Casino Royale Actress Joanna Pettet Dies at 83

Joanna Pettet, best known for her role as a spy in the 1967 film Casino Royale, has died at the age of 83. Her manager, Pam Dubois, announced the sad news on social media and confirmed it to The Hollywood Reporter. Pettet passed away on Tuesday at Temecula Valley Hospital in California.

The date of her death was symbolic: the actress died exactly 31 years after the tragic loss of her son, Damien Cord, who passed away at 26 from a heroin overdose. Damien was the shared son of Joanna and her former husband, actor Alex Cord.

Pettet gained her greatest fame in the James Bond spoof Casino Royale, starring David Niven as 007. She also appeared in the 1966 film The Group, playing one of eight Vassar graduates, and in the 1968 Western Blue, opposite Terence Stamp.

Her filmography also includes horror movies: Welcome to Arrow Beach (1974) and The Evil (1978). On television, Pettet appeared in four episodes of Rod Serling's anthology series Night Gallery in the early 1970s and landed a recurring role as homicide detective Janet Baines in Knots Landing in 1983.

Joanna honed her acting skills at the Neighborhood Playhouse and performed in several Broadway productions, including Poor Richard, where she shared the stage with Alan Bates and Gene Hackman.

One of the most tragic facts about Pettet's life is that she was among the last people to see Sharon Tate alive. Hours before Tate and four others were murdered by Charles Manson's followers in August 1969, Joanna and fellow actress Barbara Lewis had lunch with Tate.