JoAnna Cameron
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Patricia Kara Cameron (September 20, 1948 – October 15, 2021), sometimes credited as JoAnna Cameron, was an American actress and model, perhaps best known for her portrayal of the title role on ''
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
'', a 1970s children's television series, which was later rebroadcast as ''The Secrets of Isis''.


Career


Early career

While at college, Cameron became friends with Linda Hope, the daughter of
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...
. When she was introduced to the famous comedian, he cast her in the film ''
How to Commit Marriage ''How to Commit Marriage'' is a 1969 American comedy film directed by Norman Panama, and starring Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Tina Louise, Irwin Corey, Leslie Nielsen, Tim Matheson and Jane Wyman in her final film role. It was filmed in the curr ...
'' in 1969. This led to a series of film and television roles throughout the 1970s. Cameron was reportedly considered for the ''
Love Story Love Story or A Love Story may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres * Romance (love) ** Romance film ** Romance novel Films * ''Love Story'' (1925 film), German silent film * ''Love Story'' (1942 film), Italian drama film * ''Love ...
'' role that went to
Ali MacGraw Elizabeth Alice MacGraw (born April 1, 1939) is an American actress. For her role in '' Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969) she won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She then starred in '' Love Story'' (1970), for which she was nominate ...
.Unofficial Isis Page: Interview with Joanna Cameron
angelfire.com; accessed May 7, 2017.
She acted in the 1970s films '' B.S. I Love You'' and the
black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
''
Pretty Maids All in a Row ''Pretty Maids All in a Row'' is a 1971 American sexploitation film with elements of black comedy, sex comedy, and murder mystery. Starring Rock Hudson, Angie Dickinson, and Telly Savalas, it was released on April 28, 1971. Roger Vadim dire ...
''. Her television performances also included roles in '' The Bold Ones: The New Doctors'', ''
Columbo ''Columbo'' is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originall ...
'', and several episodes of '' Marcus Welby, MD''. She also had a prolific career in commercials and claimed at one time to have held the record for having done the most commercials in the ''
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
''.


''The Secrets of Isis''

In 1975, Cameron was cast as the title character in the Saturday morning children's series ''
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
''. In the series, Cameron portrayed a young high-school science teacher named Andrea Thomas who discovers an enchanted
amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...
while in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. The amulet, which originally belonged to the ancient Egyptian
pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
Queen
Hatshepsut Hatshepsut ( ; BC) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from until (Low Chronology) and the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II. She was Egypt's second c ...
and also intended for Hatshepsut's (female) descendants (including Thomas herself), bestows the supposed powers of the goddess
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
on her when she invokes them by uttering the phrase, "O mighty Isis!" These powers include super-human strength and speed ("the speed of gazelles"), the ability to fly (or to "soar as the falcon soars"), and
telekinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...
("command fthe elements of sky and Earth"), all of which she uses to fight crime. ''Isis'' ran from September 6, 1975, to September 3, 1977. Twenty-two episodes were produced, and Isis also appeared in three episodes of the related Saturday morning super-hero drama '' Shazam!''. Despite the show's popularity, it was not renewed for a third season. When the show went into syndication in 1978, it was renamed ''The Secrets of Isis''. The character of Isis later appeared in a cartoon called ''
Tarzan and the Super 7 ''Tarzan and the Super 7'' is a Saturday morning cartoon series, produced by Filmation and originally airing from 1978–1980 on CBS. The show consisted of separate installments featuring seven groups of adventurers: * ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle ...
,'' in segments dealing with a super-team called " The Freedom Force," but with Isis's voice provided by
Diane Pershing Diane Pershing is an American voice actress, film critic, and novelist. She began her singing career as a back-up singer for Johnny Mathis and went on to appear in the show group, The Establishment, on tour and on TV. She also voiced Poison Ivy ...
.


Later career

After her role as Isis, Cameron played television roles in ''
McMillan & Wife ''McMillan & Wife'' (known simply as ''McMillan'' from 1976 to 1977) is an American police procedural television series that aired on NBC from September 17, 1971, to April 24, 1977. Starring Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James in the title roles, ...
'' and ''
The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American superhero American comic book, comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of t ...
.'' She also was host of the ''Navy Network,'' a TV series produced by the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
about aspects of naval life, and directed a commercial for the Naval Academy titled ''Razor Sharp.'' In the late 1970s, Cameron was cited in the
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
as having appeared in more TV commercials than anyone else, 105.
Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...
once estimated that her commercials, strung together, would run for 150 hours. According to ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
'', advertisers "have spent more than $100 million using JoAnna as the beauteous centerpiece of their commercials for cosmetics, shampoo, wine, beer, panty hose and breath freshener, among other things." Cameron's last-known role was in the 1980 TV movie ''Swan Song.'' Following her acting career, Cameron worked in the home healthcare industry as a nurse for 10 years, and followed that with a career in marketing for several hotels.


Death

Joanna Pang Atkins, who played Cindy Lee on ''The Secrets of Isis'', announced that Cameron died in
Oahu, Hawaii Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northw ...
, due to complications from a stroke on October 15, 2021.


Filmography


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Joanna 1948 births 2021 deaths Female models from Colorado American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Colorado People from Greeley, Colorado People from Weld County, Colorado 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women