Joanne Campbell

Joanne Campbell (8 February 1964 – 20 December 2002) was a British actress and drama therapist best known for playing Liz in the 1980s sitcom Me and My Girl and Josephine Baker on stage in This Is My Dream.[2][3]

For the American pop singer, see Jo Ann Campbell.
For the Canadian politician, see Joanne Campbell (politician).

Joanne Campbell
Born
Joanne E Campbell[1]

(1964-02-08)8 February 1964
Northampton, Northamptonshire, England
Died20 December 2002(2002-12-20) (aged 38)
London, England
OccupationActress
Years active1982–2002

Career

Born in Northampton,[2] Campbell attended Northampton School for Girls before training in London at the Arts Educational School. [4] She then began her acting career at the Theatre Royal in Stratford East, in 1982, playing Jack in "Jack and the Beanstalk" and becoming the first black principal boy in British pantomime.[4]

After several other on stage acting roles, Campbell won her first lead role in 1987, playing Josephine Baker in "This is my Dream". Later, she combined acting with teaching as one of the founding members of the BiBi Crew, the first British theatre company made up entirely of black actresses.[5] As one of the group of seven, she co-wrote and acted in several plays, whose aim was to share the black experience to a wide audience.[4]

As well as the above-mentioned comedies, her other television roles included parts in Dramarama, The Bill, London's Burning, and Birds of a Feather. Campbell also appeared in children's shows Bodger and Badger and Alphabet Castle. She also worked in radio in "Mama I Want to Sing" and "The Cotton Club" at the Aldwych Theatre, to mixed reviews.[4]

In the 1990s, in addition to becoming a member of the board of directors of the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Campbell became a drama therapist and worked mostly with children at the Priory Hospital in North London. Unfortunately, she was not able complete her training to become a child and adolescent psychiatrist.[4]

Death

Campbell died suddenly as a result of deep-vein thrombosis aged 38 in London in 2002. At the time of her death she was working on the new BBC children's show U Get Me.[2][3]

Filmography
YearTitleRoleNotes
1997FrightenersFlickepisode: "Jevan" (11 March 1997)
1994The BillKateepisode: "No Job for an Amateur" (18 January 1994)
1993Alphabet CastleQueen Bet/Various Roles
1993Birds of a FeatherJancisepisode: "Find the Lady" (7 November 1993)
1993Love HurtsPhoebeepisode: "For a Few Dollars More" (26 February 1993)
1992Us GirlsBeverley Pinnock
1990Nuns on the RunWard Nurse
1990London's BurningJennySix episodes (7 October – 18 November 1990)
1989Bodger and BadgerMavisSeries One and Cameo in Series 2
1984Me and My GirlLiz
1984DramaramaSukiepisode: "Que Sera" (11 June 1984)

References
  1. "Birth Registration details" Ancestry.co.uk
  2. Hedley, Philip; "Obituary: Joanne Campbell" Guardian.co.uk, 9 January 2003
  3. Bourne, Stephen; "Obituary — Joanne Campbell: Actress capable of dazzling stage performances", The Independent, 8 January 2003
  4. "Lives in Brief". The Times. 17 January 2003. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  5. Abram, Nicola (2020), Abram, Nicola (ed.), "Theatre of Black Women", Black British Women's Theatre: Intersectionality, Archives, Aesthetics, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 23–84, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-51459-4_2, ISBN 978-3-030-51459-4, retrieved 28 October 2020
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