Joanna Lumley says she doesn’t have ‘much time left’ in sad health admission
Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley has shared a poignant reflection on her life as she turned 79, admitting that she doesn’t have ‘all that much time left’
Dame Joanna Lumley offered a touching insight as she celebrated her 79th birthday, admitting that she senses her time might be dwindling.
The cherished actress, with a career spanning over five decades, including her time as a Bond girl in the ’60s, a ’70s spy in The New Avengers, and the iconic Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous, is also set to feature in the highly anticipated second season of Netflix’s popular series Wednesday.
Marking her 79th year on May 1, the distinguished actress shared her thoughts on ageing and mortality during a conversation with Vernon Kay on BBC Radio 2.
“As you nearly the top of the hill, you suddenly think, ‘Gosh, there’s not all that much time left,'” she said.
She reflected on the inevitability of her own time approaching: “My time must be coming quite soon, and I don’t want to have wasted a minute of being on this beautiful planet.
“I used to panic when I was young, but as I’ve got older, I’ve started to live day to day. With age, you work out what matters. I always knew that good stuff would come along when I was older.”
Lumley also imparted her perspective on growing older: “When I was 18, I longed to be 30. When I was 30, I longed to be 50. We mustn’t be led into thinking getting old is bad. Growing old is good.”
In her chat with Vernon, Dame Joanna spoke about tackling her personal health issues and revealed her experience with prosopagnosia, a condition that affects the ability to recognize familiar faces, such as those of loved ones.
With her characteristic humour, she mentioned that her strategy to manage this is to ‘kiss everybody’ because she can’t always identify them, reports the Mirror.
Last week, she opened up about a unique challenge she faces, saying: “I’ve got this weird thing with faces, I’ve got face blindness. It’s called Prosopagnosia.”
She went on to describe how she handles this obstacle: “I have to know who people are, I have to know in advance. I always say ‘please tell me who’s going to be there’ then I can match the name to the thing.
“It’s not about meeting many people, it’s completely different. It’s followed me and I never knew what it was. I’d try a test. I’d look at somebody and then I would shut my eyes and see if I could see their face in my head. And I couldn’t.”
Although Joanna has acknowledged in the past that she smokes varying amounts daily, she quipped that smoking seems to boost her fitness levels, remarking: “I am unbelievably fit,” and adding: “Despite, or probably because of smoking, I am never ill. I have these extraordinary procedures.”
Joanna, who as a teenager dreamt of acting, faced rejection from drama school before she became a model in London during the Swinging Sixties. She later ventured into minor acting roles before securing a part in the 1969 James Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
However, her big break came when she landed the role of Purdey in The New Avengers.
Joanna has no plans to retire from acting just yet. Speaking at the SANDS International Film Festival recently, she reassured fans that ‘she’ll be there’ as long as she can speak.
“When I told my school that I wanted to go into acting, they said the only roles available for me in film would be as a continuity or makeup girl,” she added.
“In the past, women like me would have been sidelined at 38, but now there are leading roles for people in their 50s and significant parts for those in their 70s.”
