Joanna Dunham

Joanna Elizabeth Dunham (6 May 1936 – 25 November 2014) was an English actress born in Luton, Bedfordshire, whose work spanned stage, television, and film. Her father, Peter Browning Dunham (1911–1997), was an architect and artist, and her mother was Constance Amy Margareta (née Young, 1911–1992). A notable figure in her father's family was his aunt, the Impressionist painter Amy Katherine Browning, who was married to the artist Thomas Cantrell Dugdale.

Dunham received her education at Bedales School and subsequently the Slade School of Art before enrolling at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1956, the same year as Susannah York and Brian Epstein, who would later manage the Beatles. Her professional profile in Britain began to rise in 1958 when she took the role of Louka in the BBC Sunday Night Theatre production of Arms and the Man. By 1961, readers of the Daily Mirror had voted her Britain's most promising actress.

Her Broadway appearance came in 1962, when she played Juliet in the Old Vic production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The production toured the United States for five months across thirteen cities. During that tour, Dunham was noticed by Marilyn Monroe, who recommended her to director George Stevens for the role of Mary Magdalene in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). While filming that production, which ran for over a year on location, Dunham announced she was pregnant; Stevens worked to keep her in the film through the use of camera angles and costuming.

Dunham accumulated credited roles in at least seven films. In addition to The Greatest Story Ever Told, these included The Breaking Point (1961), in which she played Cherry Winlatter; Dangerous Afternoon (1961), where she appeared as Freda; A Day at the Beach (1970); The House That Dripped Blood (1971); Scandal (1989), in which she portrayed Bronwen, Viscountess Astor; and The Hour of the Pig (1993).

Her television work was extensive, encompassing at least 45 series or productions as of 1998. Among her earlier television roles was Gretel, William Tell's sister-in-law, in The Adventures of William Tell (1958). In 1964 she appeared in The Third Man episode Question In Ice, and in 1970 she played murderer Alice Rhodes in Wicked Women. Further television credits included an episode of Sykes in 1972, a two-part appearance in the Thames Television soap opera Rooms in 1974 opposite Ray Brooks, a guest role as Vana in the Space 1999 episode Missing Link in 1976, and the role of Jean Gayton in Casting the Runes for ITV in 1979. She appeared in the thriller series Van der Valk as Lucienne Elders in the first episode of the second series in 1977, then returned as Arlette van der Valk in the third series. In 1984 she appeared as Miss Featherstone in the tenth series of Are You Being Served.

Dunham was married twice: first to Henry A. Osborne from 1961 to 1972, and later to Reggie Oliver from 1992 until her death. As her acting career diminished, she took up painting and converted a farm building in Suffolk into an art gallery. She died on 25 November 2014 at the age of 78.