Photo: George Burns/Harpo Studios

On the big screen, Pam was often portrayed as a take-no-prisoners action hero who knew how to handle a weapon. And it wasn't just an act—Pam grew up in rural Colorado, where she says all the girls in her family were taught how to shoot a gun. "Fishing and hunting and shooting and riding and roping—we did that," she says.

A "country girl" at heart, Pam says it wasn't until she became an actress that she understood the power of female sexuality. "I lived a sheltered life, very conservative," she says. "That's how I was brought up."