Joanna Lumley

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Joanna Lumley
Born	Joanna Lamond Lumley 1 May 1946 (1946-05-01) (age 63) Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, British India
Spouse(s)	Stephen Barlow

Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, best known for her roles in the British television series The New Avengers, Sapphire and Steel, Absolutely Fabulous and Sensitive Skin. She is also a former model, a human rights activist (best known for her support for Gurkhas, the exiled Tibetan people and government and Prospect Burma, a charity that offers grants to Burmese students, for whom she broadcast the BBC Radio 4 charity appeal in 2001 ^[1]), and an animal welfare activist.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Early career 3 Major roles 4 Familiar presence 5 Gurkha Justice Campaign 6 Personal life 7 Filmography 8 Theatre 9 Books 9.1 By Lumley 9.2 About Lumley 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Early life

Joanna Lamond Lumley^[2] was born on 1 May 1946 in Srinagar, in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Her parents were Major James Rutherford Lumley, who served in the 6th Gurkha Rifles,^[3] a regiment of the British Indian Army, and Beatrice Rose Weir. They married in 1941. After the independence of India in 1947, the Lumleys moved to Malaya^[4] (now, Malaysia) and later settled in Kent, England.^[2] Joanna was educated at St Mary's School in Northiam, East Sussex, England, and afterward attended the Lucy Clayton finishing school.

Tall, slim and blonde, she spent three years as a photographic model, and appeared in an UK television advertisement for Nimble bread first screened in 1969.^[5] Lumley appeared in episode 1.6 of The Bruce Forsyth Show (1966) and she also worked as a house model for Jean Muir.

[edit] Early career

Lumley did not receive any formal training at drama school. Her acting career began in 1969 with a small role in the film Some Girls Do and as a Bond girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, she played the English Girl among Blofeld's 'Angels of Death' and had two lines. She went on to have a brief, but memorable role in Coronation Street, in which her character turned down Ken Barlow's offer of marriage.

In the Are You Being Served? episode "His and Hers" (season 1; episode 4), she featured as perfume representative Miss French. In the episode "German Week" (season 3; episode 6), she featured as the German Lady. She also appeared on the big screen in The Satanic Rites of Dracula, released 13 January 1974, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

[edit] Major roles

Throughout her career, she has specialised in playing upper-class parts, and her distinctive plummy voice has reinforced this. Lumley's first major role was as Purdey in The New Avengers, a revival of the secret agent series The Avengers. Although critical reaction to the series was lukewarm, the casting of Lumley was seen as inspired and following the tradition of iconic Avengers actresses Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson. Lumley's bobbed hairstyle quickly became known as the 'Purdey bob' and was hugely popular for a time in the mid-1970s.

In 1979 she appeared in another series which acquired a following: Sapphire and Steel, with David McCallum. Conceived as ITV's answer to Doctor Who, Lumley played a mysterious ephemeral being ('Sapphire') who, with her cohort 'Steel', dealt with breaches in the fabric of time.

Over a decade later, Lumley's career was boosted by her portrayal of the chain smoking, frequently inebriated, coke-sniffing (plus other drugs) and sex-addicted fashion director Patsy Stone on the British comedy television series Absolutely Fabulous (1992 - 2005).

Other work has included: Lovejoy as widow Victoria Cavero, 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 1999 she also provided the voice for Sims the chicken in the BAFTA award winning animated series The Foxbusters. In 2000 she co-produced a new drama series The Cazalets. She has also appeared in a TV series on Sarawak, where she spent time in her childhood. 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.

Lumley stars as the elderly Delilah Stagg in the 2006 sitcom Jam & Jerusalem with Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Sue Johnston. In July 2007 she starred in the second series of the drama Sensitive Skin where she played the main character Davina Jackson. The BBC has said this will be the final series of the dark comedy.

[edit] Familiar presence

As the possessor of one of the most recognised voices in the United Kingdom,^[6] Lumley has gained prominence as a voice-over artist. Users of AOL in the United Kingdom are familiar with Joanna Lumley's voice. She recorded the greetings "Welcome to AOL" and "You have email" for that company. Her voice is, therefore, the first thing a UK AOL user hears when logging on. She also did a voice over for the BBC series Posh Nosh as a voice-over usually saying "From the Posh Nosh range, (a faux product)."

She appeared as a guest host on Channel 4's The Friday Night Project, which aired on 3 August 2007.

From 2005-2006, she appeared in adverts for insurance brokers Privilege.

Lumley has also appeared on the last run of ITV1's Parkinson 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."

In 1999 she appeared in the Comic Relief Doctor Who parody "The Curse of Fatal Death" as the final incarnation of the Doctor. She also appeared with Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French and Sienna Miller in French and Saunders pastiche of Mamma Mia for Comic Relief 2009 in which she played the role of Tanya (Patsy in the spoof).

