Biography

Joanna Dunham was born on May 6, 1936 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Advocate (1993), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and The House That Dripped Blood (1971). She was married to Reggie Oliver and Henry A. Osborne. She died on November 25, 2014 in Saxmundham, Suffolk, England, UK.

Began on stage in 1958 at the Liverpool Playhouse. Dunham was recommended to director George Stevens for the part of Mary Magdalen in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) by Marilyn Monroe, who had seen her performance as Juliet (in Franco Zeffirelli's production) on tour with the Old Vic in New York in 1962.

Turned to painting after her acting career declined. She created a gallery in a converted farm building in Suffolk, mounting exhibitions there, as well as at at the New English Art Club in London and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

Won a scholarship to study stage design and painting at the Slade School of Art in London, where her tutors included Thomas Monnington and Lucian Freud.

The daughter of architect Peter Dunham.