Joanna Lumley Biography

Joanna Lumley is a British actress and former model who is best known for her starring role in the television drama ‘Absolutely Fabulous’. Throughout her career, she has specialized in playing high-society ladies, and her distinctive voice has reinforced this in an effective manner. Joanna was born in Srinagar, British India, to a military officer who served in the British army’s 6th Gurkha Rifles in World War II. Later the family returned to Britain where she received education from private schools. After schooling, she started her career as a model but her lifelong ambition was to be an actress. Gradually, she appeared in a series of small roles, including the one in the Bond film ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ (1969) and later enjoyed a stint in the television drama ‘Coronation Street’. She rose to prominence when she was cast as Purdey in the popular British TV show ‘The New Avengers’. Subsequently, with her cult popularity, she landed the role of the female lead in the science-fiction series ‘Sapphire and Steel’. But the most crucial role of her career came in the early 1990s when she played Patsy Stone in the television sitcom‘Absolutely Fabulous’ which earned her several BAFTA Awards. She has made appearances on the big screen in many films including ‘Ella Enchanted’ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, and has also lent her voice to various projects such as ‘The Foxbusters’