Joanna Lumley, OBE, FRGS (born May 1, 1946 in Srinagar, Kashmir, India) is an English actress and former model. Lumley’s acting career began with her playing the role of a Bond girl in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).

Joana Lumley as the English girl in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’.

Her first major role, however, was as Purdey in The New Avengers, a revival of the secret agent series The Avengers. Although critical reaction to the series was lukewarm, the casting of Lumley was seen as inspired and following the tradition of iconic Avengers actresses. Lumley’s bobbed hairstyle quickly became known as the ‘Purdey bob’ and was hugely popular for a time in the mid-1970s.

In 1979 she appeared in another series with a cult following: Sapphire and Steel. Conceived as ITV’s answer to Doctor Who, Lumley played a mysterious ephemeral being (‘Sapphire’) who, with her cohort ‘Steel’, dealt with breaches in the fabric of time. Lumley went on to find fame with a new generation for her portrayal of the chain smoking, boozing, cocaine-sniffing and other drug-taking sexpot Patsy Stone on the British comedy television show Absolutely Fabulous (1992 – 2004).