Actress Joanna Pettet passed away at Temecula Valley Hospital in California on July 7, 2026, her close friend and former manager Pam DuBois announced. She was 83 years old, and her death occurred on a date laden with personal tragedy: the 31st anniversary of her son’s death.
Damien Zachary Cord, Pettet’s only child, died of a heroin overdose on July 7, 1995, when he was 26 years old. DuBois shared the news on Facebook with an image of Pettet at a graveside, writing that Damien “took his mother to heaven” on the anniversary of his own passing and that “there she will stay with him forever.” No cause of death was disclosed for the actress.
Born Joanna Jane Salmon in London on Nov. 16, 1942, Pettet relocated to New York at 16 to train at the Neighborhood Playhouse and Lincoln Center. Her Broadway debut came in 1961 in the comedy “Take Her, She’s Mine,” directed by George Abbott and starring Art Carney and Elizabeth Ashley. She added two more Broadway credits in 1964: “The Chinese Prime Minister” and playwright Jean Kerr’s “Poor Richard,” the latter featuring Alan Bates and Gene Hackman.
From Stage Success to International Fame
Pettet and Bates became romantically involved after appearing together in “Poor Richard.” The pair reunited romantically in 2002, nearly four decades after their initial relationship. Following Bates’s death from pancreatic cancer in 2003, Pettet inherited £95,000 from his estate.
Her stage work led to film opportunities. Director Sidney Lumet’s 1966 screen version of novelist Mary McCarthy’s bestseller “The Group” brought Pettet to prominence. She 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.
The following year brought her most internationally recognized role in the 1967 James Bond parody “Casino Royale,” in which she played Mata Bond, 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 Personal Tragedy
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 was married to actor Alex Cord from 1968 to 1989, and Damien bore Cord’s surname. Cord died Aug. 9, 2021. Pettet stepped back further from Hollywood in later years. Pettet’s final screen credit was the 1990 thriller “Terror in Paradise,” produced by low-budget horror filmmaker Roger Corman. She retired from acting in the early 1990s.
Connection to the Manson Murders
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.
