Joanna Pettet, ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘The Group’ Actress, Dies at 83
LOS ANGELES — Joanna Pettet, the British-born actress whose career spanned Broadway, Hollywood films and popular American television dramas, has died at the age of 83.
Pettet died at Temecula Valley Hospital in California, according to her friend and former manager Pam DuBois. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed. The Hollywood Reporter and People confirmed her death.
Best remembered for playing Mata Bond in the 1967 James Bond spoof Casino Royale, Pettet was a familiar presence on screen during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. She also earned recognition for her performance in Sidney Lumet’s The Group and appeared in television series including Night Gallery, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Knots Landing and Murder, She Wrote.
From London to Broadway
Joanna Pettet was born Joanna Jane Salmon in London on November 16, 1942. Her father, a Royal Air Force pilot, was killed during the Second World War. Her mother subsequently remarried and moved with Joanna to Montreal, Canada, where the future actress was adopted by her stepfather and assumed the surname Pettet.
At the age of 16, she moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. She trained at the respected Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where she studied the craft that would eventually take her from the Broadway stage to international cinema.
Pettet made her Broadway debut in the comedy Take Her, She’s Mine, which opened in 1961. She later appeared in The Chinese Prime Minister and Poor Richard. Her work in Poor Richard, alongside Alan Bates and Gene Hackman, earned her a Theatre World Award for the 1964–65 season.
Breakthrough in ‘The Group’
Pettet’s transition to cinema came with Sidney Lumet’s 1966 film The Group, an adaptation of Mary McCarthy’s novel about the lives of eight women following their graduation from Vassar College.
She played Kay Strong Peterson and appeared alongside an ensemble cast that included Candice Bergen, Joan Hackett, Elizabeth Hartman, Shirley Knight and Jessica Walter. The film helped establish Pettet as one of the promising young actresses of the period.
Her breakthrough led to a busy year in 1967. She appeared with Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif in the Second World War mystery The Night of the Generals and starred alongside Stanley Baker in the British crime thriller Robbery.
Memorable Role in ‘Casino Royale’
Pettet achieved her most widely remembered film role in the star-filled 1967 comedy Casino Royale, a loose parody of Ian Fleming’s James Bond stories.
She portrayed Mata Bond, the daughter of David Niven’s retired James Bond and the legendary spy Mata Hari. The film’s enormous cast included Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr, Woody Allen and John Huston.
Although the unconventional production received mixed reactions, it became a notable part of 1960s popular culture and introduced Pettet to an international audience.
She later starred opposite Terence Stamp in the 1968 Western Blue and appeared in The Best House in London, Welcome to Arrow Beach, The Evil, Double Exposure and Sweet Country.
A Familiar Face on Television
As her film appearances became less frequent, Pettet built an extensive television career. She appeared in numerous dramas, mysteries, anthology programmes and made-for-television films.
Her credits included Route 66, The Fugitive, Dr. Kildare, Mannix, Banacek, McCloud, Police Woman, Charlie’s Angels, Knight Rider, Hotel and The Fall Guy.
Pettet appeared several times on Rod Serling’s anthology series Night Gallery. She also played different characters in three episodes each of Fantasy Island and The Love Boat.
In 1983, she had a recurring role in the popular television drama Knots Landing. She played Detective Janet Baines, the police investigator assigned to the murder of singer Ciji Dunne, portrayed by Lisa Hartman.
One of her later television appearances came in a 1987 episode of Murder, She Wrote. Her final screen role was in the 1990 action thriller Terror in Paradise, after which she retired from acting.
Friendship With Sharon Tate
Pettet was also remembered for her close friendship with actress Sharon Tate. On August 8, 1969, she had lunch with Tate at her Los Angeles home, only hours before Tate and four other people were murdered by members of the Manson Family.
The tragedy deeply affected Pettet. Decades later, she was portrayed by Rumer Willis in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which presented an alternative version of events surrounding the murders.
Personal Tragedy and Later Years
Pettet married actor Alex Cord, known for the television series Airwolf, in 1968. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1989.
Her only son, Damien Cord, died from a drug overdose at the age of 26 on July 7, 1995. Pettet died exactly 31 years after her son’s death, a coincidence noted by DuBois when announcing the actress’s passing.
In her later years, Pettet largely remained outside the entertainment industry. She reportedly devoted time to animals and charitable causes while living a quiet life away from Hollywood.
She survived a serious accident in 2021 after becoming trapped beneath a boulder in a remote area of Southern California. The injuries required major surgery to repair her shoulder and rotator cuff.
A Versatile Career Remembered
Joanna Pettet never became confined to one kind of role. She moved between Broadway comedy, major studio films, Westerns, thrillers, horror pictures and some of television’s best-known dramas.
For many viewers, she will always be Mata Bond, the glamorous and unconventional daughter of James Bond in Casino Royale. Others will remember her as a dependable character actress who brought elegance, intelligence and emotional depth to a career that lasted nearly three decades.
Her death marks the loss of a distinctive performer from an era when actors regularly moved between the theater, cinema and television. Through The Group, Casino Royale and her many television appearances, Joanna Pettet leaves behind an enduring body of work.
