Award-winning actress Joanna Lumley has been announced as the UK’s jury spokesperson for the upcoming final of the Eurovision Song Contest. The annual event takes place in Malmo, Sweden, on Saturday 11 May.
An icon of our times, the Absolutely Fabulous actress has enjoyed a successful television career and recently wowed fans in the Netflix thriller series: Fool Me Once.
The much-loved star, 78, originally shot to fame when she started a modelling career and tried her hand at acting when she was 16. However, things didn’t exactly start off well as Joanna failed an exam to join the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Nevertheless, this didn’t crush her dreams of becoming an actress. She later landed a role as a Bond Girl in the iconic film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969.
She then appeared as a love interest in the ITV soap Coronation Street for Ken Barlow (William Roache) a few years later. Joanna also enjoyed a breakout role in the hit series, The New Avengers.
Her big break arrived in 1992 when she portrayed the wild character of Patsy in the comedy series Absolutely Fabulous. Starring opposite Jennifer Saunders, Joanna played the fashionista until 2003 and returned for a number of specials.
Joanna’s incredible career earned her an OBE in the 1995 New Year’s Honours List and she was later promoted to a Dame in 2022 for services to entertainment and drama.
Away from her television career, the actress is a prominent charity campaigner and has worked alongside a wide range of causes over the years, including supporting animals and young children.
In terms of her private life, Joanna has been married to Stephen Barlow for over 30 years. However, this was not her first marriage as she previously tied the knot with Jeremy Lloyd in 1970. The pair were together for only a year before splitting.
Joanna is the proud mother of one son, Jamie, who was born in 1967. She gave birth to him when she was just 21-years old and later became a single mother after splitting from Jamie’s father, photographer Michael Claydon.
The Eurovision Song Contest final airs on Saturday on BBC One at 8pm.
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