Joanna Dunham

Joanna Elizabeth Dunham (6 May 1936 – 25 November 2014) was an English actress, best noted for her work on stage and television. She also appeared in several major films.

Joanna Dunham

Career

Dunham was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, the daughter of Peter Browning Dunham (1911–1997), an architect and artist, and Constance Amy Margareta (1911-1992; née Young). Her father's aunt was the Impressionist painter Amy Katherine Browning, who married the artist Thomas Cantrell Dugdale.[1][2][3][4]

She was educated at Bedales School, then the Slade School of Art,[5] and in 1956 she attended RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the same year as Susannah York and Brian Epstein, who later became the manager of the Beatles.[6][7][8]

She first gained notice for playing Juliet in the 1962 Old Vic production of Romeo and Juliet, under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli, which was performed in a five-month, 13-city U.S. tour.[9] She was spotted by Marilyn Monroe, who recommended her to director George Stevens for the role of Mary Magdalen in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).[8]

Her first television role had come some years earlier (1958), when she appeared as Louka in the "Arms and the Man" episode of BBC Sunday Night Theatre.[10] As of 1998 Dunham had appeared in at least 45 different television series or productions.[11]

Filmography

Dunham had credited roles in at least seven films:

While working on The Greatest Story Ever Told, the on-site filming of which stretched to over a year,[12] Dunham announced that she was pregnant. Director George Stevens tried to keep her in the production with the use of flattering camera angles and draped costumes. He told an interviewer from Variety, "Well, that Mary Magdalene always was a troublemaker."[13][14]

Television

In 1973, Dunham was featured as Penny Burns in an episode of the Thriller (UK TV series) entitled, Possession.

In 1976, she appeared as a guest artist in an episode of Space 1999 entitled Missing Link, she played the character Vana. She appeared as Arlette van der Valk in the third series of Van der Valk (1977), as Alice Rhodes in an episode of Wicked Women (1970), and as Miss Featherstone in the episode "Goodbye Mrs. Slocombe" in the 10th series of Are You Being Served (1984).[11][15]

Personal life

Dunham was married twice, to Henry A. Osborne (1961–72, ended in divorce) and to Reggie Oliver (1992-her death).[8] She took up painting when her acting career declined, and converted a Suffolk farm building into an art gallery.[16]

Death

Dunham died on 25 November 2014, aged 78.[10]

References
  1. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/01/joanna-dunham
  2. https://suffolkartists.co.uk/index.cgi?choice=painter&pid=1039
  3. https://suffolkartists.co.uk/index.cgi?choice=painter&pid=1040
  4. Amy K. Browning, 1881-1978: An Impressionist in the Women's Movement, Joanna Dunham, Boudicca Books, 1995, pp. 2, 37
  5. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/01/joanna-dunham
  6. "Joanna Dunham — RADA". www.rada.ac.uk.
  7. "Susannah York — RADA". www.rada.ac.uk.
  8. "Joanna Dunham: Actress best known for playing Mary Magdalen who could". The Independent. 7 December 2014.
  9. "The Stage: The New Old Vic". 2 March 1962 – via content.time.com.
  10. Obituary for Joanna Dunham, theguardian.com, 1 December 2014; accessed 2 December 2014.
  11. "Joanna Dunham". BFI.
  12. The Hollywood Hall of Shame, p. 140
  13. Times, Special to The New York (9 February 1963). "BIBLICAL STORY BEFORE CAMERAS; Atmosphere on Set Hushed as Scene Is Shot Whispers Die Away Scene Shot Again Exchange With Judas" – via NYTimes.com.
  14. Joanna Dunham filmography, nytimes.com; accessed 2 December 2014.
  15. "Joanna Dunham". www.aveleyman.com.
  16. "Mary Magdalene actress Dunham dies". 3 December 2014 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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