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 Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...

on stage in ''This Is My Dream''.Hedley, Philip
"Obituary: Joanne Campbell"
''Guardian.co.uk'', 9 January 2003. Bourne, Stephen
"Obituary — Joanne Campbell: Actress capable of dazzling stage performances"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 8 January 2003.

Career

Born in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, Campbell attended Northampton High School before training in London at the

Arts Educational School Arts Educational Schools, or ArtsEd, is an independent performing arts school based in Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow. Overview ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in m ...

. 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 pantomime, a principal boy role is the young male protagonist of the play, traditionally played by a young actress in boy's clothes. The earliest example is Miss Ellington who in 1852 appeared in ''The Good Woman in the Wood'' by James Planch ...

in British pantomime. After several other on stage acting roles, Campbell won her first lead role in 1987, playing

in ''This is my Dream''. Later, she combined acting with teaching as one of the founding members of the

BiBi Crew BiBi Crew, founded in 1991, was the first British comedy troupe to consist entirely of Black actresses. Their work focuses on the Black British experience. History In 1991, Joanne Campbell, Judith Jacob, Janet Kay, Suzette Llewellyn, Josephine M ...

, the first British theatre company made up entirely of black actresses. 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. As well as the above-mentioned comedies, her other television roles included parts in ''

Dramarama Dramarama is an American, New Jersey–based alternative rock/power pop band, who later moved to Los Angeles. The band was formed in New Jersey in 1982 and disbanded in 1994. The band formally reunited in 2003 following an appearance on VH1's ...

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', '' London's Burning'', and '' Birds of a Feather.'' Campbell also appeared in children's shows ''

Bodger and Badger ''Bodger & Badger'' is a BBC children's comedy programme written by Andy Cunningham (actor), Andy Cunningham, first broadcast in 1989. It starred Cunningham as handyman Simon Bodger and his talking Eurasian badger, badger companion. The program ...

'' and ''

Alphabet Castle ''Alphabet Castle'' is an educational children's television program produced in the UK and created by Michael Cole. It began in September 1993 with a series of 27 episodes aired on CITV, and ran until December 1995. It had three main character ...

.'' She also worked in radio in ''Mama I Want to Sing'' and ''The Cotton Club'' at the

Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...

, to mixed reviews. In the 1990s, in addition to becoming a member of the board of directors of the

Theatre Royal Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose ...

, Campbell became a drama therapist and worked mostly with children at th
Priory Hospital in North London
Unfortunately, she was not able complete her training to become a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

Death

Campbell died suddenly as a result of

deep-vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and enla ...

aged 38 in London in 2002. At the time of her death she was working on the new

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

children's show ''U Get Me''.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

*
BiBi Crew Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Joanne British film actresses 1964 births 2002 deaths Deaths from thrombosis British television actresses 20th-century British actresses Actors from Northampton British stage actresses