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| Birth Name(s) : Joanna Lamond Lumley |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
Stephen Barlow |
| Profession:
N/A |
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Full Joanna Lumley Biography
Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress and former model who is best known for her roles in The New Avengers, Absolutely Fabulous, Sapphire and Steel and Sensitive Skin.
Joanna Lamond Lumley was born on 1 May 1946 in Srinagar, Kashmir, India. Her parents were Major James Rutherford Lumley, who served in the 6th Gurkha Rifles, a regiment of the British Indian Army, and Thya Rose Weir; they married in 1941. After the independence of India in 1949, the Lumleys settled in Kent, England. Joanna was educated at St Mary's School in Sussex, England, and afterwards attended the Lucie Clayton finishing school. Tall, leggy, slim and blonde, she spent three years as a photographic model, and is said to have made her TV debut in a well-known UK advert for Nimble bread first screened in 1969. She also worked as a house model for Jean Muir.
Lumley's acting career began with the role of a Bond girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). She went on to have a brief but memorable role in Coronation Street in which she turned down Ken Barlow's offer of marriage.
In the Are You Being Served? episode entitled "His and Hers" broadcast on BBC1 on 11 April 1973 (season 1; episode 4), she was guest star as perfume representative Miss French.
In the 3 April 1975 episode entitled "German Week" (season 3; episode 6), she was again guest star, on that occasion as "German Lady."
Lumley went on to find fame with a new generation for her portrayal of the chain smoking, boozing, cocaine-sniffing and other drug-taking sexpot fashion director Patsy Stone on the British comedy television show Absolutely Fabulous (1992 - 2004).
She has specialised in playing upper-class parts, and her distinctive plummy voice has reinforced this. However she has demonstrated her ability to go beyond stereotypical images, most notably in the monologue series of playlets Up In Town (2002), written by Hugo Blick, and focusing on a society hostess's realisation that her star is fading.
Other work has included: The Curse of Fatal Death — a special 1999 Comic Relief episode of Doctor Who — where she was a female version of the Doctor, a film about a journey made by her grandparents in Bhutan - In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon (1996) - and A Rather English Marriage (nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actress 1999) and Dr Willoughby. In 1995 she provided the voice of Annie the rag doll in the animated series The Forgotten Toys. In 2000 she co-produced a new drama series entitled The Cazalets. She has also appeared in a TV series on Sarawak, where she spent time as a girl.
Lumley stars as the elderly Delilah Stagg in the 2006 sitcom; Jam & Jerusalem alongside Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Sue Johnston. In July 2007 the second series of the drama Sensitive Skin will be aired on BBC. Lumley plays the main character Davina Jackson.
Lumley has gained prominence as a voice over actress and is one of the most recognised voices in the United Kingdom. Users of AOL in the United Kingdom are familiar with Joanna Lumley's voice. She recorded the greeting "Welcome to AOL" for that company. It is, therefore, the first thing that a UK AOL user hears when logging on.
Lumley has also appeared on the last run of ITV1's Parkinson (TV series) as a guest, on 27 October 2007, discussing the subject of young girls across the UK and how they need to behave better if they hope to be successful. She was asked to write the introduction to a re-edition in November 2007 of the book called 'The Magic Key To Charm' written by the pioneering female journalist Eileen Ascroft. This is a book of tips to women, first written by Ascroft in 1938 about how to be glamorous. "I thought it was absolutely enchanting, it's how young women were told how to behave in the old days and I think it might be just coming back for a bit of a revival," she explained in the interview.
"Because, I have to say I adore our young ones and I think we have got some of the prettiest and loveliest girls in the world but I think sometimes the behaviour gets a bit bad and I think the girls let themselves down. They are so pretty and so lovely but they should behave better, I think, then they will be more successful."
Lumley was awarded an OBE in 1995. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). In 2006 she was awarded an honorary degree from the University of St. Andrews.
She is a noted animal rights campaigner and vegetarian. She is also a car enthusiast, whose favourite TV programme is Top Gear. Her favourite car is a Triumph Stag convertible. She has been involved with a number of charities, including The Druk White Lotus School (in Kashmir), The Born Free Foundation, Mind (the UK mental health charity), Sight Savers, The Friends of Kadzinuni and many others. She has an interest in and concern about environmental matters, and sponsors the Joanna Lumley Fellowship in Environmental Science at the University of Oxford. At the 2007 Chelsea Flower Show, Lumley had a fuchsia named after her. |
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