Celebrity News October 24, 2021
'Isis' Star JoAnna Cameron Dies at 70
JoAnna Cameron, the glamorous actress fondly remembered as Isis on the Saturday morning series "The Secrets of Isis," has died at age 70.
Cameron's co-star on the series, Joanna Pang Atkins, announced her passing on Twitter, writing, "Sad to post that JoAnna Cameron 'The Mighty Isis' has flown to heaven. She suffered a stroke and passed away from complications this past Friday. We shared the wonderful lasting experience of making 'The Secrets of Isis'." She shared a CBS image from the series of herself, Atkins and their co-star Brian Cutler.
"The Secrets of Isis," originally known as simply "Isis," premiered in 1975, becoming the first American live-action TV series with a woman superhero as its lead — barely beating "Wonder Woman" and Lynda Carter to the punch. It also featured a rare, prominent supporting role for an Asian woman, Pang Atkins' Cindy Lee.
On the show, mild-mannered teacher Andrea Thomas who discovers the Tutmose amulet, which enables her to transform into an Egyptian goddess to help mankind. It featured crossover appearances by Captain Marvel (John Davey) of the companion series "Shazam!" (1974-1977).
Born on September 20, 1951, Cameron appeared in a purportedly record-breaking number of TV commercials, 105 of them, making her film debut opposite comedy heavyweights Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason in 1969's "How to Commit Marriage." A striking beauty, she went on to appear in the films "I Love My Wife" (1970) with Elliott Gould and Brenda Vaccaro, "Pretty Maids All in a Row" (1971) with Rock Hudson, and "B.S. I Love You" (1971).
On TV, she guested on numerous series and starred in the 1973 satire "The Great American Beauty Contest," a TV movie in which she played a feminist who enters a beauty contest with the intention of giving a live speech condemning it.
Other TV work included "Columbo" (1974), "McMillan & Wife" (1977), "The Amazing Spider-Man" (1978), "Switch" (1975 & 1978), and her final role, which was — aptly — in the TV movie "Swan Song" (1980).
After retiring from acting, she worked in home healthcare as a nurse and in hotel marketing in Hawaii.