- Courson was born in Weed, California. Her father, Corky Courson, had been a navy bombardier (becoming a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve) and became a high school principal in Villa Park, California. Her mother, Pearl Courson, was a homemaker who did interior design and was described as a "connoisseur of the arts". Pamela had an older sister Judith Burton. She attended Orange High School in Orange, California.
It has been rumored that Neil Young wrote the song "Cinnamon Girl" about her, as well as "The Needle and the Damage Done", but both have been denied. - Long-term companion of Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors.
- Courson stated that on July 3, 1971, she awoke to find Jim Morrison dead in the bathtub of their apartment in Paris. The coroner's report listed his cause of death as heart failure, although no autopsy was performed. Under Morrison's will, which stated that he was "an unmarried person", Courson was named his heir, and therefore in line to inherit his entire fortune. Lawsuits against the estate would tie up her quest for inheritance for the next two years.
- Daughter of Corky Courson.
- On April 25, 1974, Courson died of a heroin overdose on the living room couch at the Los Angeles apartment she shared with two male friends. Her cremated remains were interred in the mausoleum at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, California. The plaque reads "Pamela Susan Morrison 1946-1974", despite the fact that "Morrison" was never part of Courson's legal name. Several months after her death, her parents, Corky Courson and Pearl Courson, inherited her fortune. Jim Morrison's parents later contested the Coursons' executorship of the estate, leading to additional legal battles. In 1979 both parties agreed to divide the earnings from Morrison's estate equally.
- Is portrayed by Meg Ryan in The Doors (1991).
- From French and Austrian descent.
- In the late 1960s/early 1970s she used to be Slash's babysitter. She and his mother Ola Hudson where friends and Pam modeled for Ola.
- She studied art classes at Los Angeles City College.
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