Movie icon Pam Grier still going strong

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Pam Grier in movies.

PAM GRIER will forever be known as a "blaxploitation" queen for her 1970s movies, but her career is far more diverse than that. She'll be honored next month at the RiverRun International Film Festival in her hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C.

Today she's a regular on "The L Word," playing bohemian jazz singer Kit Porter, but her recent roles, besides movies, include "Law & Order: SVU."

She came to fame playing tough women like the title character in "Foxy Brown" (1974).

Grier played characters on both sides of the law (pictured is 1972's women-in-prison flick "Black Mama, White Mama") but became well-known for roles featuring women seeking justice.

Even the names of the characters she played became the stuff of movie legend: Coffy, Friday Foster, Sheba Shayne.

Though Grier won roles throughout her career, they were mostly forgettable until Quentin Tarantino (right) cast her in "Jackie Brown" (1997) ...

... in which she plays a flight attendant/smuggler who has to choose between federal agents and a dangerous arms dealer. The movie was seen as a victorious comeback for the feminist icon.

Atlanta fashion designer Mychael Knight paid homage to Pam Grier's 1970s look with one of his designs in a 2007 episode of "Project Runway."

And more famously, comedian Mike Myers paid homage to her in the third installment of the Austin Powers series, "Goldmember" (2002) ...

... in which Beyonce Knowles (center) was cast as "Foxxy Cleopatra," a sexy detective.

Still, Grier wasn't afraid to parody herself, as she did in the horror flick "Bones" (2001) with Snoop Dogg (left).

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PAM GRIER will forever be known as a "blaxploitation" queen for her 1970s movies, but her career is far more diverse than that. She'll be honored next month at the RiverRun International Film Festival in her hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C.

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