Trivia

In April 2009, she became the spokeswoman for the Gurkhas in the United Kingdom and was instrumental in persuading the British government to allow Gurkhas who had served in the Army the right to settle in the United Kingdom. When she visited Nepal in July 2009, she was treated as a heroine and a goddess by crowds of people on the street, and was thanked by Nepal's President and Prime Minister for her work in championing the Gurkhas' cause.

Despite having a very small role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), she spent two months on the production, dubbing the voices of a whole line up of international beauties in German, Chinese and Norwegian accents.

Is one of the most respected British actresses despite the fact she has had no acting training.

She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1995 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama and to charity.

Has one son, Jamie Lumley, (born 1967), from a relationship with photographer Michael Claydon.

In an episode of Absolutely Fabulous (1992), her character claims to have been a Bond Girl, then says "Julian Bond". Lumley actually was a Bond Girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

The BBC programme Girl Friday (1994) in which Lumley was left to fend for herself on a desert island for 10 days, heralded a new reality television genre, which spawned "Shipwrecked", "Survivor", etc.

Is also "the voice" of AOL in Great Britain. She greets subscribers when they "log on", tells them they have mail, and says goodbye when they "log off". She revealed this on The Graham Norton Show (2007) a couple of years back.

Grandmother to Alice Daisy Lumley (born April 2003) and Emily Kate Lumley (born October 2004) via son Jamie Lumley.

She has Scottish, English, Danish (from a maternal great-grandfather), and Irish ancestry.

Is a self-confessed huge fan of James Bond and of his creator Ian Fleming, being very proud of her role as a Bond Girl.

In 1991, an Oxford University college changed the name of its common room from Nelson Mandela to Joanna Lumley.

She went into modeling after failing her audition at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). She was told she was "Too fat and too ugly!".

As Patrick Macnee's female sidekick in The New Avengers (1976), she mentioned Honor Blackman as her favorite among Macnee's partners in the original series The Avengers (1961).

Wanted to be a ballet dancer but when she realised that she was going to be too tall, she decided to go in for modeling and modeled in Paris when she was age 18.

Received an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Kent at Canterbury "for her contribution to the entertainment industry and her active charitable work". (July 1994)

Her father was a major in the Gurkha Rifles.

Provided the inspiration for Glenn Close's 'vocal' portrayal of Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996).

Received honorary doctorates from Oxford Brooks University (2002), the University of St Andrews (2006), Queen's University Belfast (July 2008), and the University of Chester (March 2019).

She played the English Girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and Irma Bunt in the 2014 BBC Radio 4 adaptation "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". She also read the novel as Radio 4's "Book at Bedtime" in 1989.

Lumley was a member of the Booker Prize jury in 1985. When Keri Hulme's "The Bone People" won, she publicly dissociated herself from the decision (the book caused controversy with its depiction of child abuse).

Is a vegetarian and an active crusader for animal rights.

Lumley conceived the controversial Garden Bridge project, a planned memorial to Princess Diana intended to take the form of a bridge lined with trees between the north side of the Thames and the South Bank. First approved by London Mayor Boris Johnson, the project was terminated in 2017 by his successor Sadiq Khan, who cited "multiple serious issues". £37 million of public money had been spent without any building taking place.

She was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama, to entertainment and to charitable causes.

In July 2021, Lumley joined an international line-up of actors in backing calls for the Great Barrier Reef to be placed on a list of world heritage sites currently in danger.

Her grandfather was Colonel Leslie Weir, CIE, a political officer of the British Raj in India, were she was born. Joanna recreated the trip he and his wife made in 1931 to visit the King of Bhutan in Joanna Lumley in the Kingdom of the Thunderdragon (1997).

Daughter of James (1917-1999) and Thyra (née Weir) Lumley (1920-2005).

On May 6, 2023, Lumley attended the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. On July 3, 2023, she announced that she is suffering from prosopagnosia, a condition which impairs facial perception.

Cuts and dyes her own hair.

In the series episode Faces (1976), she beat Edward Petherbridge by giving him 10 punches.

Writes journalistic articles.

Her husband, Stephen Barlow is an opera conductor.

As at October 1985 he was writing a novel.

For over a year she wrote a regular column for The Times.

Her father is a retired Indian army major.

She did 26 shows in The New Avengers.

Received an honorary doctorate from Kent University.