Joanna Lumley is one of Britain's favourite actresses.
Her early films include Some Girls Do, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and two Pink Panther comedies. She made early television appearances on General Hospital and Coronation Street, before becoming immortalised as Purdy in The New Avengers.
However it was Joanna's role as the chain-smoking Patsy in the award-winning Absolutely Fabulous which brought her renewed fame: the series proving itself one of the classic sitcoms of British television. She later appeared in Jam and Jerusalem, penned by French and Saunders.
Since Ab Fab Joanna has also acted in Class Act, Cold Comfort Farm and Sensitive Skin. She played the over-the-hill star of a daytime TV hospital drama in Dr Willoughby and was nominated for a Best Actress Bafta for her role in A Rather English Marriage.
Joanna is known for her support for Gurkhas, the exiled Tibetan people and government, the Kondha indigenous people of India, and the Prospect Burma charity which offers grants to Burmese students. In 2008 she became the public face of a campaign to provide all Gurkha veterans who served in the British Army before 1997 the right to settle in Britain.
She made the documentary In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon, in which she charted the journey her grandparents made in the little-known country of Bhutan. In the BBC special Girl Friday Joanna tried her hand at surviving on a desert island and wrote an accompanying book about her experiences.
"1500 people in the Great Room gave their total attention throughout our awards. No mean feat." The Guardian
"Joanna hosted the awards with such warmth and professionalism, she really was superb!" William Reed
"The client was positively ecstatic. You made our job very easy" International Finance Review / Save the Children Awards.
"The whole evening was a huge success and you were a fundamental part of that." Thomson Financial Services.
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