Joanna Lumley
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Joanna Lumley, OBE, FRGS (born May 1, 1946 in Srinagar, Kashmir, India) is an English actress and former model who is arguably best known for her portrayal of the chain smoking, boozing, cocaine-sniffing and other drug-taking sexpot Patsy Stone on the British comedy television show Absolutely Fabulous.
Life and career
She has specialised in playing upper-class parts, and her distinctive plummy voice has reinforced this. However, following her rise to fame, she revealed that she had been an unmarried mother (son James, born 1967) during the 1960s when it was socially unacceptable. 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. She is currently married (1986) to conductor Stephen Barlow and lives in London.
Lumley was awarded an OBE in 1995. In 1999 she appeared in The Curse of Fatal Death — a special Comic Relief episode of Doctor Who — as a female version of the Doctor. In 1996 she travelled to Bhutan to film a journey made by her grandparents - 'In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon' - and also filmed '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 Cazalet Chronicles. She has also appeared in a tv series on Sarawak, where she spent time as a girl. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).
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 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.
Selected credits
Television
- Steptoe & Son 1972
- Coronation Street 1973
- The New Avengers - 1976-1977
- Sapphire & Steel 1979-1982
- Cluedo 1990
- Absolutely Fabulous - 1992 to present
- Girl Friday 1994
- Class Act 1994
- Cold Comfort Farm 1995
- The Tale of Sweeney Todd 1997
- Coming Home 1998
- A Rather English Marriage 1998
- Dr Willoughby 1999
- Nancherrow 1999
- 2000
- Up In Town 2002
- Top Gear 2004
- Sensitive Skin 2005
Theatre
- Blythe Spirit
- Hedda Gabler - Dundee Rep
- Noel & Gertie - King's Head
- Private Lives
Film
- Some Girls Do 1969
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969
- The Breaking of Bumbo 1970
- Games That Lovers Play 1970
- Tam Lin 1970
- Don't Just Lie There, Say Something 1973
- The Satanic Rites of Dracula 1974
- Trail of the Pink Panther 1982
- Curse of the Pink Panther 1983
- Shirley Valentine 1988
- Innocent Lies 1995
- James and the Giant Peach 1996
- Prince Valiant 1997
- Mad Cows 1999
- Parting Shots 1999
- Maybe Baby 2000
- The Cat's Meow 2001
- Ella Enchanted 2004
- ''Tim Burton's Corpse Bride 2005
Books
By Lumley
- (1983) — Editor
- (1989) — Autobiography
- Forces Sweethearts
- Girl Friday (1994)
- In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon (1997)
- No Room for Secrets (2005) — Autobiography
About Lumley
Joanna Lumley- The Biography by Tim Ewbank and Stafford Hildred;an unauthorised biography.External links
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