Pam Grier: Former Spoiled Rich Girl, Girl Next Door, or Out of the Ordinary?

I decided, after doing a blog on Anna Nicole Smith as an average middle class girl, to check up on other celebrities. Boy do I have a long way to go! Here is the celebrity I did a search on today: Pam Grier.
I recognize her face, but don't remember the movies or other places I've seen her. She is said to be most known for being in "blaxpoitation movies". She is known by the same name that she grew up by. She grew up in Winston Salem, NC. That sounds like a small town, as far as my standards go. It sounds like she could be an inspiration for one of Nicholas Sparks' novels, but that's just a first impression. From the sounds of the movies she was in, she gives the impression of being far from "small-town" girl. That's her acting, though.

Daddy was an AirForce mechanic, and momma was a nurse. This doesn't sound like rags to riches. However, she is said to be the cousin of a football celebrity by the name of Rosie Grier. Her manners, affection for afternoon tea, and slight accent could throw anyone off - thinking she was a spoiled rich girl. She did live in England, but remember: her father was an AirForce mechanic. It turns out he was transfered to England. That's where the English mannerisms came from, which made her a little of an outcast when she returned to the United States at 14, and her family settled down in Denver, Colorado. Denver doesn't necessarily sound like a town of a spoiled rich girl (though, isn't this where Jon Benet' Ramsey lived?). You can't always associate a person as spoiled just because they live in a town some other person lived in, either.
She graduated from East High. This doesn't sound like a private school to me. She does say it was "rough" growing up in Colorado. She complained about standing out for English mannerisms. She almost didn't have a date for her senior prom. Maybe the guys were too shy to ask her out. That sounds like a typical story behind the great looking women not having dates in High School - that, or they were ugly ducklings, turned swans. I don't think that was the case for Ms. Grier, though. She claims to never have had plastic surgery. She entered the Miss Colorado Universe Contest in order to help her alleviate the costs of college. (Another indicator that she wasn't a spoiled rich girl). She is also an African American (though not all African American celebrities come from poverty). She placed second in the pageant, and was the first African American to place in the contest.
From the pageant, she was encouraged to go to Hollywood, which she did - though reluctant to do so. Her mother encouraged her, as well as a sponsor of the pageant. She ended up attending acting classes. Roles didn't come to her right away like they would for someone like Nicole Richey or Paris Hilton. This is another sign she wasn't a spoiled rich girl. She ended up having to be a switchboard operator at American International Pictures to make ends meet until she made it big.
She spent time in the Phillipines making a film. While there, she contracted a tropical disease. It took her a year to fully recover. In the meanwhile, she was blind. Try dealing with that. In '88, Grier was diagnosed with cancer. She was given 18 months to live, but she beat the odds. Try dealing with that, too.
Rumors have it that Grier was in the military. She claims to have been in the military, rather. However, sources are unsure as to whether she meant that she was in the military as a child dependent or that she was actually in the military herself.
Okay, so what's the vote you guys? Is she from rags to riches, the girl next door, or extraordinarily something all her own?