Hulu’s biopic miniseries Pam & Tommy offers a fresh perspective on what was a massive cultural event at the time of its occurrence but has since been obscured by the more recent and more shocking celebrity scandals of the internet era.
Lily James and Sebastian Stan, who play the titular characters, are supported by an ensemble cast whose respective storylines provide details to the leak that much of the general public was unaware of at the time. The real-world counterparts to the show’s characters have enjoyed varying degrees of success and well-being in the years since the events depicted in the series.
Pamela Anderson
Former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson has become an ardent activist in the years since the scandal on which the show centers. Her website, pamelaandersonfoundation.org, includes a section called “journaling,” which features updates on her philanthropic activities.
The most recent post details her recent display of support for the Kw’umut Lelum Foundation, an Indigenous organization in her home province of British Columbia, and another includes a letter to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressing her disapproval of the caps worn by the members of the Queen’s Guard, which are made from the fur of bears.
Tommy Lee
Pamela Anderson’s former partner and fellow scandal survivor has found love elsewhere since the couple parted ways, a fact not included in Pam & Tommy so far. In a February 14 Instagram post, Tommy Lee wished a joint anniversary/Valentine’s Day to his wife, Brittany Furlan, to whom he has been married for three years.
It is heartening to see that Lee has found a stable relationship despite his reputation being threatened by a prior one. His Instagram page also mentions that he has a new album called Andro that is currently available, suggesting that his career has managed to endure to some extent.
Rand Gauthier
Rand Gauthier, portrayed by the widely-beloved Seth Rogen in the series, has not benefited from the theft that he believed would brighten his prospects.
According to a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, Gauthier was working as an electrician in addition to growing his own cannabis, having garnered no fortune from the tape that had been seen by millions in the preceding two decades. Audiences can take solace in the fact that his actions did not financially benefit him in the long run.
Erica Boyer
Gauthier’s former wife, adult film actress Erica Boyer, lived a similarly anonymous life in the wake of the sex tape’s world-bending release. According to her IMDb page, Boyer permanently left the industry in the late 1990s and semi-retired to Panama City Beach, Florida, where she worked as a massage therapist in addition to performing volunteer work.
She was fatally and tragically struck by a vehicle in 2009, marking the end of a life that was marked by both the glamor of show business and the lifestyle of suburban residency. The attention that the show gives to someone who might otherwise be a disposable character is a notable similarity between Pam & Tommy and the best TV shows like it.
Uncle Miltie
Milton “Uncle Miltie” Ingley (portrayed Nick Offerman, whose Parks and Recreation is only one of many TV shows where viewers have seen the cast of Pam & Tommy) lived his later years in anonymity similar to that of Gauthier and Boyer.
According to a Newsweek interview with Offerman, Ingley spent the late 1990s and early 2000s in Amsterdam before returning to the United States and settling in Arizona. The article states that his vision was severely diminished by diabetes and that he passed away in 2006, and he had been inducted into two pornography-related Halls of Fame.
Seth Warshavsky
Internet Entertainment Group owner Seth Warshavsky, who becomes involved in the distribution of Anderson and Lee’s tape during the series, was apparently unable to prolong his pornography-related business ventures into the 21st century.
According to a related Esquire article, IEG was investigated by the FBI and IRS for over-charging customers in the 2000s, and the company failed to survive. The article adds that Warshavsky has reportedly been living in Bangkok since the fallout. His ultimate failure is an adept warning sign for those considering questionable and unethical business practices.
Butchie
Louis “Butchie” Peraino, who served as the producer of the notorious adult film Deep Throat well before his involvement in the tape that Gauthier obtained, was in the final years of his rugged and eventful life during the events featured in Pam & Tommy.
His IMDb page states that he passed away from lung cancer in 1999 at the relatively young age of 59. The pornography world of the late 20th century appears to have been marked by excessive hedonism, and hedonism is infamously linked to drastic consequences, like those portrayed in the series.
Hugh Hefner
Mike Seely co-stars as Hugh Hefner, the iconic Playboy business magnate who, according to Collider, collaborated with Pamela Anderson over the course of several of the magazine’s covers. Hefner’s New York Times obituary mentions that he maintained his relevance in the period following the events of Pam & Tommy by starring in an E! series called The Girls Next Door, which premiered in 2005.
He also enjoyed his final marriage with one of the show’s stars, Crystal Harris, which lasted until his death. Hefner left a legacy that is as culturally imposing as it is controversial, and the inclusion of such a dominating figure without allowing him to consume the audience’s focus distinguishes Pam & Tommy from the best Hollywood biopics like it.
Bob Guccione
Maxwell Caulfield appears in the series as Bob Guccione, the founder of the magazine Penthouse. Rolling Stone‘s obituary of Guccione stated that he lived near-torturous final years that concluded with the sale of his beloved magazine, an action which he likely sought to avoid but took due in large part to the internet’s domination of the pornography industry.
He passed away from cancer at age 79, long after the period in which he enjoyed lavish wealth as well as creative control over the magazine that served as his ultimate artistic statement.
