Really wonderful school in Cincinnati called One at Hills High School, which was extraordinary with their education and credits. I chose after school. I wasn't sure, but because I was fairly busy with acting and modeling back home in Cincinnati, and I worked with some really great companies from Cincinnati, Ohio, like Procter and Gamble, and like gifts and greeting cards and some other print work and industrials and Kroger, that kept me busy. So I just was led with that, and I was very very busy with with my career with acting and modeling, and that kind of chose me as well.
Michael Hingson 07:55
So you just continue to do that, and
Pamela Hill 07:57
I did, I did, but always
Michael Hingson 07:59
learning. That's okay.
Pamela Hill 08:00
I'm sorry. Yes. Yes.
Michael Hingson 08:03
Anyway, go ahead. You were going to say.
Pamela Hill 08:04
Oh no no no. I was um you were saying about learning, always learning in life. But um yes I did continue with um that part of part of my life back home in Cincinnati. Yeah.
Michael Hingson 08:16
So I'm not any great expert, needless to say, on modeling. How was how was modeling? What was that like?
Pamela Hill 08:22
Interesting, exciting, and a really cool story. So I did print work and some runway, and one of the things that I also did was hand ads, hand model, and that came about. I went into my agency one day, drop off some pictures, and one of the head agents came by and said, "Paola," and I was a teenager. Said, "You like got really great hands." I'm like, "What?" And this was like all new to me. I didn't even know maybe there was a subject of hand modeling. It didn't seem like there wouldn't be, but it was new to me. And so they were very specific at the agency, and then from there, I started to do handprint ads and have my hands in different commercials back home. But the funny thing was, the first time it landed, bless my parents, in the newspaper. I think it was for a nail polish. My parents bought, you know, bought the papers, and there was this big ad, black and white ad, of my hand painting my fingernail. But I was so thrilled, and I never knew that might be a career, which led me also later here in L.A. to do also hand doubling for some actors and some films as well, actresses. So
Michael Hingson 09:38
okay, yeah, I would think mostly actresses.
Pamela Hill 09:40
Yeah. No. Right. Right. Absolutely.
Michael Hingson 09:43
That was cool. So, in all your time, have you ever been featured in the Rolling Stone?
Pamela Hill 09:50
No, not yet. The Rolling Stone, the magazine. Yes. Yeah.
Michael Hingson 09:55
It just kind of crept into my head because I remembered. Did you ever? Hear of the group Doctor Hook and the Medicine Show.
Pamela Hill 10:02
There's a familiar.
Michael Hingson 10:05
Shel Silverstein was Doctor Hook. He has passed away, but they they did. They had never been on the Rolling Stone, okay, anywhere. And one day they produced and put out a record called "On the Cover of the Rolling Stone." Uh huh. It had things in it like, how did it go? You'll never something about the thrill that'll get you when you get your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone. And a couple of months later, they were on the Rolling Stone. No, oh, that's great. No begging to go on the Rolling Stone at all. But that was clever. I once,
Pamela Hill 10:43
I'm sorry.
Michael Hingson 10:44
No, Silverstein was a very clever guy.
Pamela Hill 10:46
No, that's so cool how it happened. But when you said that, something did happen early on, Michael, which you kind of jogged my memory. I got in early when I moved here. I got on, or not on the cover, but I got in the Hollywood Reporter because a show, and my manager at the time was, you know, worked with the Hollywood Reporter at times, and I was so excited, and so that was something that I just thought about, like you know, the journey still going, but I did get that not on the cover, but I was inside the Hollywood Reporter with a picture.
Michael Hingson 11:22
Now, if I've got the name right, did you ever meet Johnny Grant?
Pamela Hill 11:27
No, I didn't have the opportunity. We might have possibly, yeah, yeah.
Michael Hingson 11:31
He did a lot on KTLA, but he was also with the Hollywood Reporter, and so we saw him a lot, especially around Tournament of Roses time, because he was one of the people who was involved in not directly announcing, but was was all. So I just remember him, and I knew he was with the Hollywood Reporter. I never met him, but saw him a lot on TV.
Pamela Hill 11:52
Yeah, I know he many times was down the street, and again, I think I might have saw him because he was there for the the Walk of Fame a lot when people would get their stars.
Michael Hingson 12:03
Yeah, and was one of the the people who tended to be featured in in talking about people getting their stars. Ah, the good old days of television back in the days were.
Pamela Hill 12:14
It's great. It's it's. I love all of that. I'm very sentimental, and I grew up in a household with a lot of singing and old and movies and films, so it kind of always surrounded me. The the entertainment field.
Michael Hingson 12:27
I remember soon after we moved to California from Chicago, which was back in oh, it's going to date me, 1955. It was probably 1957 or so. Up on Mount Wilson, they had a lot of snow, and the a and the engineers were stuck up at the antennas and the transmitters for the TV station. And usually they would have a shift and then they come down. But the snow was so great at this one time that the engineers were were stuck up there. They couldn't get out for for days, and had to keep the station running, but I do remember one time a mouse apparently got into one of the cables and killed a transmitter for a while. It was
Pamela Hill 13:09
oh my god!
Michael Hingson 13:10
You know, and the thing is that that everything was was done microwaved or however they got information from the TV stations to the transmitters and then out. I remember after September 11th, we were we were at home, and we had cable TV in New Jersey. We we were all set, and I never even thought about the fact that there were a lot of people who had TV antennas and who didn't have cable, and they didn't have access to TV for quite a while because when the towers went down, so did the antennas, of course.
Pamela Hill 13:47
Oh yeah.
Michael Hingson 13:48
And you know, we never even thought about it. We just watched it whenever we were up for days. But there were people who didn't get to see it. It was a while before I learned that there were people who didn't get to see any of it because their their TVs had well their TV signals had gone out because the antennas went away.
Pamela Hill 14:06
Yeah, it's hard. Yeah, yeah,
Michael Hingson 14:10
it is. How how much we we rely on things and how things go. But yeah,
Pamela Hill 14:15
absolutely.
Michael Hingson 14:17
So you you stuck with acting. Why? Why did Why did you do that? You didn't go on to college, which is okay. But why did you decide you just wanted to stick with acting? Was it just fun, exciting, or what?
