[News] New Year Honours 2022: Lumley and Redgrave become dames

[Mr.Talha]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59780013

 

 

Actresses Joanna Lumley and Vanessa Redgrave have been made dames in the Queen's New Year Honours list.

Absolutely Fabulous star and activist Lumley has been honoured for services to drama, entertainment and charity.

Celebrated stage and screen veteran Redgrave has been recognised for services to drama.

Other celebrities on the list include newsreader Moira Stuart, dancer Ashley Banjo, 007 actor Daniel Craig and soap stars June Brown and William Roache.

Joanna Lumley said her damehood was "extraordinary" and "completely unexpected".

She initially thought the formal letter was bad news, but "burst into tears" when she realised it was offering her an honour. "It was an extraordinary shock," she told BBC News. "I put my head in my hands and sobbed like a baby.

"Then I thought, how has this happened? Is it a mistake? I truly was completely thrown by it, and thrilled to bits, and so touched."

The 75-year-old star, who is a friend of the Royal Family, won two Bafta Awards for her role as fashionista Patsy Stone in the 1990s BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.

She also appeared in TV shows The New Avengers and Sapphire & Steel, and was nominated for a Tony Award on Broadway in 2011. Beyond acting, she has been praised for her human rights and animal rights campaigning.

 

Vanessa Redgrave said she was "surprised and grateful to join this wondrous group of British artists whose work has inspired me and audiences the world over".

She added: "My generation fought for freedom of expression. Long may this remain."

The 84-year-old is regarded as one of the greatest actresses of her generation, with six Oscar nominations to her name including a win for the 1977 film Julia. Her other films include Mary, Queen of Scots, Howards End, Mrs Dalloway, Wilde, Mission: Impossible and Atonement.

The English actress is one of a coterie of stars to wear the triple crown of acting - winning an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony - while she has also received an Olivier Award, the London West End's highest accolade.