Joanna Lumley

Daughter of James (1917-1999) and Thyra (née Weir) Lumley (1920-2005).

Her grandfather was Colonel Leslie Weir, CIE, a political officer of the British Raj in India, were she was born. Joanna recreated the trip he and his wife made in 1931 to visit the King of Bhutan in Joanna Lumley in the Kingdom of the Thunderdragon (1997).

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.

Has one son, Jamie Lumley, born in 1967, from a relationship with photographer Michael Claydon.

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.

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.

Lumley's breakthrough role was as Purdey in The New Avengers (1976), a role for which over 800 girls auditioned.

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).

Lumley was a member of the Booker Prize jury in 1985. When Keri Hulme's "The Bone People" won, she publicly dissociated herself from the decision (the book caused controversy with its depiction of child abuse).

In 1991, an Oxford University college changed the name of its common room from Nelson Mandela to Joanna Lumley.

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.

Received an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Kent at Canterbury in July 1994 "for her contribution to the entertainment industry and her active charitable work".

She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1995 Queen's New Year Honours List for her services to drama and charity.

Provided the inspiration for Glenn Close's 'vocal' portrayal of Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996).

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).

Grandmother to Alice Daisy (born April 2003) and Emily Kate (born October 2004) via son Jamie Lumley.

Received an honorary doctorate from the University of St Andrews in 2006.

Is also "the voice" of AOL in Great Britain. She greets subscribers when they "log on", tells them they have mail, and says goodbye when they "log off". She revealed this on The Graham Norton Show (2007) a couple of years back.

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.

Lumley conceived the controversial Garden Bridge project, a planned memorial to Princess Diana intended to take the form of a bridge lined with trees between the north side of the Thames and the South Bank. First approved by London Mayor Boris Johnson, the project was terminated in 2017 by his successor Sadiq Khan, who cited "multiple serious issues". £37 million of public money had been spent without any building taking place.