Pamela Hill 14:30
It just found me. You know, it's funny. A word my husband said recently, and it really makes sense in my life from the beginning. I didn't. That was it. I. I guess I embodied it. I just felt at my best. Maybe I couldn't put in words as a kid, but it just something that stayed with me. And then fortunately, I mean, it was a blessing. Other people wanted me to perform as well, be it on stage or projects. And then sometimes, as I say, the world will pay you for being you and. And getting paid for for doing what I love, and then hopefully keep growing, but it just it just found me. And again, I didn't, I don't plan everything out 110 or 11 percent, but it's just something that I just felt, you know. I guess I'm very deep person in my soul and my psyche. That's something that I continually wanting to do, and felt it in solid, and I would do a lot of manifestations, and it just felt fulfilled by it. And I know it's a journey, and I know like everything in life, it has its ups and downs, but it's something that I truly appreciate, and it would do be something they always say that you know I would do for free because it's just part of my my my pie, my life. So yeah,
Michael Hingson 15:43
well that's fair. Thank you. I got to tell you that I I learned something today that I had I had never heard of a hand model. Of course, for me, understanding that that's all visual. Yes,
Pamela Hill 15:55
I can
Michael Hingson 15:55
understand why I'd never heard about it. But it's fascinating. It makes perfect sense once you explained it that that kind of thing goes on.
Pamela Hill 16:03
Yes, I have a cool thing to share, Michael. Have you heard of the actress Helena Bottom Carter?
Michael Hingson 16:09
Yes.
Pamela Hill 16:10
There was a film called Fight Club, and I was her hand model in that, and so I didn't realize that over the years, where people enjoy that film with Brad Pitt and and as well, that it became a GIF. My hand, because there's this romantic scene where I'm Helena's hand in the scene, and and and I and over the years, I'm like, oh, that's my hand. So, lo and behold, I guess between with like print work and and film things, it's it's it's interesting and funny how the different it called it's called parts modeling comes into play, and that was that's something that I've I've continued to do at times as well, be a hand model. So,
Michael Hingson 17:02
so, so take that particular example, Fight Club. Yes. Why did they just not use her hands as opposed to having a hand model?
Pamela Hill 17:11
Um, how do I phrase
Michael Hingson 17:15
this? Yeah, there must be logic behind it.
Pamela Hill 17:17
Yeah, I guess they. I guess you know every every body part might be have a different look to it, and I guess whatever look they wanted, because I had, I think even as a kid, it's funny how things come back. I think my father's friend go, "Oh, Pamela has pretty hands. I have long fingers. Some people's nails. I have really strong nails." I think also I'm really. It's also with hands, depending on the product or the action. You have to have really steady hands. Ah, something that I wasn't aware that I did. So as as as far as also being esthetically, where maybe long and certain nail shape and and all those things, and maybe no marks on it, no scars, no blemishes. You also have to be able to be agile with them, and I think I have flexible. You see, Mike, you're learning a lot. Flexible fingers, so it's come into play. It is interesting, and sometimes they do use an actor's hands, depending, and also because they're very busy, they do it sometimes, Michael, for films or commercials or for insert shots. So if the actor is, of course, busy with so much they have on their plate with dialog and action scenes, they may just want to take a moment while they're doing their stuff to take. Then I will be their insert for the hands. So,
Michael Hingson 18:36
well, it makes sense. I mean, you know, one of probably my favorite examples of substituting one for another was Marty Nixon, who sang for Audrey Hepburn and My Fair Lady. Yeah, I guess really conceptually the same sort of thing. And the reality is, as much as I listened to and watched that movie, it was really hard, you know, having never heard Audrey Hepburn sing, but it was really hard to distinguish between the two. She Marty Nixon sounded like her, which was great. So it makes perfect sense.
Pamela Hill 19:11
Yes, it's always fascinating. I I I like as you've talked to William, aka Bill. I like the history of things as well. Once I find a subject or or film or or music that I really adore, I really like to do the research on it because I feel very passionate about it. So it's fun for me, as you're saying about learning in life. I I learn as I go. I I like to learn about how that came about the projects.
Michael Hingson 19:36
So with a movie called The Fight Club, did you hit anybody?
Pamela Hill 19:40
I didn't, but my hands. No, but it is. It is fun, and I remember it's so funny, Michael. The little moments of even auditioning. Sometimes when I would be the hand model for a project, you just go in, and you. It's nice when you're just told you got it. Go in and do it, which is great. And then. Couple, you know, there's always the time, even with hands. Besides, I've auditioned as an acting role. You go in, and the director will look real fast, and there might be other gals or whatever standing there, and you'll go, you know, okay, we like yours, and and you're like, because you kind of with bated breath, like, oh, I hope it.
Michael Hingson 20:15
Yeah,
Pamela Hill 20:16
I still remember on that particular project. I think that happened, and you always assume. Hopefully, I get picked, but but then again, there's other people, and it's it's self-subjective. So, yeah, it's just funny, and they want the right type. It also has to kind of maybe look like it could be the actor or model's hands. Yeah. So
Michael Hingson 20:34
yeah, well, I would think that there have to be some sort of similarities. Yeah. So did you ever get to shake hands with Brad Pitt?
Pamela Hill 20:41
I believe I did, and also Ed Norton was there, and Helena was really cool. Oh, this is kind of funny. If you since we're on this field, we might get kick out of this for the listeners. I just remembered this. I still have. I didn't steal it. The Bic. I'm not a smoker, but the Bic lighter, because I had to do an insert scene of Helena lighting a cigarette. Ah. And what was funny about this, and it strikes me funny still, many years later, that I'm trying to, I'm doing it, and you know, I'm trying to light the cigarette, you know, and doing the, and and the Bic lighter, it has like a metal, like rigid thing, so it's kind of hard on the thumb,
Michael Hingson 21:21
right? But
Pamela Hill 21:22
wanted to get just the right shot, and I think I got it. But they wanted to do it many times. But after a while, and I wasn't trying to be, you know, not on board. I honestly, my thumb was not was kind of getting a little hard to do. So I had to politely say, because you want also you're you're talking the director and the people in charge, like, oh hi, I said, I my thumb like okay I think we got the shot so it's also not what you say but how you say it so yeah yes
Michael Hingson 21:48
it's cool well and and I guess that actually makes sense that if you're lighting a cigarette
Pamela Hill 21:54
yes
Michael Hingson 21:55
in a film and you want to drive that point home then you're going to show the person's hand so that makes sense.
Pamela Hill 22:01
Yeah. Yes. That's the. Those are the couple moments I remember at the end, as they romantically held hands, and then the cigarette hand. Yep. Lighting.
Michael Hingson 22:12
Cool. Well, that is fun. Needless to say.
Pamela Hill 22:16
Thank you.
Michael Hingson 22:17
So you. So, what kind of acting things? I'm going to jump ahead a little bit. What kind of acting things are coming up now?
