Melanie Kinnaman is an American film and stage actress. She is known for her role as Pam Roberts in the 1985 horror film Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. She later co-starred with Eric Roberts in the 1989 film Best of the Best. Kinnaman has made guest appearances on television in programs such as Hill Street Blues, The People Next Door and Cheers. She is continuing acting and working on projects for stage, television and film.
Biography
Kinnaman was born and raised in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where she attended Holyoke High School, and later, the Williston Northampton School in Easthampton. Kinnman is of German and Czech descent.
After graduating from high school, Kinnaman relocated to New York City where she appeared in several Off-Broadway productions, attempted to obtain roles in soap operas as well as appearing in commercials. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, and eight months later appeared in a thirteen-week run of General Hospital.
In 1984, Kinnaman was cast as a drug-addicted prostitute in Cannon Films's Thunder Alley (1985). She was subsequently cast as the lead heroine, Pam, in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. She was originally going to reprise her role as Pam (who evidently survived in the previous film) in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, but Paramount Pictures changed the concept of the sequel and the character was written out.
