Joanna Pettet, a London-born blonde with a promising start on stage and in late 1960s films, began her career in the late 1960s. Born Joanna Jane Salmon, she was raised in Canada after her father, a British Royal Air Force pilot, was killed in World War II. Pettet's journey to New York to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse led to Broadway roles in "Take Her, She's Mine" and "Poor Richard" alongside Alan Bates, earning her the Theatre World Award in 1965.
Pettet's subsequent role on the daytime soap The Doctors (1963) was followed by her move to Hollywood, where she stood out among talented hopefuls such as Candice Bergen, Shirley Knight, Jessica Walter, and Joan Hackett in the film soap The Group (1966). She continued to appear in films like Robbery (1967),The Night of the Generals (1967),and Casino Royale (1967),playing the exotic-dancing Mata Bond.
As a versatile player, Pettet was unfortunately cast in roles that emphasized her beauty rather than her talent. She graced the cover of Playboy magazine in 1968 and married actor Alex Cord the same year. However, a string of low-budget films, including Blue (1968) and The Best House in London (1969),stalled her film career.
In the 1970s, Pettet appeared in a range of TV movies, including The Weekend Nun (1972),Pioneer Woman (1973),A Cry in the Wilderness (1974),A Midsummer Nightmare (1975),Captains and the Kings (1976),Sex and the Married Woman (1977),and The Return of Frank Cannon (1980). She also worked on TV series like Night Gallery (1969) and Harry O (1973),but none of these projects allowed her to fully showcase her abilities.
By the late 1970s, Pettet was appearing in "has-been" shows like Fantasy Island (1977) and The Love Boat (1977). Her career slowed down, and she was rarely seen after that, eventually appearing in low-budget films like Double Exposure (1982),Sweet Country (1987),and Terror in Paradise (1991).
Pettet's personal life was marked by a divorce from Cord in 1989 and the tragic loss of her only child, Damien Zachary Cord, who died of an acute heroin overdose in 1995 at the age of 26. She later became the caregiver and companion of her friend, actor Alan Bates, until his death from cancer in 2003.
