New Role: Activist

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office is seeking six months’ jail time for an ex-child star turned animal rights activist after her conviction under a 1978 city law aimed at curbing picket-line violence.

Pamelyn Ferdin, 40, who for years provided the voice of Lucy for “Peanuts,” was convicted in San Fernando Municipal Court of possessing a ‘bull hook’ while protesting a Circus Vargas performance at Pierce College in August.

The device, which Ferdin and other activists say is used cruelly against circus elephants, has a wooden shaft larger than three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Possession of any wooden object of that size at a protest is a misdemeanor under a city law designed to keep potentially dangerous objects out of the hands of demonstrators.

Because Ferdin has said she will refuse to pay a fine or accept probation, the prosecution is seeking the maximum sentence--six months in Los Angeles County Jail--when she is sentenced Feb. 1. Her attorney, noted Los Angeles civil rights lawyer Hugh Manes, has filed a motion for a new trial, contending the law is unconstitutional.

The case is bringing newfound attention to Ferdin, a once-ubiquitous child actress who appeared in hundreds of sitcoms, commercials and made-for-TV movies in the 1960s and ‘70s.

“If going to jail means getting the animals’ message out, that’s fine with me,” said Ferdin, a co-founder of the Animal Defense League’s Los Angeles chapter.

Both sides agree that her bull hook was never intended as a weapon. And Ferdin, who was originally told she was being arrested on the charge of assaulting an officer--only to have that allegation dropped, said she had taken the bull hook to dozens of other demonstrations without so much as a peep from officers.

Her lawyer says the law is so broad, it would exclude protesters who rely on a cane or crutches. But Deputy City Atty. Christine Whitaker said the law exists for good reason.

“Just because it’s not well known to other people doesn’t mean it’s an obscure section,” she said. “[The bull hook] can be a very formidable weapon if anybody gets aggressive with it.”

Whitaker contends that protesters from the Animal Defense League, a self-avowed militant organization, harass innocent bystanders and feign injuries when approached by police--particularly if news cameras are present.

“Other people’s rights count too, and yelling at children, yelling at police, lying about injuries. . . . I can’t see how that is helping their case,” she said. “They have to obey the rules, just like everybody else.”

Whitaker did not originally ask for the maximum sentence, but after researching the Animal Defense League’s Web site and learning of Ferdin’s prominent role in the group, she filed an amended sentencing brief. It concluded: “Civil disobedience carries with it a price, and believers in a cause must be prepared to pay that price for their lawbreaking. She clearly does not understand that now; perhaps a jail sentence will help her to.”

Ferdin mostly vanished from the public eye in the early 1980s after amassing a long list of childhood acting credits. They included a recurring role as the daughter of Tony Randall’s character on the “The Odd Couple” and appearances on everything from “Family Affair” to “Star Trek.” She also played a supporting role in the 1971 Clint Eastwood film “The Beguiled.”

Ferdin also recalls providing the voice of Fern, the girl who pleads with her father to save Wilbur the pig from slaughter in the 1973 animated film “Charlotte’s Web.”

Even if that was a portent of things to come, Ferdin says it wasn’t until about 10 years ago that she found her true calling, after witnessing the mistreatment of animals while working for a New York City animal shelter. Although she still does voice-overs for the WB cartoon series “Detention,” Ferdin, a Santa Monica resident, now devotes most of her time to animal rights activism.

After she was featured on a recent installment of the newsmagazine “Extra,” Ferdin said she was flooded with calls and e-mail.

“Some of them were from fans that said, ‘I really appreciate what you’re doing and I was wondering what ever happened to you,’ ” Ferdin said.