British Acting Legend, Famous for Comedy, Turns 80 Today
Acting legend Joanna Lumley celebrates their 80th birthday today.
Born on May 1, 1946, in Kashmir, India, daughter of a Gurkha officer, Lumley spent her early childhood in Hong Kong and Malaysia before the family returned to England when she was eight.
She found fame in the 1960s as a model before becoming a household name with her role of Purdey in 1976's The New Avengers. She starred alongside Patrick Macnee and Gareth Hunt, and became known for her signature Purdey hairstyle. Later, Joanna continued her TV reign, playing Sapphire in the 1979–1982 fantasy series Sapphire & Steel, opposite David McCallum, as reported by Hello!
On film, Lumley played a Bond girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), appearing as one of Blofeld's Angels of Death. Her other film credits, per IMDB, include Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), Shirley Valentine (1989), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Ella Enchanted (2004), Corpse Bride (2005), and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
Joanna found a whole new audience in the 1990s when she took on the hilarious role of Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous. With a blond beehive and a saucy anecdote, she instantly became a comedy icon and took home two Bafta awards. "To this day, wherever I go in the world, there is always a gaggle of Patsy fans, often dolled up to the nines and looking terribly glamorous. Very few females. Mostly men!" she said about her iconic comedy character, per OK!
More recently, Joanna returned to British comedy as the snobby mother of the lead character in Amandaland. The show follows a middle-class mother as she navigates life after divorce, juggles work and her family, and tries to make new friends at her children's school. Always one to reinvent herself, Joanna has recently been seen in Netflix's Wednesday, where she plays Grandmama Hester Frump.
Off-screen, Joanna is a passionate activist known for her advocacy for human rights, animal welfare, and environmental conservation. She used her public profile in the UK to work on the Gurkha Justice Campaign in 2008, and encourage the British government to grant settlement rights to thousands of retired Gurkha veterans who had served in the British Army.
In recent years, the actress has spent her life traveling the world and making documentaries about her experiences and her travel documentaries exploring destinations such as Japan, the Silk Road, and the Nile.
Lumley married conductor and composer Stephen Barlow in Scotland in 1986, following a brief marriage with actor Jeremy Lloyd between 1970 and 1971. She has a son, born in 1967, from her brief relationship with photographer Michael Claydon.
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This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 4:07 PM.