Pam Grier's role as the owner of a hardware store in rural Nebraska in the ABC sitcom "Bless This Mess" isn't a complete departure for the film legend: She lives in rural Colorado and has spent much of her life on ranches to find serenity from Hollywood life.
"I commuted to work really for 50 years because I couldn't have that lifestyle that I wanted of horses and ruralness. It would always be the city, hotels, room service," said Grier in a recent interview.
"My grandfather was the first feminist in my life, from Wyoming, who taught all of us girls how to hunt, fish and shoot, so I could bring that to this show, every element and it just kind of fit," Grier said. "He had this glow this piece and this unbelievable calm about him during the day after working sun up, sundown doing some labor. And he just was so spiritual and enjoyed life and he would always say you know if you wake up breathing you're going to have a good day. And so that's been my mantra since I was a little girl."
This May 21, 2019 photo shows actress Pam Grier posing in New York to promote her ABC sitcom “Bless This Mess.” (Photo by Christopher SmithInvisionAP)
She credits that mantra for helping her thrive in her 70th year in a life filled with plenty of highs and lows. Grier made her name as the queen of Blaxploitation films in the 1970s with roles in classics like "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown," but struggled in Hollywood after the genre fell out fashion. She also had tumultuous romances with the likes of Richard Pryor and Freddie Prinze.
The second season of "Bless This Mess' launches in September.
Grier also was the victim of two sexual assaults — one when she was just 6 years old. She opened up about her personal struggles in her 2010 memoir, "Foxy: My Life in Three Acts," and while promoting the book, learned a lot about the wide range of people who have been victims of sexual assault, including men: "I was surprised at the book signings how many men came up and just let me know that they feel better by me talking."
This May 21, 2019 photo shows actress Pam Grier posing in New York to promote her ABC sitcom “Bless This Mess.” (Photo by Christopher SmithInvisionAP)
Grier said she's gratified that many more of her fellow actresses are talking about their experiences with abuse in Hollywood in the era of #MeToo and Time's Up. She marvels in the impact the movement has had in a relatively short period of time.
"I always say it's about time. It takes confidence. It takes other people around you to set an example that you won't inflame or flame out you - you'll be OK. And it is tough to talk about it," she said." A lot of people haven't healed yet."
Grier has also successfully battled cancer. While she's still a glamour queen and sex symbol, her experience with the disease has made her eschew at least one of society's beauty norms.
"I'm so proud of my hair growing back on my legs after cancer that I don't shave. I don't shave my legs. I enjoy looking at you know two and half inches of hair and my legs," she said. "I'm very grateful to have a healthy balance. ... Oh, and I don't feel any different than I did when I was 21!"
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).
Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. A dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.
That has caused embarrassment and unease as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.
In Ukraine's capital, doctors and ambulance crews evacuated patients from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.
Parents hefting bags of clothes, toys and food carried toddlers and led young children from the Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1 on the outskirts of the city. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.
In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleged that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that the claim was “a lie and provocation.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that civic authorities were awaiting an assessment from security services before deciding when it was safe to reopen the hospital.
“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold online talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said late Thursday that the meeting would discuss how to turn around Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.
Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.
It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War. However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught, which is using glide bombs — powerful Soviet-era weapons that were originally unguided but have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system — that obliterate targets.
“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.
It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.
While that U.S. help wasn’t forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners didn’t pick up the slack, according to German’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.
“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.
Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.
Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Ukrainian young acting student Gleb Batonskiy plays piano in a public park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
