Virginia McKenna

Virginia McKenna OBE is perhaps best known for her role as Joy Adamson in Born Free, one of many films she made with her late husband Bill Travers. Her other films include Carve Her Name with Pride, A Town Like Alice, The Smallest Show on Earth and Ring of Bright Water. Her stage career has ranged toon meer from Perdita in Peter Brook's 1951 production of A Winter's Tale to Gertrude in the RSC's Hamlet in 1984. Bill and Virginia founded Zoo Check (later the Born Free Foundation) in 1984. Virginia's books include Into the Blue (1992), Some of My Friends Have Tails (1971) and On Playing with Lions (1966), which she co-wrote with Bill. She was also a contributor to Beyond the Bars: the Zoo Dilemma (1987). Virginia was awarded the OBE for services to the arts and animal conservation. She has four children, ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. toon minder