Pamela Hill 22:27
Well, I'm very excited. I was able. Well, there's a couple things, and sometimes I can't always say that. So the days where you can, it's like yay, cyber right, cyber fighter, which is. And we talked to William. The film that my husband has written and directed, he worked many years. I'm in that, which is not wasn't in the vows, but I'm his co-star, Dr. Kate Rand, and it was a very exciting shoot. And we just he just finished it. He you know was a whole team, but he finished post production, and the trailer just went out, and so that will hopefully, literally, figuratively, get some play coming up. So I'm in that. And another project, Michael, that I was able to announce because I'm I'm kind of of the ilk that I don't announce things to. I'm pretty sure still a go because it showbiz, right? So there was an animated feature film called North that was directed by Bent Alone, and I am I voice the grandmother in it. North is based off the adaptation of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, and we just saw cast and crew screening, and it's playing across the world and more of Europe. But God willing, at the end of this year, holiday will come here, and that was a big deal because it was such a wonderful cast. And Raf Guggenheim with Pixar was one of the consulting producers, but I just, you know, it really got to work with my voiceover chops and working with this team, and then having this is a something charming that I can share. We don't have kids, but something that could be shared with nieces and nephews in my life, and just you know, it was a really special thing for me, Michael. Yeah, it's called North.
Michael Hingson 24:14
Well, we're going to be watching the Oscars next year. That's all I got to say. We're going to root for you.
Pamela Hill 24:20
Oh well, well you know sometimes they have animated. So if it comes up this year, maybe you could be up for the following year or this year. But thank you. I it's a lovely film, and I'm so thrilled for getting involved because the the Venta had that had been a work for a while as well, and it came to fruition, and I I'm just so happy for not just myself but everybody on board. It it takes a moment.
Michael Hingson 24:47
It does. There there are always all sorts of challenges, needless to say.
Pamela Hill 24:51
Yeah, but it's exciting, and the music in it, Michael, is beautiful. So, you know, when you have those little seeds of fantasies, like oh, well. Maybe one of the songs from the film. So, but we'll we'll see. It's I think that's a fun part of life how it unfolds. You know.
Michael Hingson 25:07
Yeah, I I would like to see it when it comes out. So that'll be that'll be fun. Well, anyway, you had referred to this, so let's go back to it. Sure. You wrote a book called "The Next Contestant Is Yes." So tell us all about prior to the book why what brought the book about. Obviously,
Pamela Hill 25:30
thank you. You ask such great questions. No, I really appreciate it. It's like reliving this. No, it's really cool. Growing up, my dad, name recipes, would say, "No enough to get on a game show someday. It was just this random thing he would say back in Cincinnati, and years later I moved to L.A. And then you know there's there's game show auditions. But at the time I wasn't thinking about what my dad said. It was just notices for game shows, so I got my feet wet with that. And over the years I had been on quite a few game shows, and also my husband had been on some as well, and some both of us together. And then I realized it was somewhat unusual that I had been on so many, and that I thought, well, maybe again, things with me start as a seed. And I'm I'm the person. I'm also a Capricorn. I try to follow through. I I started with the idea of like, well, I've been on a lot. Maybe this could be something. My memories. And then what came to me next, Michael, because sometimes things are its own order, was the title, and that's where you alluded to in the beginning. The next intestine is ellipses, and I'm like, oh, and I kept that in my mind, and I wrote it down like 10 years ago, and I'm like, okay, so to catch up in time, I started to write down, while I still have memory of them, my experiences on the game shows, and I wrote those down. And my husband, who had written a book prior about a cyber fighter, the book, he said, "Pamela, let the book become, let it just unfold the way it should." And so, along with the memories of the game shows, I realized, and I dedicated to my dad, but also was kind of a love letter to my family and the people in my life who support me. I realized it was kind of the way I saw life and what got me to the game show stage and how that worked, like mindset, attitude, following through, persistence, positivity, and so it kind of went hand in hand, and the book is in different chapters, which hopefully they're easy to read. And I've had some lovely reviews, and I don't take those for granted. So that is the book the next contestant is, and it's based on my game show stories, behind the scenes, and what brought me to the stage. And it also includes the Cedar Point story of the leopard. The
Michael Hingson 27:45
leopard. Well, so what are some of the game shows that you've been on? Maybe that people have seen.
Pamela Hill 27:50
Oh, back in the day, as
Michael Hingson 27:52
it were.
Pamela Hill 27:52
Yeah, no, no. Some of them are still here. I've been on Wheel of Fortune. I've been on Match Gamed. I've been on two shopping type shows, Shopping Spree and Shop to Drop. I've been on one of my favorites as well, and that was fun to write because you realize what those little moments are to tell the truth. So what was cool about that was that I mean all of it incorporates sometimes some acting because you know you being on your feet, improv, but to tell the truth, really got my feet wet to try to become the character. And in that book, not to give it to spoilers, but it's a fun read. I played Rafaela Pope, and she was an animal psychic.
Michael Hingson 28:37
The
Pamela Hill 28:38
reason they pick me for that is because at the audition, and again, it's in the book, but not to go back and forth here. I you talk about not acting, you talk about your other things you do, and I talked about hobbies, and I've always enjoyed astrology. And I think when they were pairing people up with the different characters, they they thought, oh, she's kind of into that extra special spiritual star stuff, and so I I represented or played as the imposter Raphael Pope, and that was an interesting story. But I got, but you really have to do your research. They sent me a book about her and read it because you can use some improv, but obviously I always try to do my homework and read what they sent me, so I knew it. So if when the one of the four, I think, celebrity panel asked me a question, it came out very specific, and it didn't sound like I was reaching for an answer.
Michael Hingson 29:33
Were you able to fool people?
Pamela Hill 29:34
I fooled one person, and that was a big deal. I mean, not only because you did it, and I was so excited, Michael, because my brother-in-law is on my husband's side. Said Pamela, just make sure you read everything. The publisher and I did from front to back, back to front. The publisher was Adams Media Corporation. I still remember, and when the the celebrity asked me who. Published it. I just said it happily. I knew it, and he. I could have been lying, but it came out really authentic. And so when he went to pick, that answer got me some money.
Michael Hingson 30:12
Well, there you go.
Pamela Hill 30:13
Yeah, it was so it was a it was a win win. But it was like do your homework, kids, and do your research, and do your work regardless of the project. Just do your work. So
Michael Hingson 30:21
now, how long ago was that that you were on to tell the truth?
Pamela Hill 30:24
Um, I believe it was the early 2000. Yeah, yes. Who was the
Michael Hingson 30:30
host? Who was the host? I'm trying to remember.
