Pamela "Pam" Burkhart is the mother of Jackie Burkhart and ex-wife of Jack Burkhart. She was a real estate broker who was selling a house the kids had their party at.
Character[]
Pam has a strained relationship with her daughter, mainly stemming from the trauma to which Pam exposed Jackie to. For example, cheating on her father, one of these affairs resulting in Jackie's irrational fear of clowns, and then abandoning her family to run away to Mexico. Despite that, Jackie stood up for her when she was frequently insulted by Donna though stating she only got tired of hearing Donna's words.
Pam seems to be also where Jackie has gotten much of her shallowness and vanity, and she is seen as a "neighborhood mom" to all the men in the series, causing constant tension between Pam and Donna and Kitty as well.
Pam comes back to Point Place to get back in touch with her daughter and starts dating Bob. This causes Donna and Jackie to believe that she is only dating him for his money, and they try to get them to break up, but eventually change their minds when they realize that Pam actually likes Bob. Later on, in the beginning of season 7, Pam leaves Bob in order to give him and Midge a chance to be together, and moves back with Jackie into their old home.
Appearances[]
Season 1
Season 6
Season 7 |
Trivia[]
- Eve Plumb originally played the character in the first season. But starting with Season 6, she was replaced by Brooke Shields.
- Her relationship with her grandson Jay Kelso is unknown.
- She is the first Burkhart to be involved with a Pinciotti, her grandson Jay later followed in dating Bob's granddaughter Leia.
- By 1995, it’s unknown if Pam is still alive or dead and she is one of the other characters whose fate and whereabouts were not acknowledged. The others were Hyde, Laurie and Midge.