Biography for
P.J. Soles More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

17 July 1950, Frankfurt, Germany

Birth Name

Pamela Jayne Hardon

Nickname

"The Totally Girl" from Halloween (1978)

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Mini Biography

P.J. (Pamela Jayne) Soles was born on July 17, 1950, in Frankfurt, Germany. Her father came from Holland and her mother from New Jersey. Because her father was working for an international insurance company, the family moved all over the world. P.J. lived in Casablanca, Morocco, and Maracaibo, Venezuela, where she learned to speak fluent Spanish, and then Brussels, Belgium, where she went to high school at the International School of Brussels. When she was at Briarcliff College, she wanted to become the first woman ambassador to the Soviet Union. This career goal changed when she visited the Actors' Studio in New York City. She moved to Manhattan and began acting in commercials and modeling for fashion magazines. She was married to J. Steven Soles during her years in New York, but then made the move to Los Angeles to work in TV and movies. At this time, she and Soles' got divorced, but she decided to keep her name as P.J. Soles. She was among the hundreds of actors auditioning for Brian De Palma and George Lucas in their joint casting session for Carrie (1976) and Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). After "Carrie", she went to Georgia to film Our Winning Season (1978) and met actor Dennis Quaid. They were married in 1978 in Texas on a dude ranch.

P.J. starred in Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) with Ramones. Next she filmed Private Benjamin (1980) and then Stripes (1981). She and Quaid were divorced in 1983. P.J. continued doing numerous television and film roles, and then married Skip Holm, who was the stunt pilot on The Right Stuff (1983). They have a son named Skye (born in 1983) and a daughter named Ashley (born in 1988). She and Skip were divorced in 1998.

IMDb Mini Biography By: A. Nonymous

Mini Biography

Attractive, often outspoken actress who surfaced in the mid-seventies as a blonde bombshell in hits such as Carrie (1976), Our Winning Season (1978), Halloween (1978), Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), and went on to doing more notable performances in Private Benjamin (1980), Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. (1981), and Stripes (1981). Although little known in her heyday, Soles has acquired a cult following that, strange as it seems, hasn't allowed her to reach the right role for an actress as experienced as she is. Still active in television and film, Soles manages not to let her fans down, but keeps them interested in her work, which keeps on getting better, making her one of the most versatile actresses of her time.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Spouse

Skip Holm	(16 November 1983 - 1998) (divorced) 2 children
Dennis Quaid	(25 November 1978 - 23 January 1983) (divorced)
J. Steven Soles	(1971 - 1975) (divorced)

Trivia

Was injured during the filming of her movie Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979).

She has one son and one daughter

In her death scene in Carrie (1976) she is knocked unconscious by a wild water hose; in actuality the hose tore her eardrum and she really IS unconscious for that scene.

John Carpenter, wanted her for his film Halloween (1978) after seeing Carrie (1976). He wrote the part of Lynda especially for her because of the way she said the word "totally."

Sang "Rock and Roll High School" with Ramones at one of their concerts.

Lived in several foreign countries while growing up.

Originally wanted to be Ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Has one son, Sky (born in 1983) and one daughter, Ashley (born in 1988), with Skip Holm.

Did her screen test for Carrie (1976) with John Travolta. He loved her performance so much, he made sure she got a part in his TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) (TV).

Father is from the Netherlands. Mother is from New Jersey.

She wore a red baseball cap to her audition for Carrie (1976), which director Brian De Palma loved. He told her to bring it with her when they started shooting. The first thing he said to her on the set was, "Did you bring your red baseball hat?" She ended up wearing that hat for the majority of the film.

Rock group Local H named their 2004 album, "Whatever Happened To PJ Soles?" after her. It includes a song about her cult celebrity status titled simply, "PJ Soles.".

Interviewed in the book "Invasion of the B-Girls" by Jewel Shepard.

PJ has two children: a son, Jeffrey Sky Holm, a 2005 graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and is an Officer serving with the U.S. Coast Guard and a daughter, Ashley Brooke Holm, a 2010 graduate of U.C. Irvine with a degree in English/Creative Writing, is teaching yoga and in the band "Jo Nash" with composer John Corlis.

Ranked #4 on Maxim's "Hottest Women of Horror Movies" list.

Personal Quotes

"Dennis is very, very sad. I've never heard him sound so sad. I got the feeling he hasn't slept recently. He's devastated just by the thought of any separation mostly because they have a son. He's very concerned about the effects on his son." - about the separation of Dennis Quaid from Meg Ryan.

I'm still looking for that Quentin Tarantino, for what he did to John Travolta. That's part of why I wanted to produce - to give myself good parts.

I am so happy that every generation still tunes into most of the classic and cult films I was lucky to be a part of.

All those times I'd gotten married with the intention of having children, even when I was in my early twenties.

Everybody thought I was a California girl, and I felt I had to work harder than most people. I went to a place in my mind from having watched other movies, so for me it was a little more challenging than a lot of people probably realize.

Horror movies are all about getting your attention, you always have to be on guard. People love to be on the edge, there's nothing like a surprise. Our whole lives are built around surprises -- surprise birthday parties, surprises at restaurants. It keeps our lives from being boring. Also, it's the closet thing to watching a fantasy that you could never conceive of yourself, never dare to have. Even in a private moment. Something you'd never let enter your thinking. So you can sit for two hours and watch someone else's fantasy and not feel guilty if you enjoy it.