Pamela Hill 30:32
Um,
Michael Hingson 30:33
I can't.
Pamela Hill 30:34
I now my mind. Okay, um, John O'Harey.
Michael Hingson 30:38
Yeah. Okay.
Pamela Hill 30:39
And I remember. May rest in peace, and he was so dear. And I just know, even interviewing with you, I'm I'm trying to attain all my names here. Christoph Saint John was a celebrity who asked me, "May rest in peace," and he very lovely person used to be on one of the soaps, and it was just great. Not just cross paths with him, but in life, but yeah, it was a really cool moment. But yes, John O'Hurley. I guess there's been different versions of the Tell the Truth by John.
Michael Hingson 31:07
Yeah, Tell the Truth came back out came out in like the 50s, I think, or and into the early 60s. I heard,
Pamela Hill 31:14
yeah, yeah,
Michael Hingson 31:15
around for a while.
Pamela Hill 31:16
Yeah, it's it's a I think because it's a fun game, audiences back home viewers can participate in. I think some of those shows are classic and they can be redone, and they're just fun to figure out.
Michael Hingson 31:29
Yeah, when they don't change them too much, of course I've got the memory of the earlier ones, so I get picky when they they change it a lot. Why? I'm still much more a fan of the original Family Feud with Richard Dawson than some of the later ones. Oh
Pamela Hill 31:43
yes, yes. I never to be on that. I never auditioned. Um, but that didn't mean they were pick me anyways. But, um, yeah, that was so much fun. My mom still here. She loves Family Feud, so it's yeah, it's a fun game.
Michael Hingson 31:56
Yeah, and and of course, having grown up with the original Hollywood Squares with Peter Marshall and all of the the stars who were on that. That was so much fun.
Pamela Hill 32:06
Yeah, no, that's great. That's and and you know just the characters on there and and watching them and just their their their personalities like Paul Lynn. Oh please, Paul Lynn.
Michael Hingson 32:16
Yeah, he was he was so Paul Lynn, Charlie Weaver, Gypsy Rose Lee was you know they were all they were they were great.
Pamela Hill 32:27
Yeah, yeah. And and growing up, it's funny you know just telling you this now, but also which is part part in part solo my book as well. In Cincinnati, one of my memories is watching game shows with my family, especially my mom, on the couch. You know, you always kind of think of where you're sitting or what you're feeling. I'm very feeling oriented, so sitting, you know, there enjoying that with my mom was definitely something that I still cherish, and it's still like Bill and I will still watch and listen to Jeopardy here when we get them right. We're really excited. Yeah.
Michael Hingson 33:03
And I, you know, of course, Alex Troyk was on for so long. But even if you go back in history further, yeah. And Jeopardy was on with Don Pardo was and Fleming, Fleming, Art Fleming,
Pamela Hill 33:20
Art Fleming, yes.
Michael Hingson 33:21
And and Don Pardo, of course, was so famous from Saturday Night Live and so many other things. But Don Pardo was the announcer. He was the Johnny Gilbert of the day.
Pamela Hill 33:30
Oh
Michael Hingson 33:32
yeah, yeah. But that was that was fun. But of course, Alex Trovec did such a good job for so long. I'm I'm glad they named the studio after him that it's still on.
Pamela Hill 33:41
Yeah, no, I sure should. He has his. It's funny. His book is called The Answer Is. The Answer Is. Yeah, but I. But but the funny thing is, I was like, so I'm such a goof. I was so excited because my title I had, you know, was before that, but wasn't even out yet. So I was like, ooh, this is cool, and because I really um think he's, I just really had enjoyed him and his personality and what he brought to to Jeopardy. So yeah,
Michael Hingson 34:06
have you read the book?
Pamela Hill 34:08
I have not, but you know what? It will be on my reading list because for all the reasons that it would be. Yeah, have you get the
Michael Hingson 34:15
audible version because he? Okay,
Pamela Hill 34:18
you know what? Thank you. I do like that more narrators audit narrate their books. Yes,
Michael Hingson 34:24
and then he actually had Ken Jennings do a little bit with him on it as well. But that was that was fun.
Pamela Hill 34:31
Yeah, you know, speaking of only because he, you know, it's not in the vows. My my hubby, he talked to Bill or Bill. He, I didn't ask. Yes, I didn't ask him to do my forward because again, books. You know, doing this self-publishing is new to me, and even though I know people have fords, but he was very generous of spirit and very kind to me. Even though he's married, but didn't have to be. He said, "Pammy, Pamela, you know, honey, I'll write your.". Forward for you. So when we narrate it, Bill, you get some of Bill in the beginning. Yeah, he's my he's my he's my sorry, Michael. You're making me laugh. He's my Ken Jennings. There you go. Well,
Michael Hingson 35:15
when when I wrote my first book, Thunder Dog, we started it in 2010. Yeah, thank you. We started in 2010 and in 2011, but years before Larry King asked me to come on Larry King Live for the fifth commemoration of the September 11th attack. So that was in September 11th, 2006.
Pamela Hill 35:38
Yes,
Michael Hingson 35:39
and people had told me I needed to write a book, and I had started putting some things down, as I as I love to say. At one point, I finally had over a megabyte worth of notes on on a disc. But on our our last time together, I asked Larry if, well, when I write a book, would you be willing to write the foreword, and before I could even get out all a forward, he said absolutely. And and when when we did it, he wrote. Some people have said he can be kind of a challenging kind of guy. I can understand that, but he wrote this absolutely wonderful foreword. We didn't change a single word. It was great, and so he wrote the foreword for Thunderdog.
Pamela Hill 36:22
Oh well, I so look forward to listening and to your book as well. And I did hear your story when I listened to one of your speeches. And again, I was very inspired by you and your story. But that's wonderful, isn't that a nice thing? Before you can get it out, and someone goes, "Yes." Yeah,
Michael Hingson 36:41
it was just it was great, and we we also since I had started to speak, I was hoping that he would create just a short video that we could use for an introduction to my speaker introductory tape, and and he did.
Pamela Hill 36:57
Oh wow! He was
Michael Hingson 36:59
he was in. I I liked Larry the very first time we were on. He we we were talking about guide dogs and he said, you know, I talked about guide dogs for the blind where I've gotten my dogs and he said, well, that's part of the the the Michigan school, right? And I went, no, it's separate. No, I think they're all related. We learned we and they're not. We learned from that though that what we have to do with Larry is to program him with questions and not leave it up to him and give him the answers. So the rest of the interviews went really well.
