Actress Tamara Janice Dobson was born on May 14, 1947 in Baltimore, Maryland. She was best known for her role as Cleopatra Jones (1973), Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975) and Chained Heat (1983).

Dobson received a degree in fashion illustration from the Maryland Institute of Art. She later became a fashion model who was featured in various magazines, such as Vogue, Essence, Mademoiselle, Redbook, and Ebony. Dobson appeared in “Come Back, Charleston Blue,” “Norman, Is That You?” “Murder at the World Series,” and “Chained Heat, as well as several blaxploitation films during the 1970s

The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the 6’2” Dobson as the tallest leading lady ever in film. She became known as the Fashionable Kung Fu Queen and was also considered to be Hollywood’s first black action-heroine. She was ultimately diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and died in 2006 due to complications with pneumonia.