Pamela Blair, the Broadway actor known for her role as Val in the hit musical A Chorus Line, has died at the age of 73. 

She died at home in Phoenix, Arizona following a long illness, Deadline reported. 

Broadway actor dies

The Vermont native appeared in shows like Promises, Promises, Sugar, Seesaw, and Of Mice and Men, playing Curley's wife, before landing her most famous role as the original Val in A Chorus Line, one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history.

Val sings a bawdy number about using plastic surgery to get ahead in show business, "Dance: Ten, Looks: Three." Blair created the character, inspired by her own life and that of another dancer who had plastic surgery, during a writing workshop.

"I was ugly, homely, skinny, unattractive and flat as a pancake,” Blair said in the song’s introduction. “Get the picture?”

The Twitter account for the late A Chorus Line composer Marvin Hamlisch paid tribute to Blair, who was part of the show "from the very first workshop."

We are saddened to hear that Pamela Blair, the original "Val" in A Chorus Line, has passed away. The character was loosely based on her own life, and she was a part of the musical from the very first workshop. 🫶 Our thoughts are with her loved ones and fans.

📸: Photofest pic.twitter.com/9KiiZMItuT

— Marvin Hamlisch (@marvinhamlisch) July 24, 2023

Daytime Emmy nomination

Blair's A Chorus Line co-star Baayork Lee, who shares a December birthday with Blair, also shared a statement about her friend and "Sagittarian sister."

"What a colorful character she was as depicted in the Val monologue in the show. She brought the house down every night as well as a woman standing at the edge of the orchestra shouting, "Wash your mouth out,"" Bayork wrote. "You are free now Pammie so dance, dance, dance amoung the stars."

After A Chorus Line, Blair returned to Broadway in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, King of Hearts, The Nerd and A Few Good Men, directed by her then-husband Dan Scardino.

Blair was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for a guest appearance in All My Children, also appearing in TV shows such as The Cosby Show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Ryan’s Hope, and Loving, Another World.

Her movie credits include Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite, Annie, and 21 Grams.