However, with the demise of blaxploitation films, her career suffered.
Rotten Tomatoes has ranked her as the second Greatest Female Action Heroine in film history.
None of them are hotter than Pam Grier though.
Her presence filled a void in the fabric of American culture.
While the image is brimming with sexuality, she is looking directly out at the viewer.
Director Quentin Tarantino remarked that she may have been cinema's first female action star.