Moiseiwitsch was born as Sandra Pamela Moiseiwitsch during the summer of 1947 in Hampstead and was educated at the local King Alfred School. She has been active as an actor on stage and screen since the late 1960s and has occasionally been credited as Pamela Moiseiwitch, Pamela Moisewitch or Pamela Moisiewitch.
One of her earliest stage roles I’ve been able to trace was as Doris, a lady of the night, in The Lunatic, The Secret Sportsman and the Woman Next Door at the Open Space theatre during December 1968. She made her onscreen debut shortly afterwards with the role of Pauline in the Z Cars episode ‘Alibi: Part Two’ (28th January 1969) and this was followed by the part of Mrs Tetley in 'Run for Your Money' (10th June 1969), an episode of ATV’s police procedural drama Fraud Squad. Whilst her appearance in Fraud Squad was being broadcast Moiseiwitsch was appearing in a stage production of Uncle Vanya at the Bath Royal Theatre. Later in the year she appeared in the play Revenge at the Royal Court theatre during September 1969.
Who-Dun-It was a series of thirteen crime dramas and Moiseiwitsch featured in the episode ‘Death in a Séance’ (3rd November 1969) as Abigail Austen. This episode was written by Nicholas Palmer who would later become the producer of Beasts and it was through this appearance that she may have been later cast in ‘Buddyboy’.
Pamela started to make small appearances in film from the start of the new decade with the role of an unnamed girl on a train in a scene from the offbeat science fiction film The Mind of Mr Soames (1970). This was followed by another small role, as a maid, in the period horror film Cry of the Banshee (1970). She was then cast as a secretary in the British romantic drama Private Road (1971) which starred Susan Penhaligon and future Withnail and I creator Bruce Robinson as two youngsters taking their first tentative steps into a love affair. On television 1970 was bookended by two ITV Sunday Night Theatre productions – ‘The Pretenders’ (31st January 1970) cast as Lorna, whilst ‘The Policeman and the Cook’ (26th December 1970) saw her portray Mrs Jane Zebedee. This was an adaptation of the Wilkie Collins novel of the same name and featured roles for Michael Crawford and Tim Curry early in their careers. Stage work for the year included Christopher Hampton's play, The Philanthropist, at the Mayfair Theatre in London, with George Cole, Edward De Souza and Elisabeth Sladen in the cast.
During 1972 she concentrated on stage roles which included the production The Fifth Labour of Hercules presented at the Soho Theatre during August and September. She made an effective Ruth against Yvonne Antrobus as her sister Tillie and Sheila Hancock as her mother Beatrice in a staging of The Effect of the Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds at the Arnaud theatre, Guilford over November and December 1972.
The following year she began to break through in television. A Picture of Katharine Mansfield was an unusual biographical drama produced by the BBC based on the life and work of the novelist. Each of the six episodes was split into three segments with the first segment titled “The Life” and dramatized Mansfield’s life. The other two sections were adaptations of some her stories. Moiseiwitsch appears in the third episode (15th May 1973) as a character called Mouse in the dramatized segment ‘Je ne parle pas Francais’. This was followed by The Strauss Family, a seven part period drama based on the life and times of the composer Johann Strauss. Moiseiwitsch played Tina in the seventh episode, ‘Lili’ (16th June 1973). Her other TV role came in ‘Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont’ (18th October 1973), a BBC Play for Today adapted from a story by Elizabeth Taylor. Moiseiwitsch appeared as Rosie.
Her cinema appearance for the year was in The Lovers (1973), a big screen version of the successful TV sitcom of the same name. Richard Beckinsale and Paula Wilcox both transitioned from their roles in the TV series to the film version. Moiseiwitsch can be seen as the character Enid. Meanwhile, in her personal life, Moiseiwitsch married Anthony C Burton.
1974 saw her balance television and theatre commitments. She took part in the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company’s staging of Terence Rattigan’s comedy French without Tears in Edinburgh during January 1974. As part of the Cambridge Theatre Company she took the role of Orphelia in a staging of Hamlet at the Cambridge Arts Theatre during November 1974.
Post-Beasts her only television appearance during 1977 was in an episode of the Barry Foster starring detective series Van Der Valk. She can be seen as Miss Schaar in the episode ‘Wolf’ (26th September 1977). The following year saw her concentrate on theatre work which included the play Zigomania during April 1978 at London’s Bush Theatre and a production of Underarm Bowling, a thriller written by actor Henry Woolf, during October and November 1978. She continued to work mainly in theatre during 1979 with highlights including The Constant Wife at Croydon’s Ashcroft Theatre directed by her old colleague Sheila Hancock and a touring production of Anatol for the Cambridge Theatre Company during the winter. Television work for the year included the drama series Kids, based around an assessment centre for children who have been taken into care. Each episode, based on a real life case, told the story of a different child. Moiseiwitsch appears in the first episode, ‘Stephen’ (27th April 1979), as Elizabeth Black.
Her television credits for the 1980s are sparse. She was a guest actor in ‘Homecoming’ (7th October 1981), an episode of the ATV drama series Diamonds, and the following year she could be seen as Miss Lucas in ‘Mode Murder’ (29th April 1982), an episode of the BBC tech thriller Birds of Prey. She was cast as Margaret in the BBC production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing (22nd December 1984) alongside Robert Lindsay, Jon Finch and Cherie Lunghi. Her theatre work continued to be the major strand of her career and for the remainder of the decade she could be seen in a variety of productions including an Old Vic production of The Women in 1986 alongside Diana Quick and Susannah York. Theatre work for 1987 included Disaster, a new play by Rocky Horror Picture Show creator Richard O’Brien, during July and August at the ICA Theatre and a revival of the 1937 farce Room Service in Leicester during October and November. This production also had Denis Holmes in the cast who had appeared with Moisiewitch in ‘Buddyboy’.
Her remaining television credits take in two episodes of The Bill – ‘Unlucky for Some’ (5th October 1993) as Wendy Dobson and the episode ‘Skin Deep’ (18th July 1995). Next was the police drama Backup appearing as Christina in the episode ‘Not All There’ (7th September 1995). Her final on screen role to date is as the chain smoking Janice in ‘The Sofa’ (7th November 2002,) the first episode of the cult BBC 3 Sean Lock comedy 15 Storeys High.
Moiseiwitsch has three children from her marriage to Anthony Burton – Joseph born 1976, Emily born in 1977 and Luke born in 1983. She was the partner of actor Bill Stewart from 1999 until his death in 2006 from motor neurone disease. He was best known to TV viewers for his role as Sandy Longford, journalist friend of Inspector Frost in A Touch of Frost.
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