Pamela Hill 37:32
Yeah, no, it's it's it's always interesting. Everybody has a unique interviewing style and or conversation. And one of the things again you said earlier when I was trying to get up at the interview, but no, it's a conversation, and I think that to me is the best when it's just organic and authentic, and I appreciate that very much. Yeah,
Michael Hingson 37:51
it's it's it's much more fun to you know to do it that way.
Pamela Hill 37:55
Yes,
Michael Hingson 37:56
so it
Pamela Hill 37:57
yes it was good,
Michael Hingson 37:58
but but I enjoyed Larry. He was very friendly. He was very nice. He was very supportive of of me, and he and Roselle got along pretty well. So that was good.
Pamela Hill 38:07
That's wonderful.
Michael Hingson 38:08
I don't even know if he noticed it, but our third interview we had we were in the room with Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer. So both of the New York and Schumer was the junior senator at the time. Lisa Beamer, Todd Beamer's wife, Todd was the guy who said, "Let's roll on flight 93" when they took it over. And yes, oh, I
Pamela Hill 38:33
have yes,
Michael Hingson 38:35
and then also Queen Noor was on that from Jordan, and so we were all in there, and to have Roselle in the picture, we had to put her up on the table, lying across ways in front of me, and so she was facing Hillary Clinton. So I was at the end of the table. Hillary Clinton was to my left around the table, and then to my right was Lisa Beamer, and So Roselle, so Hillary decides at some point during the show to reach out and just she was petting Roselle's paw, and she stopped petting Roselle's paw. Well, that was not the thing to do. Roselle reached out with her paw and grabbed Hillary's hand and kept bringing it back, and I knew Hillary was laughing at something, but I didn't learn later what it was all about. That every time she stopped, Roselle would reach out and grab her hand and pull it back. And finally, Hillary put her hands on her lap so Roselle couldn't get to him. Roselle then switched around and just literally turned around on the table so she could flirt with Lisa.
Pamela Hill 39:38
Oh, that's so sweet. You know, you just jogged my memory again. I actually did, and I'm trying to place the name in my mind. And I know your story. That's really special. You got to be with all those people along with Larry. I actually did an industrial film, a short that was on 9/11, and I played the flight attendant. And it was the and it was the one with Todd. It was that flight, and I can't the name and I'm escapes me right now. The flight attendant I played, but it was a very touching thing to be anyway involved with that. So when you were saying all this, I just had an image of Todd because that was somebody portraying him, but I was the flight attendant, and the and I can't place her name right now. But yeah,
Michael Hingson 40:26
well, and you notice that I I called it the fifth commemoration. A lot of people call it the anniversary, and and you know I could I could go either way, but we were at a veterans function last November, and a veteran got up and he said, "Look, it." He was just talking about September 11th. It was we were each doing talks, and he did he did his. And he said it's not an anniversary. We're not celebrating it. It is a commemoration. So I've gotten into the habit of calling it a commemoration. I think it's fine. No.
Pamela Hill 40:55
Oh, you know what, Michael? I just remembered. You stir my memory. Yes, and it is a commemoration, and it's I can't. Yeah, I was so yeah so much. The the gal I portrayed to to give her homage was Sandra Bradshaw. Ah,
Michael Hingson 41:11
okay.
Pamela Hill 41:12
Just just I mean, again, it's just because it's important. But yeah, but yeah. Yeah. Oh. Well, there
Michael Hingson 41:19
you go. Well, you know, and there's so much going on. We've got we're at the 25th commemoration this year, and you know it is absolutely something to remember. It's it is in some senses it's like Pearl Harbor. I will not denigrate Pearl Harbor in any way, but it's the same sort of thing. Where were you when this happened? Is the kind of thing everybody says. I remember where I was. Yeah, I remember. Sure. The only thing about that is yes, and I've over the last several years in speaking realized this. We're now in a whole new generation that has absolutely no remembrance of September 11th at all.
Pamela Hill 41:58
Right.
Michael Hingson 41:59
And so when I speak, I work to really try to bring people into the building with me, as you've heard in the videos that you. Oh, I
Pamela Hill 42:07
did. Yeah, that was yes. My my. I don't kind of speechless. Yes, yes, sir. Yes.
Michael Hingson 42:13
I like to just really bring people in and take them down the stairs with me because I want them to get a sense of, for me at least, what it was, and I know that we were not in the most panic-filled area, but it was as tense for us as it was for anyone else because we didn't know what was going on, and we smelled jet fuel. So, yes, kind of one of those things.
Pamela Hill 42:32
Yes, yes.
Michael Hingson 42:35
So you have done other things. You and I think wasn't Bill involved in this? The the series that darn girlfriend.
Pamela Hill 42:42
Yes, yes, thank you. Yeah,
Michael Hingson 42:45
and you played Valerie, so
Pamela Hill 42:47
I do, I do. I I this the Genesis came about many years ago. I started singing this little rant song about relationships. I just make things up, you know. Michael, that's my speed. I made the song up that turned into that darn girlfriend, and I kept singing this little song jingle. And then, like few years later, I'm like, this is kind of like kitschy. Maybe we can do something with this. And this is when people were not that they didn't always do this in the past, but shooting more of their little projects at home, their cell themselves, and we came up with this little premise, short and sweet. I always look at it. It's a 60s, 70s kind of thought, like more more of like a bewitched or genie or even that girl. And
Michael Hingson 43:32
the massive was related to that girl at
Pamela Hill 43:34
all. Ah, yeah, and it's kind of idea of like where a comic strip is like maybe four or five panels. The the the the idea of that darn girlfriend, at least the thought, and again, it's scripted. It's not just it's superfluous. It's it's around the funny. And the thing is, Bill and I, if we find it again, it's subjective. But if it makes me laugh, like, oh, that's an interesting idea, and sometimes based on real life, right? Life funny. We came up with that, so we started shooting them in 2015, and people tend and they were short and sweet, maybe two minutes, two seconds. We wrote them together. Bill did a lot of the animation stuff that's kind of fun, but the song I guess had a little look, little fun to it. And then we just started creating these things, and people, you know, were on board, and it was lighthearted. It was goof, kind of funny, and some of them were ridiculous. But if it had the funny, we were good to go. We tried.
Michael Hingson 44:31
Well, you can only only do what you can do.
Pamela Hill 44:34
Yeah.
Michael Hingson 44:35
Did you ever see the cable TV show Hey Honey, I'm Home?
Pamela Hill 44:39
No, it's familiar sounding though.
