Joanna Lumley was born on May 1, 1946, in Kashmir, India, to British parents Thya Beatrice Rose (Weir) and James Rutherford Lumley. Her father, a major in the Gurkha Rifles, was stationed in the Far East, where Joanna spent most of her early childhood.
Aspiring to be an actress, Joanna initially gained fame as a model in London's swinging 1960s, where she was photographed by renowned photographers, including her friend, the late Patrick Lichfield. She was a muse and house model for designer Jean Muir for several years before establishing a freelance modeling career, becoming one of the top ten most-booked models of the decade.
Joanna's breakthrough role came as Purdey in The New Avengers (1976),a role that earned her instant fame and created one of the most iconic hairstyles of the 1970s - the Purdey bob. She became a pin-up figure for a generation of British males who grew up watching her as the high-kicking action girl.
Following her success as Purdey, Joanna took on other notable roles, including 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 that has gained a cult following in recent years. During the 1980s, Joanna returned to the theater, making notable appearances as "Hedda Gabler" and as "Elvira" in "Blithe Spirit", a role that seems tailor-made for her. She also appeared 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 catapulted Joanna to wider international acclaim. Her role as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous (1992) is regarded as one of the greatest female comic performances ever, earning Joanna a stream of awards, including several BAFTAs. Since Absolutely Fabulous (1992),Joanna has solidified her position as one of the UK's most-loved and respected actresses, rarely off UK TV screens and with a successful film career as a character/voice-over actress.
Joanna recently collaborated with 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, Joanna 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.
