Pam De Beaufort

Pam De Beaufort is a vampire and a supporting character featured in the "Southern Vampire Mysteries" series of novels by author Charlaine Harris. She was introduced, albeit briefly, in the first novel in the series Dead Until Dark, published in 2001 and has made recurring appearances in the subsequent novels. In the novels, her full name is Pamela Swynford De Beaufort, but she has also been identified as Pamela Ravenscroft. The character was re-imagined for the HBO television series True Blood, where she was played by actress Kristin Bauer van Straten. She was introduced in episode 4, "Escape from Dragon House". Pam was a recurring character throughout seasons 1 and 2, but became a credited cast member on the show beginning with season 3. Pam also appeared on the "Eric & Pam" minisode of A Drop of True Blood.

Biography
Very little is known about Pamela's early existence. She was born in London, England sometime before the turn of the century. In 1905, she was working as a prostitute when she was discovered by Eric Northman who turned her into a vampire. Pam became Eric's lover and confidante, fiercely loyal to him and more than willing to obey his commands. (SVM: All Together Dead)

By the 2000s, Pam and Eric had set up shop in Shreveport, Louisiana, where Eric served as the vampire Sheriff of Area 5. They opened up a vampires-only bar called Fangtasia and Pam worked there as manager. In time, she eventually became co-owner of the establishment.

In 2002, vampires "came out of the closet", revealing their existence to humanity in an event that came to be known as the Great Revelation. While other vampires enjoyed "mainstreaming" with humans, preferring to imbibe the blood substitute Tru-Blood for nourishment, Pam and Eric scoffed at such behavior and longed for the nights when vampires could hunt selectively from the shadows.

Pam took a particular dislike to vampire Bill Compton, one of the "mainstreamers" who proved to be a thorn in both she and Eric's sides. When Compton was forced to slay Fangtasia's bartender Longshadow, he was brought to trial for the crime of killing a vampire to save a human. As punishment, Bill was forced to turn a teenage girl named Jessica Hamby into a vampire. Pam was asked to help them out with Jessica's transition, and though she held the young vampire with no more regard than any other individual, she did enjoy seeing how much aggravation she caused Bill Compton. The one individual who always managed to set Pam's fangs on edge however was pretty Bon Temps bar waitress Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie had fallen in love with Bill Compton and had managed to involve herself in Fangtasia affairs. This would have been fine, but for the fact that Sookie managed to hook Eric Northman's attention as well. Pam would have gleefully slaughtered Sookie at a moment's notice had Eric ever allowed it.

In 2011, a medium named Marnie Stonebrook had channeled the spirit of a 17th century witch named Antonia Gavilán, and was able to avail herself of her power. Because witches possessed the gift of necromancy, they proved to be an extreme threat to vampires. When Eric Northman tried to shut down Marnie's coven, Stonebrook struck him with a spell that rendered him amnesiac. Pam sought retribution, but Marnie placed a curse upon her that made Pam's face rot away. Fortunately, the spell was reversed before the damage proved fatal.

Pam joined with Eric Northman, Bill Compton and Jessica Hamby on a siege of Marnie's base of operations at the Moon Goddess Emporium. However, Marnie erected a mystical shield that fried any vampire that came into contact with it. Moreover, she had captured Sookie Stackhouse and was holding her captive. She agreed to let Sookie go if Eric and Bill agreed to execute themselves. Pam flew into a rage. She refused to allow her maker to meet the True Death over someone with "such a stupid name" as Sookie, so she took a rocket launcher and fired it at the shield. The explosion did not break down the shield, but it did cause grave injury to Sookie's brother Jason Stackhouse. Eric was furious that Pam had disobeyed his orders and told her that he wanted nothing more to do with her. (TB: Soul of Fire)

Pam later went to the Stackhouse residence looking for Eric to ask his forgiveness. Instead what she found was Sookie and Lafayette leaning over the body of Tara Thornton who had been fatally shot in the head. They begged her to help them bring her back as a vampire so she would have a chance at life again. In exchange, Pam requested Sookie to use her "super snatch" to help repair the breach between Eric and she. Pam took Tara's body to ground and remained with her overnight.

Notes & Trivia

 * In seasons 1 and 2 of True Blood, the actress playing Pam was credited under the name Kristin Bauer. Beginning with season 3, she was credited under the name Kristin Bauer Van Straten.


 * Pam appears to speak fluent Swedish and is often seen speaking it with Eric Northman during private conversations.


 * Lafayette Reynolds once referred to Pam as a hooker, a name he ascribes to many women, but Pam corrected him, telling him that she had not been a hooker in nearly a hundred years. (TB: Bad Blood)