Joanna Dunham Passes On

Joanna Dunham, the actress who  appeared frequently on television and appeared in the film The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), died on 25 November 2014 at the age of 78.

Joanna Dunham was born on 6 May 1936 in  Luton, Bedfordshire. At London University she appeared in a production of The Dark of the Moon opposite Tom Courtenay. Her performance led to a scholarship at  the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1956. Among those attending RADA the same time as Miss Dunham were Susannah York and Brian Epstein. She made her professional debut on stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in a production of The Deserters. She made her television debut the same year on an edition of BBC Sunday-Night Theatre. In the late Fifties she guest starred on such shows as William Tell, The Invisible Man, Private Investigator, Inside Story, Armchair Mystery Theatre, and ITV Television Playhouse. She made her debut on stage in London in a production of Visit to a Small Planet.

In 1961 Joanna Dunham made her film debut in The Breaking Point. She appeared in the film Dangerous Afternoon (1961) before being cast as Mary Magdalene in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Despite her high profile role in The Greatest Story Ever Told, Miss Dunham only made one more movie in the Sixties: A Day at the Beach in 1970. She appeared frequently on television in the Sixties, on such shows as Danger Man, Somerset Maugham Hour, First Night, The Third Man, ITV Play of the Week, The Wednesday Play, Sanctuary, and ITV Saturday Night Theatre.

In the Seventies Joanna Dunham had regular roles in the TV programmes The Passenger, Van der Valk, and Love Among the Artists.  She appeared on such shows as Jason King, The Adventurer, Armchair Theatre, Dial M for Murder, Play for Today, Space: 1999, and ITV Playhouse. She appeared in the horror classic The House That Dripped Blood (1971).

In the Eighties she was a regular on the TV programmes The Outsider and Moondial. She has Who Dares Wins and Are You Being Served?. She appeared in the movie Scandal (1989).  In the Nineties she was a regular on the programme Then Churchill Said to Me. She appeared in the TV movie Diana: A Tribute to the People's Princess. She appeared in the film The Advocate (1993)