It has now been 25 years since the movie “Barb Wire” starring Pamela Anderson went into production, with a cinema release date the following year in May 1996, and though the film was not shot in New York City, the actress, better known for her lifeguard character C.J. Parker in the TV Show “Baywatch”, did make a fleeting visit to New York in 1995 with then, husband Tommy Lee, drummer of Mötley Crüe, who she had married after knowing him for just 4 days.

Pamela Anderson at C.J. Parker from TV Show Baywatch

The couple’s visit to the Big Apple was documented with black and white photographs and published in Harpers Bazaar magazine, showing them visiting the Empire State Building and Fifth Avenue.

Pamela Anderson with Tommy Lee in New York City

Pamela Anderson with Tommy Lee in New York City

Pamela Anderson with Tommy Lee in New York City

There was one in particular photograph that showed the couple caught in a rain, smiling and sheltering under Tommy Lee’s jacket. Happier times of their short whirlwind and at times tumultuous marriage, having wed on a beach with Anderson in a bikini, and a few years later, Lee was arrested for spousal abuse after assaulting Anderson. He was sentenced to six months in the Los Angeles County Jail. The couple divorced in 1998.

Pamela Anderson with Tommy Lee in Greenwich Street

Much has changed in New York since 1996, but with the help of resident Bob Egan, the street location for this image was taken at the corner of Greenwich and Watts Street. This area of TriBeCa has a lot of history, and the building at 467 near to where the couple of standing was originally owned by the Industrial Waste Corporation.

Tribeca’s rebirth in the last quarter of the 20th century transformed its streets and population. In the fall of 1983, the Upper West Side bakery, Umanoff & Parsons, relocated to No. 467 Greenwich Street. In the building where soap was manufactured in the first years of the century, The New York Times now praised the bakery’s “excellent lattice-top cranberry apple, walnut and mixed fruit harvest pie, pumpking, pecan, apple, fudge walnut and coconut custard pies.

Greenwich Street at the corner of Watts Street in TriBeCa

Much of this area has since been redeveloped, but as a point of reference, the two-and-a-half stories tall building and faced in Flemish bond red brick at 452 Greenwich Street and Desbrosses can be clearly seen in the background.

452 Greenwich Street in the 1980s

452 Greenwich Street in 2020

The movie was also promoted in Cannes, with Anderson revealing a real barbwire tattoo on her upper arm, though none of the promotion could save what was ultimately a box-office failure, only grossing $3,794,000 in the United States.

Barb Wire Film Poster

The movie saw Pamela Anderson as a wild-haired black leather and thigh-high boot-wearing, hog-riding spit-fire bounty-hunter called Barb Wire. Set in the 2017, the quasi-feminist fantasy adventure was based on a popular Dark Horse comic. Anderson’s character frequently captured her fugitives by posing as a stripper, and the only time she blew her cover was when someone dared to call her ‘babe’.

Pamela Anderson as Barb Wire

Canadian-born actress, model, activist, television personality, and author Pamela Anderson is best known for her numerous appearances in Playboy magazine and for her work on the television series "Home Improvement" (1991–1997), "Baywatch" (1992–1998), and "V.I.P." (1998–2002). She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine. She then went onto frequent appearances on the magazine's cover, holding the record of the most Playboy covers by any person.

Playboy Magazine: October 1989

Playboy Magazine: February 1991

Playboy Magazine: July 1992

Playboy Magazine: August 1993

Playboy Magazine: November 1994

Playboy Magazine: January 1996

Pamela Anderson posing for Playboy magazine in 2007

Playboy Magazine: September 1997

Playboy Magazine: February 1999

Playboy Magazine: July 2001

Playboy Magazine: May 2004

Playboy Magazine: January 2007

Playboy Magazine: January 2011

Anderson became known to a wider audience in 1991, appearing as a recurring character, Lisa, on the award-winning ABC comedy series “Home Improvement” for its first two seasons. She received international recognition for her starring role as C. J. Parker in the action-drama television series “Baywatch”, further cementing her status as a sex symbol. Anderson went onto play Vallery Irons in the action-comedy series “V.I.P”, and Skyler Dayton in the comedy series “Stacked”.

Poster for the TV Show Stacked

Poster for the TV Show V.I.P.