Which actress plays Pamela Piggott in Billy Wilder's Avanti!?

Juliet Mills plays Pamela Piggott in Billy Wilder’s Avanti!.

Pamela is an English traveler who arrives on the Italian island of Ischia to claim her mother’s body. She soon learns that her mother had been secretly meeting Wendell Armbruster Sr. for ten years. Because Wendell’s father and Pamela’s mother died together, Pamela and Wendell Jr. are forced to confront their parents’ hidden relationship—and gradually begin one of their own.

Mills was already known for British television and films when Wilder cast her. Wilder had watched her in the sitcom Nanny and the Professor and personally offered her the part without requiring an audition or screen test. For the role, Mills agreed to gain about 25 pounds, a physical transformation central to the film’s treatment of Pamela.

Avanti! paired Mills with Jack Lemmon, who plays the initially abrasive Wendell. Her performance earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture—Comedy or Musical. The other options are prominent actresses, but none plays Pamela Piggott in this film.