Michael Hingson 44:41
It was only on like one or two years. We were at a bed. We were at a bed and breakfast, and we met somebody who told us about it because he was one of the producers of it, as it turned out. But then, when we we were able to see it on TV, it's a story of a family that lived next door to another family. It was actually the characters from the old television show. Hey, honey, I'm home. And what they did to make themselves look like real people was they had a machine that, that as they put it, Turnerized them so it brought color into them, which is like what Turner did in all of. So
Pamela Hill 45:17
right, so
Michael Hingson 45:18
the characters became, you know, they were real care they were real people and all that, but the way you knew it was that they went through the Turnerization process and and they would switch back and forth. Oh, it was pretty clever. Yeah, we the TV show that they start on which was all fictitious inside the show was Hey Honey, I'm home.
Pamela Hill 45:37
Oh, I have to look that up. Yeah, we we again it's the it's the idea that if people go, are you really there? Because we try to make the simple sets, and a lot of it's from our apartment. It really makes you really think how to do this. But we fancy ourselves in that time period, so it's kind of the idea. Maybe the dress. I really love fashion, so I have fun, like Bill would say fashioning or outfits, you know, and and my brother sister, I think of kind of they had fun clothes, so I like I like that time period's fun. 60s, 70s are really fun.
Michael Hingson 46:12
Yeah, yeah. Well, and you know, there's just there's just so much involved, and it's it's fascinating. I I may have mentioned I didn't mention it today, but I collect old radio shows as a hobby, and a lot of times we talk about the actors and how they transitioned when they did from tele from radio to television,
Pamela Hill 46:34
yeah, and
Michael Hingson 46:35
so on. So you've got people like Eve Arden, who was Armis Brooks on radio and also did it on television, and so many people, and a lot of the early shows. Several of us think when they went to TV and they had the same writers and everything. They although they did transition pretty well to TV, they still were old radio scripts, and so there's a lot more dialog, and they were a lot more fun. Yeah, you know those were good.
Pamela Hill 47:04
Yeah, no. Speaking of that, you just boy, you're just like not even meaning this on purpose. Bill and I did together. You just reminded me an after radio show that we recorded together, and it was based on we got we auditioned for it, and it was based on this episode of Ozzy and Harriet, and I was I wasn't the the main couple, but I was the department store gal, and he was I believe was another co-employee or customer. I I forget the moment, but I just remember it was kind of like will I like he we were flirting, but I just remember was in the radio, even though it was for an audience, like a stage, they did it like you're saying, Michael, like a radio show. So they had like the sound effects and stuff, and the sound, and they took a real script from that TV show and did like a radio type show. So that that is cool when it's kind of a little bit of both. The
Michael Hingson 48:00
radio enthusiasts of Puget Sound, which is up in in Washington State, every year does two days of well two times of radio recreation. One usually in the September timeframe, which is called Showcase, and then the Christmas show, and they always do it at Christmas. So I've participated in in several of those, and it's fun. We actually did. We actually did. It's a wonderful life last year.
Pamela Hill 48:26
Oh, my favorite.
Michael Hingson 48:28
Yeah, I know. And and this year, so I'm not going. But the the Marshfield, Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival is a yearly celebration of American history, and several of the people are are going back, and they're actually going to do another recreation of It's a Wonderful Life. And guess, let's see if you can guess. Okay, okay. Who do you think is going to be there? I don't know what part this person's going to play because this person can't play well. Who do you think is going to be there?
Pamela Hill 49:04
Okay, so I feel like I'm on a game show, and I got pressure. Okay, so question: It's somebody from It's a Wonderful Life, the movie. Yes, is that correct? Okay, so I know Jimmy, who was one of my child, my love. It was was gone. I would say if he's going to be
Michael Hingson 49:20
if he's going to be there, that'll be really interesting. Yeah, I would. I
Pamela Hill 49:24
would say if she's still here, I think Donna Reed.
Michael Hingson 49:27
No.
Pamela Hill 49:28
No. Okay. I wonder
Michael Hingson 49:29
if she's here.
Pamela Hill 49:30
I don't know. You know what? I am like talking out of turn.
Michael Hingson 49:33
Yeah.
Pamela Hill 49:33
Okay. Um, someone from the film. Do do do do do do do do. One of the kids. The kids.
Michael Hingson 49:39
Yeah.
Pamela Hill 49:40
Okay. Oh, oh! Look, Lulu. Um, Lulu. Zuzu. I'm so close. Carolyn
Michael Hingson 49:47
Grimes.
Speaker 1 49:49
Oh, yay! Yeah,
Michael Hingson 49:51
she's gonna be. I don't know what. I don't know what part she's gonna play. That'll be interesting to see. That is kind of hard for her to be Zuzu, but you know.
Pamela Hill 49:59
Yeah. But you never know because sometimes with even voice, you know, you could do kids' voices, adult, yeah. But that is so great. Thank you for telling me that. I was so glad I was almost so close. It's it's going.
Michael Hingson 50:10
I it's going to be in the next two weeks. I don't think it's not this week. It. I think it's going to be. They're going to go back the week of the the probably the 22nd or 23rd of of April, so it's like week after next, and I suspect. I don't know. I don't know whether they're going to be able to have it so that it will be zoomed out for people to see or not. I'll have to check. But yeah,
Pamela Hill 50:38
yeah, that would be wonderful. Yeah, that's a that's a major show in our our life. It's Wonderful Life, and oh, it's a Wonderful Life. My my hubby, who's very good with also impressions, is just can do them all. Yes. Yeah, we'll have
Michael Hingson 50:54
to have him do Jimmy Stewart, but he
Pamela Hill 50:56
does. He's pretty good. But anyways, I that's but it is
Michael Hingson 50:59
fun. But it is fun, and yeah, I I I was a curmudgeon on the on the show last year. I was the guy when Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed were going home from the dance at the very beginning, and they stopped at at the at the house, and I think he threw rock through the window, and and then and then he he he wanted to kiss her, and this old guy starts yelling, "Want a kisser instead of conversation?" And you know, and all that was actually that was that was fun.
Pamela Hill 51:32
Oh, that's so cool! No, I know exactly how fun. That's I'll have
Michael Hingson 51:36
to. I've got it. I'll have to email you a link to the recording. Oh no, I know.
Pamela Hill 51:41
You know we've watched it so many times. Those those lines are so iconic, and you can hear it. So I would love to hear you do that. That's very that's wonderful.
Michael Hingson 51:48
It's fun. So if all goes well,
Pamela Hill 51:52
yes, I
Michael Hingson 51:53
will be up there this year in September if it works out to be able to do it. I think it will, and one of my favorite radio shows of all times is a radio show called Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring Dick Powell.
