Actress Joanna Pettet passed away at age 83 on July 7, 2026, at Temecula Valley Hospital in California, her former manager and close friend Pam DuBois announced. In a heartbreaking detail, Pettet died on the 31st anniversary of her son’s death.
Pettet rose to prominence in director Sidney Lumet’s 1966 film “The Group” and played Mata Bond in the 1967 James Bond parody “Casino Royale.” No cause of death was disclosed. Pettet built a lengthy career across Broadway, film, and television before retiring from acting in the early 1990s.
Damien Zachary Cord, Pettet’s only child, died of a heroin overdose on July 7, 1995, at 26 years old. In a Facebook post sharing the news, DuBois wrote that Damien “took his mother to heaven” on the anniversary of his own passing and that “there she will stay with him forever.” Following this devastating loss, Pettet stepped back further from Hollywood in later years.
Pettet was married to actor Alex Cord from 1968 to 1989, and Damien bore Cord’s surname. Cord died Aug. 9, 2021.
From London to Broadway
Born Joanna Jane Salmon in London on Nov. 16, 1942, she moved to New York at 16 to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse and Lincoln Center. Her Broadway debut came in the 1961 comedy “Take Her, She’s Mine,” directed by George Abbott and starring Art Carney and Elizabeth Ashley.
Pettet appeared in two more Broadway productions in 1964: “The Chinese Prime Minister” and playwright Jean Kerr’s “Poor Richard,” the latter featuring Alan Bates and Gene Hackman. She and Bates became romantically involved following their work together in “Poor Richard.” The pair reunited romantically in 2002, nearly four decades after their initial relationship. After Bates’s death from pancreatic cancer in 2003, Pettet inherited £95,000 from his estate.
Film Stardom and Bond Legacy
In Lumet’s 1966 screen version of novelist Mary McCarthy’s bestseller “The Group,” Pettet played Kay, one of a group of Vassar College graduates dealing with life after graduation. The cast also featured Candice Bergen, along with Jessica Walter, Joan Hackett, Shirley Knight, Elizabeth Hartman, Kathleen Widdoes, and Mary-Robin Redd.
Her most internationally recognized role came the following year in “Casino Royale,” in which she played the fictional love child of James Bond and spy Mata Hari. That star-studded cast featured Peter Sellers, David Niven, Woody Allen, and William Holden. Also in 1967, Pettet appeared in director Anatole Litvak’s war drama “The Night of the Generals.”
Television Work and Final Years
Though her film work brought recognition, Pettet found steadier employment on television. During the 1960s and 1970s, she guest-starred on numerous popular series, including “Route 66,” “The Doctors,” “The Fugitive,” “Dr. Kildare,” “Mannix,” “Banacek,” “Medical Center,” “Police Story,” “Police Woman,” and four episodes of Rod Serling’s anthology “Night Gallery” from 1970 to 1972. In the 1980s, her credits included “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island,” “Knight Rider,” and a recurring role on “Knots Landing.”
Pettet’s final screen credit was the 1990 thriller “Terror in Paradise,” produced by low-budget horror filmmaker Roger Corman.
Connection to Hollywood Tragedy
Pettet’s life intersected with one of Hollywood’s most notorious tragedies. On Aug. 8, 1969, she had lunch at the home of actress Sharon Tate — making her one of the last people to see Tate alive — just hours before members of the Charles Manson family murdered Tate and four others that night. Director Quentin Tarantino included this lunch scene in his 2019 film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” with actress Rumer Willis portraying Pettet.