Pamelyn Ferdin (born February 4, 1959) is a former American television and film child actor who grew up in Glendale, California. She attended Herbert Hoover High School (Glendale) and graduated in 1977. She was active both in live action and as a voice actress in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and has since appeared in several voice acting roles as late as 2009. She is currently an animal rights activist. She voiced Sally in The Cat in the Hat (1971 cartoon).
Acting work
She played the Bumsteads' daughter Cookie in the 1968-1969 CBS revival series Blondie. She played Felix Unger's daughter Edna in the 1970s ABC series version of The Odd Couple and Paul Lynde's daughter Sally on the short-lived The Paul Lynde Show.
Science fiction / fantasy She appeared on the original Star Trek in 1968 as one of a group of orphaned children led by an alien with sinister motives in the episode "And the Children Shall Lead", and in the 1977 series Space Academy as Laura Gentry.
Peanuts cartoons
Ferdin provided the voice of Lucy van Pelt in three Peanuts cartoons: the 1969 TV special It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, a 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the 1971 TV special Play It Again, Charlie Brown.
Psychological / supernatural thrillers
She played a girl tormented by a devilish child (portrayed by Laurie Prange) in the Night Gallery episode "Brenda." She appeared as Mary Constable in the supernatural thriller Daughter of the Mind and as Abby Clarkson in The Mephisto Waltz (1971). She was considered for the role of Regan MacNeil, the demon-possessed girl in the 1973 William Friedkin film "The Exorcist," but casting directors preferred the then less-familiar actress Linda Blair.
Other acting roles
Other films include The Reluctant Astronaut, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, The Christine Jorgensen Story, Happy Birthday Wanda June, and The Toolbox Murders. Pamelyn was a frequent guest star on episodic television in the 1960s and 1970s, with appearances on Bewitched, Green Acres, The Andy Griffith Show, Branded, Daniel Boone, Custer, The Monkees, The Flying Nun, Gunsmoke, Shazam!, The High Chaparral, Mannix, The Brady Bunch, Family Affair, Love, American Style, Marcus Welby, M.D., Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Apple's Way, The Streets of San Francisco, Baretta, CHiPS, and 240-Robert. She appeared in the made-for-TV films Smoke, The Forgotten Man, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Miles to Go Before I Sleep.
Work with animals
Her character Amy in the 1971 film The Beguiled turns against the Clint Eastwood character after he kills her pet turtle. [On her "Memory Alpha" webpage, she is credited as the first person who ever killed Clint Eastwood in a film—as a 10 year-old girl.] She voiced Fern Arable, the little girl who saves the life of Wilbur the pig, in the 1973 movie Charlotte's Web.
Ferdin's association with animals continued when she co-starred with the dog Lassie from 1971 to 1973. Her character, Lucy Baker, a deaf adolescent who initially had a pet wolf, loved and interacted with a variety of animals, including horses and a llama.