Pamela Hill 52:08
Okay,
Michael Hingson 52:08
and I'm going to play Richard Diamond. I said I wanted to do that, so we we figured out which one it's going to be, and that's going to be kind of fun.
Pamela Hill 52:16
That's fun! Congratulations.
Michael Hingson 52:18
That'll be fun.
Pamela Hill 52:19
That is fun.
Michael Hingson 52:21
But for you, so what was it like being a producer, a cyber fighter, and you know, tell me more about what that was like for you?
Pamela Hill 52:32
Oh, such a good question. Well, amazing, hard, exciting. I also know that I don't. I mean, I guess it's funny the things that I didn't realize that were kind of in my wheelhouse. Because when sometimes you hear certain words, you're like, "Producer, oh my God, that sounds so overwhelming." But I think some of my skill sets that I kind of had, or kind of even helped with that darn girlfriend, like timing, location, figuring things out, was really a learning experience. I don't know, you know. Also, the passion was there because, of course, it was Bill's project mine. The team help, you know, part of it. It just to have the responsibility, making sure everybody Was everything was going to work? I think I'm good with like I'm not somebody who procrastinates, so it was a double-edged sword of like making sure everything was workable. Also, it was a balance of communications of like you know like anything in life when you want to have a venue or you need to, or you know, work with cast or crew. You know, you have to be transparent, but you also want to be a balance where you are putting out feelers, but not being not being pressuring. And I think what comes naturally to me with people, I try to incorporate that as a producer, and it's not. I don't know, Michael, if it's something I would always continually to do just in general. But I think in regards to especially art projects or just by nature to produce things, it was it kind of utilized some of the things that I could do, but make a balance, a balance, Michael.
Michael Hingson 54:24
You guys obviously got along because you're still talking to each other. Oh
Pamela Hill 54:27
yeah, no, no, I mean, and also just to be transparent, we live in a studio. We've been we we're married. We live here. We've been married going on. Let's see, 2002, so 24 years coming up, and people still say you get along. Well, I married someone I actually like and I love, and yes, it's a lot. You know, we're together often, but you know, it's it's. I appreciate him. I I I and his brother-in-law said at our wedding. My brother-in-law Bill's brother said, and it sounds kind of goofy, but it. It's true. We're each other's biggest fan. I mean, we really have fun with each other's projects. Bill made me comfortable. I know it sounds funny. I know he's my hubby. You should, but I'm glad that I'm able to get along with him. I think because Michael, we did a lot of work so specifically on that darn girlfriend, and I mean, we don't always. Everything's not always picture perfect, and just to segue for a second, one of the things people do appreciate about that darn girlfriend, the outtakes, not so much a mistake, but at the end where we're kind of a little bickering because we're human, but nothing, nothing atrocious. We're kind of like Bill, Pamela, are you listening? Yes, you know, or it's just people get a kick out of it because we're real people, but we also can show you can have a difference of opinion, but get along, and try to work past it, and it's just it's ridiculous. So the answer to your question specifically is yes, we got along the most part. He was very comfortable as a director, not just with the others, but with me. I'm glad. I think because we did work together doing that during Girlfriend, it was good. I was. I'm glad. And he also let me have input to certain things with Cyber Fighter, where wasn't trying to take direction. How do I phrase this? To redo what he did, but he wanted my input, and he would appreciate my take on things. Or when I heard some music come in, and he said he would sit in front of the computer. Pammy, the music cue just came in, but if he saw that I was crying, which isn't hard for me, but he said, "Okay, that's the right cue." So we were able to collaborate. We've grown a lot, so that's been a learning experience.
Michael Hingson 56:33
Well, and when he was on our podcast, he he sounded the same about you. So there you go. Oh,
Pamela Hill 56:39
good! Oh my God, that's actually could be its own podcast. What did he say? What did she say? Oh, good. What did he did he did he pre? I'm asking you. It sounds like he said some okay things about me.
Michael Hingson 56:52
He did. Oh, he sounded as appreciative and loving as you do. So that's that's good. Yeah, I have a question. You have acted and film on TV on stage.
Pamela Hill 57:04
Yes.
Michael Hingson 57:05
What's it like with the different medium? I mean, they all are obviously a little bit different.
Pamela Hill 57:10
Yeah. No, it's a great question. The first thing came to me was, well, stage found me early, so that was what I gravitate towards having. And you can feel this, I'm sure, because you're so good with people having that live experience with like an audience. It just feels so connected. It's like another zone. It's like oh my god, and you create it. You create it, but the audience is creating it. So it's just like synergy of like ah. Also, you really have to know your stuff. I mean, nothing gets unseen. I mean, so you not only just memorize lines, know your stuff, know what you're doing, and so that's something you really have to know. Film, which I've learned over time, because I started with stage. Obviously, you want to know your stuff, you want to know your lines true, but you want it to be even though when you act, you want it to be internal, because stage is bigger. You want to also be more aware of how you communicate. That you don't need to exaggerate certain emotions to make them come across, because it's a little smaller, a little more intimate. And the idea that you can try to be refreshed with each take, really. So you don't. And again, I you heard the phrase which I don't like, but I always tell people, you know, if you're going to phone it in, don't do it. I I try not to. My life as a creator do that because that's not something I would would want to do. But on each take, Michael on a film, regardless of that type of medium, you wanted to try to be as fresh as possible. And it's interesting because each take, even with the stage show, you might find something new. And then voiceover, of course, you just really want. And again, my husband said this recently to me, which is very sweet of him. He said, "Pamela, I think you just embody the thing. I I didn't take per se, you know. I took you know some classes back home, some out here, but I didn't have a particular method. And segue for a second: when I moved here, people would say, "What method?" I'm like, "What?" Pamela maiden name's Mailoff. I knew there was different acting teachers, but I didn't start with learning that way. I just did it, and then I kind of learned as I went what works and what doesn't. So,
Michael Hingson 59:25
so one of the things that you know we have discussions about it.
Pamela Hill 59:30
Yes,
Michael Hingson 59:30
dealing with the old radio shows. And and by the way, one of the things that that I am I'm a part of is an internet radio station called Yesterday USA that actually has a red and a blue network like NBC used to have, and so we were actually on yesterday USA. I'm part of a group that has a conversation every Friday night from 730 to nine. Oh,
Pamela Hill 59:54
just just say you have a great you have a great speaking voice, by the way. I wanted to tell you that I wanted to slip that in, but go on.
