Joanna Lumley

Joanna Lumley (born May 1, 1946, Srinagar, Kashmir, British India [now in Jammu and Kashmir union territory, India]) is a British actress who is perhaps best known for her work in the television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.

Lumley was born in India, where her father had fought with the British army’s 6th Gurkha Rifles in World War II. During fierce fighting in Burma (Myanmar) in June 1944, his life was saved by a Gurkha (a solider from Nepal) during a battle. Lumley’s family later returned to Britain, where she was educated at private schools. She took up modeling, but her lifelong ambition was to be an actress. Though she failed an exam at 16 to enter the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she appeared in a series of small roles, including one in the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), and she enjoyed a stint (1973) on the television drama Coronation Street.

Lumley achieved stardom when she was cast as Purdey in the popular British TV show The New Avengers (1976–77). Other substantial parts followed, notably the female lead in the science-fiction series Sapphire and Steel (1979–82), but her defining role came in 1992, when she began appearing in the TV situation comedy Absolutely Fabulous, which was created by Jennifer Saunders, who also starred in the show. In Ab Fab, as it came to be known, Lumley played Patsy, an aging, sexually aggressive, chain-smoking, heavy-drinking, drug-taking fashionista with a distinctive beehive hairdo. It was an outrageous and show-stealing performance, and she earned several British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards. The show aired for five seasons (1992, 1994, 1995, 2001, and 2003) and had a number of specials. Lumley and Saunders revived their roles for Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie in 2016.

Lumley’s other notable television credits included the comedy series Class Act (1994–95) and Sensitive Skin (2005, 2007). She also appeared in such films as James and the Giant Peach (1996), Ella Enchanted (2004), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Paddington 2 (2017), Finding Your Feet (2017), and The Picture of Dorian Gray (2021). In addition, she lent her voice to various projects, including Corpse Bride (2005).

Lumley began acting onstage in the early 1970s. Her theatrical credits included West End productions of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit (1986) and Alan Ayckbourn’s The Revenger’s Comedies (1991) and a 2007 staging of The Cherry Orchard in Sheffield. In 2010–11 Lumley appeared on Broadway in La Bête.

A noted activist, Lumley supported a number of causes. She was especially involved in the campaign that in 2009 persuaded the British government to give all Gurkhas who had fought for the British army the right to settle in Britain. She was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1995, and in the 2022 New Year Honours List she was elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).