By Linda Loons
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley DBE FRGS (born 1 May 1946) is a British actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012), and was nominated for the 2011 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the Broadway revival of La Bête. In 2013, she received the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards, and in 2017 she was honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship award.
Lumley’s other television credits include The New Avengers (1976–1977), Sapphire & Steel (1979–1982), Sensitive Skin (2005–2007), Jam & Jerusalem (2006–2008) and Finding Alice (2021–present) as well as playing Elaine Perkins in Coronation Street in 1973. Her film appearances include On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), Shirley Valentine (1989), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Ella Enchanted (2004), Corpse Bride (2005), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016). She had roles in two episodes of Are You Being Served? (1973–1975) written by Jeremy Lloyd, whom she had married and divorced three years prior to her first appearance on the show.
Lumley is an advocate and human rights activist for Survival International and the Gurkha Justice Campaign. She supports charities and animal welfare groups, such as Compassion in World Farming and Vegetarians’ International Voice for Animals. Lumley was made a Dame (DBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to drama, entertainment and charity.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
May is named for the Roman goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants.
Ancient spring rites that related human fertility to crop fertility gave birth to most modern May Day festivities. May 1 is the traditional day to crown the May queen, dance around the maypole, perform mummers’ plays, and generally celebrate the return of spring. Although our Pilgrim fathers were horrified by these reminders of a pagan past and outlawed all such activities, the maypole dance remains an enduring event. In Great Britain, the custom of “bringing in the May” involves gathering “knots,” or branches with buds, on the eve or early morning of May 1. In England, a favorite branch is hawthorn. In Scotland and Wales, people choose the rowan, or mountain ash. In North America, we often select forsythia, lilac, or pussy willow branches to bring spring and the prospect of new life into our homes. Learn more about May Day here!
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Died
- Pope Pius V –
- Dr. David Livingstone (explorer, missionary) –
- Spike Jones (band leader, musician, & comedian) –
Born
- Benjamin Henry Latrobe (architect) –
- Glenn Ford (actor) –
- Jack Paar (entertainer) –
- Joseph Heller (novelist) –
- Rita Coolidge (singer) –
- Joanna Lumley (actress) –
- Tim McGraw (country singer) –
- Ariel Gade (actress) –
Events
- Great Britain formed–
- Electric streetlights installed in Ottawa, Ontario–
- Scofield Mine disaster occurred in Utah–
- The Empire State Building was dedicated in New York City–
- Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize–
- Existence of Van Allen radiation belts announced–
- Harper Lee won Pulitzer Prize for her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird–
- Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas–
Weather
- Polebridge, Montana, had a temperature of -5 degrees F–
- Ice out, Dublin Lake in Dublin, New Hampshire (home of The Old Farmer’s Almanac)–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