In 2005, she published her autobiography No Room for Secrets which was serialized by The Times,^[7] for which she was once a regular contributor.

In September and December 2008, and April 2009, the BBC showed Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights, a documentary about her search to see the Northern Lights in northern Norway.^[8]

In May 2009, she supported the Green Party during the 2009 European Elections campaign. For Joanna Lumley, the work of Green MEPs in the European Parliament in pursuing human rights and animal rights made the Green Party "the obvious choice", and urged UK voters "to cast a positive vote for a better future by voting Green in the European Elections".^[9]

[edit] Gurkha Justice Campaign

In 2008 she became the public face of a campaign to provide all Gurkha veterans who served in the British Army before 1997 the right to settle in Britain. Those serving after 1997 had already been granted permission but the UK Government has not extended the offer to all of the Gurkhas, who are natives of Nepal. They have served Britain for more than 200 years with over 50,000 dying in service, and 13 have been awarded the Victoria Cross. On 20 November 2008, Ms. Lumley led a large all party group including Gurkhas starting from Parliament Square to 10 Downing Street with a petition signed by 250,000 people. She supports the Gurkha Justice Campaign.^[10] On 24 April 2009 she stated that she was "ashamed" of the UK administration's decision to affix five criteria to the Gurkhas' right to settle in the UK. With the support of both Opposition parties and Labour rebel MPs on 29 April 2009 a Liberal Democrat motion that all Gurkhas be offered an equal right of residence was passed, allowing Gurkhas who served before 1997 residence in the UK.^[11][12][13] Following the Government defeat, the Minister for Immigration Phil Woolas announced that a further review would be completed by the middle of July.

On 5 May Joanna Lumley said that she had received private assurances of support from a senior member of the Royal Family,^[14] and attended a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street the following day. Afterwards she described the meeting as "extremely positive", and praised Mr Brown, saying, "I trust him. I rely on him. And I know that he has now taken this matter into his own hands and so today is a very good day."^[15]

However, on the day following the meeting with Mr Brown, five Gurkha veterans who had applied for residency in the United Kingdom received letters telling them that their appeals had been rejected. Ms Lumley confronted Phil Woolas at the BBC Westminster studios about the issue and, after pursuing him around the studio, the pair held an inpromptu press conference in which she pressured him into agreeing to further talks over the issue.^[16]

Following a Commons Home Affairs Committee meeting in which talks were held between campaigners, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office on 19 May, Gordon Brown announced to the House of Commons on 20 May that the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith would make a statement on the issue the following day.^[17] Ms Smith subsequently announced that all Gurkha veterans who had served four years or more in the British Army before 1997 would be allowed to settle in Britain.^[18]

As a result of her campaigning skills there were calls for Joanna Lumley to stand as a Member of Parliament at the forthcoming general election. However, she has dismissed the suggestion.^[19] She re-iterated that she had no desire to run for election to the House of Commons during an appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 29 May.

[edit] Personal life

Following her rise to fame, she revealed that she had been an unmarried mother during the 1960s when it was socially unacceptable; her son, James, was born in 1967. James Lumley's natural father is the photographer Michael Claydon and is of Anglo Indian ethnicity. The first of her two subsequent marriages was to comedy writer Jeremy Lloyd (Are You Being Served? see early career). In 1986 she married conductor Stephen Barlow; they live in London. They also have a house near the village of Penpont in southern Scotland.

Lumley was awarded an OBE in 1995. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). She was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Kent in July 1994.[1] In 2006 she was awarded an honorary degree from the University of St. Andrews and in July 2008, she was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Queen's University Belfast.

Alongside her work for the Gurkhas, Lumley is a supporter of many charities. She is a vegetarian and a keen supporter of animal rights charities, including CIWF and Viva!. She has donated signed books for the literacy and international development charity Book Aid International. She is patron of the Born Free Foundation and passionate about the Free Tibet campaign. Other charities supported include Mind, ActionAid and SANE.[2]

Joanna Lumley also supports the Burma Campaign UK, an NGO that aims to stop the oppression of the Burmese people by a military regime.

