Joanna Dunham obit

Joanna Dunham, star of The Greatest Story Ever Told, dies aged 78

She was not on the list.

British actress Joanna Dunham, famed for her role in The Greatest Story Ever Told, has died aged 78.

Dunham played Mary Magdalene in the 1965 Hollywood blockbuster, directed by George Stevens.

The actress was recommended by Marilyn Monroe to take on the role in the Biblical epic.

The film, which also starred Max von Sydow as Jesus and Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, was nominated for five Academy Awards.

Dunham was spotted by Monroe in New York in 1962, who had seen her performance in Franco Zeffirelli's production of Romeo and Juliet.

She taken over the lead role of Juliet from Judi Dench.

The actress went on to appear in A Day at the Beach in 1972 and Peter Duffell's 1971 horror classic The House That Dripped Blood, opposite British actors Denholm Elliott, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

Her later TV movie roles included Lady Catherine in Leslie Megahey's The Hour of the Pig in 1992, with Colin Firth and Nicol Williamson, and as Raine Spencer in Diana, A Tribute to the People's Princess, in 1998.

The actress also appeared on British TV in hit series including Van der Valk and Are You Being Served?

Later in life, Dunham turned to her love of painting and created a gallery in a converted farm building at her home in Suffolk, where she lived with her second husband, playwright and novelist Reggie Oliver.

She held exhibitions at the gallery and also also showcased her art work at the New English Art Club in London and the Royal Society of Portrait Painter

Filmography

Dunham had credited roles in at least seven films:

    The Breaking Point (1961) - Cherry Winlatter

    Dangerous Afternoon (1961) - Freda

    The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) - Mary Magdalene

    A Day at the Beach (1970) - Tonie

    The House That Dripped Blood (1971) - Alice Hillyer

    Scandal (1989) - Lady Bronwen Astor

    The Hour of the Pig (1993) - Lady Catherine d/Auferre

While working on The Greatest Story Ever Told, the on-site filming of which stretched to over a year, Dunham announced that she was pregnant. Director George Stevens tried to keep her in the production with the use of flattering camera angles and draped costumes. He told an interviewer from Variety, "Well, that Mary Magdalene always was a troublemaker.

She appeared as William Tell's sister-in-law, Gretel, in The Adventures of William Tell, notably in "The Shrew" episode (1958).

In 1973, Dunham was featured as Penny Burns in an episode of the Thriller (UK TV series) entitled, Possession.

In 1976, she appeared as a guest artist in an episode of Space 1999 entitled Missing Link, she played the character Vana. She appeared as Arlette van der Valk in the third series of Van der Valk (1977), as Alice Rhodes in an episode of Wicked Women (1970), and as Miss Featherstone in the episode "Goodbye Mrs. Slocombe" in the 10th series of Are You Being Served (1984).