Joanna Pettet, the London-born actress who gained international recognition for her roles in the 1966 ensemble film "The Group" and the 1967 James Bond parody "Casino Royale," died on Tuesday. She was 83.
According to her friend and former manager Pam DuBois, Pettet passed away exactly 31 years to the day after the death of her only child, Damien Cord, who died of a heroin overdose in 1995 at age 26.
Born Joanna Jane Salmon on Nov. 16, 1942, in London, Pettet was raised in Montreal after her father, a British Royal Air Force pilot, was killed during World War II. She relocated to New York City at age 16 to pursue acting, training at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Her stage work quickly earned her recognition—she won the Theatre World Award in 1965 for her appearance alongside Alan Bates in "Poor Richard" on Broadway, having earlier appeared in "Take Her, She's Mine" and "The Chinese Prime Minister,” according to her IMDb biography.
Her transition to film came in 1966 with "The Group," the Sidney Lumet-directed drama about eight Vassar graduates, in which she starred alongside Candice Bergen, Joan Hackett, and Jessica Walter. The following year proved her most prolific on the big screen, with appearances in "The Night of the Generals," "Robbery," and "Casino Royale," the latter a spy parody in which she played Mata Bond—the daughter of James Bond, played by David Niven—and Mata Hari, a scantily clad, exotic-dancing character that became one of her most memorable roles.
Pettet's life intersected with one of Hollywood's darkest chapters when, on Aug. 8, 1969, she shared lunch with actress Sharon Tate just hours before Tate and four others were murdered by members of the Manson family. Decades later, director Quentin Tarantino depicted that encounter in his 2019 film "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood," casting Rumer Willis to portray Pettet.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Pettet remained a familiar face on television, appearing in series including "Night Gallery," "Captains and the Kings," "Fantasy Island," and "Knots Landing." She shared a son, Damien Zachary Cord, with actor Alex Cord, whom she married in 1968 and divorced in 1989. Following the death of Damien in 1995, she devoted herself to caring for longtime friend and fellow actor Alan Bates until his death from cancer in 2003.
Tributes poured in from those who knew her. "What a beautiful and thoughtful woman she was," wrote Amy Berger in a comment on DuBois' Facebook post. "She was very kind to me personally, and I will never forget that. She will be so missed, but what a reunion it must have been when her son took her to heaven."
Cort Stapleton wrote: "She had tons of followers and admirers... Love you Jo, bye dear iron butterfly."