- Born
- Birth nameJoanna Lamond Lumley
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Joanna Lumley was born on 1 May, 1946 in Kashmir, India, to British parents, Thya Beatrice Rose (Weir) and James Rutherford Lumley. Her father was a major in the Gurkha Rifles, and she spent most of her early childhood in the Far East where her father was posted.
An aspiring actress, she first came to fame as a model in London's swinging 1960s, where she was photographed by the greats, including her friend, the late Patrick Lichfield. She was designer Jean Muir's muse and house model for several years before carving a career as a freelance model where she became one of the top ten most-booked models of the 1960s.
Lumley's breakthrough role was as Purdey in The New Avengers (1976), a role for which over 800 girls auditioned. Purdey propelled Lumley to instant fame and created one of the "must-have" hairstyles of the 1970s -- the Purdey bob. Lumley became a pin-up figure for a generation of British males who grew up watching her as the high-kicking action girl.
Other roles followed, most notably as Sapphire in Sapphire & Steel (1979) opposite David McCallum -- a sci-fi precursor to The X-Files (1993) and an under-rated gem of a series which has gained a cult following in recent years, despite the fact it has only ever been shown ONCE on terrestrial TV. During the 1980s, Lumley returned to the theater, making notable appearances as "Hedda Gabler" and as "Elvira" in "Blithe Spirit" -- a role that seems tailor-made for her. Lumley also made appearances in several films, including Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), and a screen-stealing role in Shirley Valentine (1989).
It was her reinvention as a comic actress in Absolutely Fabulous (1992) that shot Lumley to wider international acclaim. Her role as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous (1992) is regarded as one of the greatest female comic performances ever, earning Lumley a stream of awards, including several BAFTAs. Since Absolutely Fabulous (1992), Lumley has cemented her role as one of the UK's most-loved & respected actresses. She is rarely off UK TV screens and has also built a successful film career as a character/voice-over actress.
She recently teamed up with the writer/director Hugo Blick for the series of acclaimed monologues Up in Town (2002) which were critically regarded as the performance of a lifetime, and the recent Sensitive Skin (2005).
In 2007, she returned to the stage for the first time in over a decade in a production of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard", directed by Sir Jonathan Miller.- IMDb Mini Biography By: hunnybunny
- SpousesStephen Barlow(October 23, 1986 - present)Jeremy Lloyd(May 23, 1970 - February 11, 1971) (divorced)
- ChildrenJames Lumley
- ParentsJames Rutherford LumleyBeatrice Rose Weir
- Her upper-class British accent, one of the most recognizable in Britain
- In April 2009, she became the spokeswoman for the Gurkhas in the United Kingdom and was instrumental in persuading the British government to allow Gurkhas who had served in the Army the right to settle in the United Kingdom. When she visited Nepal in July 2009, she was treated as a heroine and a goddess by crowds of people on the street, and was thanked by Nepal's President and Prime Minister for her work in championing the Gurkhas' cause.
- Despite having a very small role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), she spent two months on the production, dubbing the voices of a whole line up of international beauties in German, Chinese and Norwegian accents.
- Is one of the most respected British actresses despite the fact she has had no acting training.
- She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1995 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama and to charity.
- Has one son, Jamie Lumley, (born 1967), from a relationship with photographer Michael Claydon.
- At boarding school I even kept mice in my underclothes drawer. It made me smell most attractive, as you can imagine.
- Giraffes are completely tranquil-they have no predators as adults because there's not an animal in the jungle stupid enough to go for them.
- Giraffes are fairytale animals, almost heraldic-as if from the land of fables. They have extremely beautiful faces, huge eyes, very sensitive nostrils and Oh, blue tongues!
- Hundreds of political prisoners still suffer in Tibetan prisons. Freedom of speech is not allowed in any sense. It is illegal to possess a photo of the Dalai Lama.
- I can't see any difference in having your hair dyed, your teeth fixed, your nose done, or your face smoothed out or lifted.
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