Pamela Mitchell, Samuel Beckett

Photo of Samuel Beckett's friend and lover Pamela Mitchell in 
Stonewall Cottage, her former home. -Newport Life Magazine
Pamela Mitchell studied American History at Vassar College,
Poughkeepsie, New York and worked in Naval Intelligence
during the latter part of World War II. Shesubsequently
found employment with Harold Oram Incorporated, a
fund-raising organisation which supported humanitarian
worthwhile causes. In the early 1950s, the company made
its first major foray into the theatrical world by
financing a Broadway production of Louis Peterson’s play,
Take a Giant Step. Thornton Wilder alerted Oram to Beckett’s
play, En attendant Godot, which was having a huge impact on
the Paris theatre at the time. Oram sent Mitchell to Paris
in 1953 to negotiate the rights for the American premiere
of the play. A relationship between Beckett and Mitchell
began shortly after this initial encounter, which continued
when Mitchell returned to live in Paris the following year
as Oram’s European Account Executive. Their brief, intense
affair was interrupted by the news that Beckett’s brother,
Frank, had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
Beckett returned to Ireland, where he remained until his
brother’s death on 13 September 1954. Beckett and Mitchell
remained in contact until 1970, although the correspondence
tails off markedly after 1956. Mitchell died on 10 February
2002 in Newport Hospital, Rhode Island.