Pamela Adlon is a name you’ll be hearing more of, especially considering she just got a Golden Globe nomination for her work in the TV series “Better Things,” which she stars in, writes, produces, directs and co-created (with disgraced comedian Louis CK — more on that below).
If you haven’t watched the show, we highly recommend the series about a divorced actress raising three daughters by herself. There’s a lot to know about the 51-year-old talent (who also received an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series), so we rounded up some fun, interesting facts about her below.
1. She’s a single mom of three daughters — and she’s OK admitting it’s challenging, especially raising teenagers. She told Vulture that weekends, in particular, were hard and that she gets “emotional because it was so fucking hard for so many years.” She went on to say how her grief during her divorce went in stages (and, you know, dating is weird):
It went in stages because it depended on the girls and when things would hit them. I’m somebody who, if I went to the grocery store and one of them wasn’t with me, I would feel guilty. I would be like, I shouldn’t be doing anything without them anytime ever. A very codependent way of thinking. Also motherhood is hugely about guilt. You’re like, I’m not doing this right.
Being a single mom and woman in Los Angeles in your 40s, you’re invisible as fuck. The guys who like me are like 22. They’re like, I could totally hit that.
Adlon’s three kids (with ex-husband Felix O. Aldon) are named Gideon, Odessa, and Rockie. And like a good Jewish mom, she comes prepared. As she told the Los Angeles Times: “I’m Jewish, I carry tissues.”
2. She doesn’t consider herself a comedian. Adlon told Los Angeles Times that she’s a storyteller, not a comedian:
I’ve always been kind of a raconteur and a storyteller, but I’m not a comedian, a joke-teller, you know? So this is kind of the perfect place for me. And I also have said that I don’t think that I ever could have done this if I hadn’t done it exactly when I did it.
3. Adlon has been working in Hollywood since she was 12. She appeared in iconic shows and movies like “The Facts of Life,” “Growing Pains,” “21 Jump Street,” “Grease 2,” and “Say Anything.”
Day 1. We crushed it. Better Things S2. Luv my crew. Luv my cast. Luv my network. I love my daughters. @BetterthingsFX #setlife #hemi pic.twitter.com/ZnPuvSwFKc
— Pamela Adlon (@pamelaadlon) April 4, 2017
4. She recently parted ways with her manager Dave Becky, who also represented comedian Louis C.K., someone whom Adlon has worked closely with over the years, both as a friend and colleague. Of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Louis C.K., Adlon has written:
Hi. I’m here. I have to say something. It’s so important. My family and I are devastated and in shock after the admission of abhorrent behavior by my friend and partner, Louis C.K. I feel deep sorrow and empathy for the women who have come forward. I am asking for privacy at this time for myself and my family. I am processing and grieving and hope to say more as soon as I am able.
5. She thinks people should say “workings dads” — not “working moms.” Because, rightly so, moms are always working. She told Vulture:
I don’t usually say “working mom” because I think all moms are working moms. I feel like that diminishes moms. People should say “working dad” as opposed to “working moms” … Tell me he’s a “working dad,” and I will be impressed and I will respect him.
6. Adlon lives next door to her mother, whom she calls “English-born-Episcopalian-converted-to-Judaism.” And she had to take her mom’s key away, explaining:
I bought the house next door around 12 years ago. This is why I’m mean to her sometimes. I’m in my kitchen or I’m in my bathroom and I turn around and go [screams] and there [she is], like Gandalf in a robe! She says, [in a British accent] I was calling out, hello. I was calling out. She scares everybody. I took her key away.
7. Adlon got her period when she was 12, but didn’t wear her first tampon until she was 16 because her mother wouldn’t allow her to. Of course, she ended up having her friend show her the ropes, so to speak, at a pool party.
8. Adlon is OK with the fact that her kids have seen her in risque roles, because “you’re allowed to have a life on the side, and everybody’s allowed to have redemption.”
9. Work saves her. When it comes to dealing with life’s changes, like kids growing up and divorce, Adlon says work helps her deal: “Work saves you, and I love working.”
