Joanna Lumley

Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE FRGS(born 1 May 1946) is an English^[1]actress, voice-over artist, former model, author and activist, who starred in the British television series Absolutely Fabulous as Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, Jam & Jerusalem and Sensitive Skin. In film she has appeared in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), and James and the Giant Peach (1996).

She later appeared in Maybe Baby(2000), Ella Enchanted (2004), and Corpse Bride (2005). She appeared alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the Martin Scorsese crime drama, The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). She has also appeared in several stage roles and in 2011 was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in La Bête.

She has spoken out as a human rights activist for Survival International and the Gurkha Justice Campaign and is now considered a "national treasure" of Nepal because of her support. She is an advocate for a number of charities and animal welfare groups such as Compassion in World Farming and Vegetarians' International Voice for Animals. She is patron of the Farm Animal Sanctuary.^[2] She also won the Special Recognition Award at The National Television Awards in 2013.

As of July 2012, she is planning, in collaboration with the designer Thomas Heatherwick, a pedestrian bridge across the Thames in London, "Garden Bridge".^[3] This is planned to feature trees and gardens.