[edit] Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1969	Some Girls Do	Uncredited
	On Her Majesty's Secret Service	The English Girl
1970	The Breaking of Bumbo	Susie
	Games That Lovers Play	Fanny Hill
	Tam-Lin	Georgia
1971	The House That Dripped Blood	Uncredited
1973	Don't Just Lie There, Say Something!	Giselle Parkyn
	The Satanic Rites of Dracula	Jessica Van Helsing
1982	Trail of the Pink Panther	Marie Jouvet
1983	Curse of the Pink Panther	Countess Chandra
1989	Shirley Valentine	Marjorie
1995	Innocent Lies	Lady Helena Graves
1996	James and the Giant Peach	Aunt Spiker
1997	Prince Valiant	Morgan le Fay
1999	Parting Shots	Freda
	Mad Cows	Gillian
2000	Maybe Baby	Sheila
	Whispers: An Elephant's Tale	Half Tusk (voice)
2001	The Cat's Meow	Elinor Glyn
2004	Standing Room Only	Last in Line	Short film
	EuroTrip	Hostel Clerk
	Ella Enchanted	Dame Olga
2005	The Magic Roundabout	Ermintrude
	Tim Burton's Corpse Bride	Maudeline Everglot
2006	Dolls	Madame Muscat	Short film
2009	Boogie Woogie	Alfreda Rhinegold
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	The Wednesday Play	Elsie Engelfield	1 episode
1971	It's Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, Darling	Samantha Ryder-Ross	TV series
1972	Steptoe and Son	Bunty	1 episode 'Loathe Story'
1973	Coronation Street	Elaine Perkins	102 episodes
1973-75	Are You Being Served?	Miss French/German Lady	2 episodes 'His and Hers', 'German Week'
1976	The Cuckoo Waltz	Harriet Paulden	1 episode 'Babysitter'
1976-77	The New Avengers	Purdey	26 episodes
1979	The Plank	Hitchhiker
1979-82	Sapphire & Steel	Sapphire	34 episodes
1981-85	The Kenny Everett Television Show	Various	5 episodes
1982	The Weather in the Streets	Kate	TV film
1984	Mistral's Daughter	Lally Longbridge	TV mini-series
	The Glory Boys	Helen	TV film
	Oxbridge Blues	Gigi	1 episode 'That Was Tory'
1986	The Two Ronnies	Miss Dibley	1 episode
1990	A Ghost in Monte Carlo	Lady Drayton	TV film
1991	A Perfect Hero	Loretta Stone	TV miniseries
1992	Lovejoy	Victoria Cavero	3 episodes
1992-2005	Absolutely Fabulous	Patsy Stone	37 episodes
1993	Cluedo	Mrs. Peacock	6 episodes
1994	Girl Friday		TV series
1994-95	Class Act	Kate Swift	14 episodes
1995	Cold Comfort Farm	Mrs. Mary Smiling	TV film
	The Forgotten Toys	Annie (voice)	Animated series
1996	Roseanne	Patsy Stone	1 episode 'Satan, Darling'
1998	The Tale of Sweeney Todd	Mrs. Lovett	TV film
	Coming Home	Diana Carey-Lewis	TV film
	A Rather English Marriage	Liz Franks	TV film
1999	Alice in Wonderland	Tiger Lily	TV film
	Nancherrow	Diana Carey-Lewis	TV film
	Foxbusters	Sims (voice)	Animation series
	Dr Willoughby	Donna Sinclair	1 episode 'Family wedding'
2000	Mirrorball	Jackie Riviera	Pilot
2002	Up In Town	Madison Blakelock	TV series
2004	Marple	Dolly Bantry	1 episode 'The Body in the Library
2005-07	Sensitive Skin	Davina Jackson	12 episodes
2006–present	Jam & Jerusalem	Delilah Stagg	6 episodes
2009	Lewis	Esme Ford	1 episode 'Counter Culture Blues'
Documentaries
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights	Herself
	Ian Fleming: Where Bond Began	Herself

[edit] Theatre

• Blithe Spirit
• Hedda Gabler - Dundee Rep
• Noel & Gertie - King's Head
• Private Lives
• The Letter by Somerset Maugham, Lyric Hammersmith, 1995
• Jack and the Beanstalk by Roald Dahl, Royal Albert Hall, December 1996
• The Cherry Orchard - Sheffield Crucible, March 2007

[edit] Books

[edit] By Lumley

• Peacocks and Commas: Best of the "Spectator" Competitions (1983) - Editor
• Stare Back and Smile: Memoirs (1989) - Autobiography
• Forces Sweethearts
• Girl Friday (1994)
• In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon (1997)
• No Room for Secrets (2005) - Autobiography

She has also narrated a number of audiobooks and provided forewords for works by other authors.

[edit] About Lumley

• Joanna Lumley — The Biography by Tim Ewbank and Stafford Hildred; an unauthorised biography.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Joanna Lumley at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC biography
• Joanna Lumleys' Biography

Persondata
NAME	Lumley, Joanna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Lumley, Joanna Lamond
SHORT DESCRIPTION	British actress and former model
DATE OF BIRTH	1946-05-01
PLACE OF BIRTH	Srinagar, India
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH