Joanna Jane Pettet (née Salmon; 16 November 1942 – 7 July 2026) was an English-Canadian actress. She was known for her roles in several notable films of the late 1960s, including the comedic James Bond film Casino Royale, Robbery, The Group, and The Night of the Generals.
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Early life and education
Pettet was born on 16 November 1942 and spent her early childhood in Chelsea, London, England, the daughter of Harold Nigel Egerton Salmon (illegitimate grandson of Francis Egerton) and Cecily J. Tremaine, who were married in Chelsea in 1940. Her father, a British Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot, was killed in the Second World War in 1943. After the war, her mother remarried and settled in Montréal, where Joanna was adopted by her stepfather and assumed his surname of Pettet. She attended Westmount High School.
When Pettet was in her teens, she moved to New York City to pursue acting. She studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, as well as at the Lincoln Center.
Career
Pettet made her debut, aged 19, on Broadway in Take Her, She's Mine (21 December 1961 – 8 December 1962). She also appeared on Broadway in The Chinese Prime Minister, and Poor Richard.
Beginning in 1964 with an episode of Route 66, she began making guest appearances in several US dramatic television series of the mid-sixties, including The Doctors, The Nurses, The Trials of O'Brien, The Fugitive, A Man Called Shenandoah, and Dr. Kildare.
She was cast in writer/producer Sidney Buchman's 1966 adaptation of Mary McCarthy's novel The Group. The success of that film launched a film career that included roles in The Night of the Generals (1967), as Mata Bond in the James Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967), Peter Yates's Robbery (1967) with Stanley Baker, Blue (1968) with Terence Stamp, and the Victorian period comedy The Best House in London (1969).
In the 1970s, Pettet's feature film appearances became sporadic and included roles in the cult horror films Welcome to Arrow Beach (1974) and The Evil (1978). Pettet re-emerged as the star of over a dozen television movies, including The Weekend Nun (1972), Footsteps (1972), Pioneer Woman (1973), A Cry in the Wilderness (1974), The Desperate Miles (1975), The Hancocks (1976), Sex and the Married Woman (1977), Cry of the Innocent (1980) with Rod Taylor, and The Return of Frank Cannon (1980).
Also in the 1970s, Pettet guest-starred four times on the classic Rod Serling anthology series Night Gallery, appearing with her then-husband Alex Cord in the episode "Keep in Touch - We'll Think of Something". She also guest-starred in two episodes of the Brian Clemens anthology series Thriller in the UK. Pettet starred in the NBC miniseries Captains and the Kings (1976), starred in the episode "You're Not Alone" from the 1977 NBC anthology series Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected (known in the United Kingdom as Twist in the Tale), was a guest on both Fantasy Island and The Love Boat (appearing three times on each series), and had a recurring role on Knots Landing in 1983 as Janet Baines, an LAPD homicide detective investigating the murder of singer Ciji Dunne (played by Lisa Hartman).
Through the 1970s and 1980s, Pettet made appearances on the television series Harry O, Banacek, McCloud, Mannix, Police Woman, Knight Rider, Tales of the Unexpected (the UK series) and Murder, She Wrote. In 1984, she appeared as herself in a James Bond tribute episode of The Fall Guy with ex-Bond girls Britt Ekland and Lana Wood.
Personal life
In 1968, Pettet co-starred with Terence Stamp in the Western film Blue, with whom she had a romantic relationship that resulted in the birth of her only child, Damien Zachary Cord. Later that year, she married American actor Alex Cord; the couple subsequently divorced in 1989.
On 8 August 1969, Pettet had lunch at the home of actress Sharon Tate, just hours before the crimes that would be committed at that residence by members of the Manson Family. This event is illustrated in the fictional/alternate-reality 2019 film Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood, in which Pettet is portrayed by Rumer Willis.
Actor Sir Alan Bates bequeathed Pettet £95,000 (equivalent to £173,759 in 2025) upon his death in December 2003. The two had been friends since 1964, and Pettet provided support and companionship during his final months in London after he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2003. Pettet was quoted as saying: "It was a very touching gesture because he had done everything while he was in hospital to make sure I would be looked after following his death."
In August 2021, Pettet became trapped under a boulder for three hours in a high desert area near Anza, California. As a result, she needed surgery to replace her shoulder and rotator cuff.
Death
Pettet died at Temecula Valley Hospital in Temecula, California, on July 7, 2026, 31 years after the death of her son.
Recognition
Pettet won a Theatre World Award for 1964–1965 for her work in Poor Richard.