Joanna Monro

Joanna Monro (born 26 July 1956[1]) is a British actress and former television presenter who, in the 1980s, appeared on the BBC show That's Life! with Esther Rantzen.

Her father was actor Sonnie Hale (real name Robert John Hugh Monro). She came into this world as a result of his adultery with her mother, actress Frances Bennett (real name Felicité Barnes).[2][3] Following Hale's death in 1959, Monro was brought up by her stepfather, theatrical agent John McMichael and considered him to be her real father.[4]

Fascinated by her mother's acting career, she was desperate to follow in her footsteps. At nine years old, she got a part in Brown Eye, Evil Eye. Bennett was against her daughter appearing in the film but was pressured by the agent and her daughter's pleading, eventually giving in. Monro went over to Yugoslavia during the summer holidays for filming and afterwards wanted to continue acting but was forbidden by her mother until she was 16 so as to concentrate on schoolwork. However, at 15, Bennett allowed Monro to do television work during the school holidays in order to secure her union card with Equity. Leaving school at 17, the girl went for an audition at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, only to be told that she wasn't properly trained and advised to go to drama school. As a result, she entered the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art but left a few months early after being seen in an end-of-term play by the producer of Vienna's English Theatre, recruiting in Britain. He gave Monro a part in his production of Simon Gray's play Butley, which was followed by roles on television.[5]

In 1974 she appeared in the Doctor Who story Planet of the Spiders, followed by a lengthy spell as Anna Newcross in the BBC soap opera Angels. For three years in the mid-1980s she was a regular in the BBC children's sketch show Fast Forward, and was a member of the BBC's Radio Drama Company.[6]

In the 1990s, she played Mrs Lyons in the musical Blood Brothers in the West End, and was on the 1995 London cast recording as well as The International Cast Album. She also appeared in the episode 'The Photographer' (1999) in the first BBC series of People Like Us (which aired 1999–2001).

Monro appeared as Rosie in Mamma Mia!. She was in the International Tour for 2 years then joined the London cast for a period of 5 years at the Prince of Wales Theatre then at the Novello Theatre.[7] She appeared in character on 31 December 2008 in a West End special edition episode of The Weakest Link on BBC One. She was the 'strongest link', winning over £14,000, which she donated to breast cancer research.

In 2017 she played the part of June in Sandi Toksvig's play "Silver Lining", which toured the UK.[7]

In 1978, Monro became engaged to Andy Secombe.[8] Unfortunately, the following year, they called their wedding off after realising they had rushed into it without proper consideration but remained friends.[9] The wounds were healed while working in fringe theatre at London theatre restaurant, La Bonne Crepe, where she met producer Peter Wise, marrying him in 1982.[10] Subsequent marriages were to Peter Matthews in 1989 and actor Granville Saxton in 2001.

• Joanna Monro at IMDb
• Joanna Monro at Theatricalia
• Joanna Monro at British Film Institute

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