Michael Hingson 59:59
Well. YesterdayUSA.net. You have to come and listen, and you can even call in and kibitz. But one of the things that we talk about is: is it was it or is it easier to do television than it was to do radio, live radio? Because with live radio, which happens so often, you point out you got to get it right, yeah. Even if you don't get it right and you flub something, you got to do it in such a way that it integrates into the radio show, and you don't have to do any of that with television. Does that make it easier, or film? I would say.
Pamela Hill 1:00:37
Yeah, I'm kind of gathering your question, but what but what came to me with that kind of question is, be it on stage or film or TV or radio or even talking to you, it's like a it's like this is the way I phrase it. So it's taking some. They're called. There's two things here: happy accidents where something gets a little flubbed or a little different where you kind of go with it, and you're like, "Oh, okay," or you just might need to improv it, or your mind, of course, hopefully, is still working while you're speaking, and you can kind of figure out how to connect it. So it's kind of a three-way street where it can be a happy accident. You just go with it. You don't. You don't completely hopefully fall apart. You know what I'm per speaker. Yeah. But you. But those sometimes. You know what? Even I've. It's those are relatable. So if it's a certain form, of course, it's not a film where you mess. You know, they have to do a retake completely. And I've seen that with some shows where they use it. Some, if it's more of a specific thing, even on stage. And this, I'm sorry, this just came to me. It was so interesting. So years ago, we saw Wicken on stage in Hollywood. I think at the Pantages Theater. I went with Bill, and it was one of the gals who was playing Glinda. I think she was one who didn't do it all the time, but she was amazing. But what happened because the song was so high and she probably did all the time, she started hyperventilate for a second. But here's the rub: it was so golden that she, for a moment, kind of lapped, but she carried it with the song, with who she was and her character, and they broke. But oh my God! Goosebumps! It was just she incorporated what really happened as a human and put it with the character, and it was fine. It was even better than fine because it was a moment. It was a moment,
Michael Hingson 1:02:31
and that happens a lot when when there are things that happen on radio so many times on like the Jack Benny program and several of those shows, there were flubs, but if you didn't really know it, or if you didn't really understand it, you wouldn't even catch it because you didn't know what to look for. And and they were so funny, and they all just went with it. Whereas with movies and so on, you can have more takes and so on, and so it doesn't really do the same thing. No. So, what do you think it takes to be successful?
Pamela Hill 1:03:06
I think it takes to be successful things that I just have incorporated into my life, and I can just share is just starting with a mindset because I think in life, regardless, career, family, friends, love, it's just how you navigate it. Trying to stay positive even in challenges is not saying every moment is like, oh my gosh, the best sliced bread, but navigating it. Persistence. You have to look at it as the journey, and and and celebrate every win because sometimes that's what you do, and that gets you to the next step. And then sometimes when you get something nice or touch someone's life, you realize I've done my job. And and and you just to succeed, I think it's just a step by step process. They always say there's a phrase I like. You sometimes don't look at the whole staircase; you look at each step as you go, and I think a positive mindset. I grew up with that, and I just try to go by that and be kind. I have a. It's just kindness is a big part of my life. I think that makes you successful. Hopefully, just in your whole life in the pie,
Michael Hingson 1:04:15
and that's as good as it gets. That makes a lot of sense. And I love that you don't look at the whole staircase. Look at each step. Yeah, you got to focus a little bit sometimes.
Pamela Hill 1:04:24
You do, you do, and and I think that's something that Bill and I try to do, not just in our professional life, but our personal life, and just celebrating those things and being appreciative and counting your blessings. I'm not religious by nature; I'm more spiritual, and I think it's just having that the mo just that thought and clarity and and and and also successful being dependable, saying what you mean, me what you say. People come. I I try to like not just because I'm doing it for someone else, but I have to live with myself. So my intention is so important to me, and I was raised that. Way to be grateful, and it doesn't mean I don't speak my mind. Believe me, I do. But it's just to succeed. I think you need those things, and then people, hopefully, Michael will reach out to you. Just I'm talking professionally or personally for projects, because not because you can deliver, but because who you are and what you can bring to a table, and that you try to stay somewhat down to earth. And
Michael Hingson 1:05:20
I think that's so important. You got to be authentic.
Pamela Hill 1:05:23
Yes.
Michael Hingson 1:05:24
Yes. Well, can can people reach out to you if they want to talk to you or anything like that?
Pamela Hill 1:05:30
Yeah. No. Thank you again. My my website in general is pamelahill.net, and that can lead to an email. Okay. My Instagram is starring Pam9, and those would be two. And then our YouTube channel is for scorpio.com, and that's F O U R S C O R P I o.com. A little bit astrology there, but right, my yeah, that's another story for another time, but yeah. So those are some ways, and I really appreciate that. And thank you, Michael. You really inspired me with your conversation as well.
Michael Hingson 1:06:09
Well, this has been fun, and for all of you out there, we'd love to hear from you as well. I'd love it if you'd email me. It's easy. It's speaker@michaelhingson.com, and that just to make sure in case your spelling isn't any better than mine, it's S P E A K E R at M I C H A E L H I N G S O n.com. I did well on spelling tests in in school. My wife says that I don't do very well. Well, she used to say she doesn't now, but because she's passed. But if I misspell, I'm sure I'm going to hear about it, so I got to be good. No, I hear you. Yep. And and work at spelling correctly, but we'd love to hear from you, speaker at michaelhingson.com. Please give us a review. Please rate this show highly. We appreciate it and value it. Yeah. Well, we we all good reviews, right?
Pamela Hill 1:06:56
Yes. It's always nice. It's always always nice.
Michael Hingson 1:07:00
And if you know anyone, Pamela, of course you as well. If you know anyone who ought to be a guest on Unstoppable Mindset, we'd love to hear from you. Please give us an introduction. We're always looking for folks to to have on the podcast. But again, Pamela, I want to thank you. Pam, I want to thank you for being here. This has been absolutely fun.
Pamela Hill 1:07:17
Oh well, I feel the same. Thank you so much, Michael, and I wish you all the best always as well.
Michael Hingson 1:07:27
Thank you for being here with me on Unstoppable Mindset. I hope today's conversation left you with a fresh perspective, a new insight, or at least something worth thinking about. If you're ready to go deeper into the ideas that shape how we see ourselves and others, I have a free gift for you. Head over to michaelhingson.com and download my free ebook, Blinded by Fear. It explores the invisible beliefs that hold us back and shows you how to reframe them so you can move forward with clarity and confidence. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share this show with someone who can use a reminder that growth starts with mindset. When people think differently, we all move forward together. Thanks again for listening. Keep learning, keep questioning, and keep choosing to live with an unstoppable mindset.