Joanne Whalley (born August 25, 1961 (1961-08-25) (age 45)[citation needed]) is a British actress.
Born in Salford, she was brought up in Stockport, and initially appeared in bit parts in soap operas, especially Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Her film roles include an early, non-speaking part in Pink Floyd's The Wall; as a young Beatles fan in Birth of the Beatles', the fantasy adventure Willow; the mystery noir Shattered and the role of Christine Keeler in Scandal, about the Profumo Affair.
Her most significant roles on British television were as Emma Craven in Troy Kennedy Martin's Edge of Darkness (1985), and Nurse Mills in the Dennis Potter-penned serial The Singing Detective (1986) both for BBC Television. In 1987 she played a role in the TV movie The Good Father. She also starred in 1989 as Christine Keeler in the movie Scandal highlighting the Profumo Affair alongside stars John Hurt and Sir Ian McKellen. In 1994 she became only the second actress to play Gone with the Wind heroine Scarlett O'Hara when she appeared in a made-for-TV adaptation of the sequel novel, Scarlett.
She was married to actor Val Kilmer from 1988 to 1996 and has two children. During her marriage, she used the name Joanne Whalley-Kilmer.
She has appeared in television films, including the 2000 tele-film Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis in which she played the title character.
In 2003, she collaborated with the pop-punk band blink-182 to read a letter at the beginning of the song Stockholm syndrome.
In 2005, she appeared as Mary I of England in The Virgin Queen, a BBC serial about the life of Queen Elizabeth I.
In 2006 she appeared in 'Life Line', a two-part drama on BBC1, starring opposite Ray Stevenson.
