After Joanna failed her RADA audition she went into modeling. She was told she was "Too fat and too ugly!".
Awarded an honorary doctorate from St Andrews University in 2006.
Born at 7:30pm-IST.
Despite having a very small part 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.
Grandmother to Alice Daisy (b. 2003) and Emily Kate (b. 2004) through her son Jamie Lumley.
Has an honorary degree From Oxford Brookes University.
Has one son, Jamie Lumley, born in 1967, from a relationship with photographer Michael Claydon.
Her father was a major in the Gurkha Rifles.
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).
In 1991, an Oxford University college changed the name of its common room from Nelson Mandela to Joanna Lumley.
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).
In April 2009 she became the spokeswoman for the Gurkhas in the UK and was instrumental in persuading the British government to allow Gurkhas who had served in the Army the right to settle in the UK. 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.
Is a vegetarian and an active crusader for animal rights.
Is one of the most respected British actresses despite the fact she has had no acting training.
Joanna was awarded an OBE in 1995.
Received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 1994 from Kent University in Canterbury "for her contribution to the entertainment industry and her active charitable work."
She is a self-confessed Bond fan and of his creator Ian Fleming, being very proud of her role as a 'Bond Girl'.
She is also "the voice" of AOL in Great Britain. She's the one who 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.
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 TV genre, which spawned "Shipwrecked", "Survivor", etc.