If you’ve been scrolling through old Hollywood trivia or just finished a rewatch of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, you’ve probably asked yourself: is Joanna Pettet still alive? It’s a fair question. She was everywhere in the sixties and seventies. Then, she basically vanished.
Honestly, the short answer is yes. Joanna Pettet is alive. As of early 2026, the former actress is 83 years old. But "alive" doesn't quite capture the heavy, complicated journey she's had since she walked away from the cameras over thirty years ago.
She isn't living some glitzy Beverly Hills retirement. Far from it.
The Boulder Accident and Her Health Today
You might have missed the scary news from a few years back. In 2021, Joanna made headlines for something much more terrifying than a movie plot. While she was out in a remote area of Anza, California—searching for rocks for her garden, of all things—the ground literally gave way.
She ended up pinned under a massive boulder.
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She was trapped for three hours in the high desert heat. It sounds like a nightmare because it was. Her friend eventually found her after several frantic, silent phone calls from Joanna's pocket. The damage was brutal. Her shoulder was shattered, and she had to undergo a massive surgery to replace her rotator cuff and shoulder joint.
Recovery hasn't been a walk in the park. Reports from those close to her mentioned she struggled with intense pain and mobility issues in her right hand for a long time. While she's mostly out of the public eye now, she has occasionally surfaced on social media through friends, showing she’s still fighting.
Why She Walked Away from Hollywood
A lot of fans wonder why someone so talented—someone who held her own against Peter O'Toole and played James Bond’s daughter—just quit.
It wasn't one thing. It was a pile-up of trauma.
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- The Sharon Tate Connection: Joanna was one of Sharon Tate's best friends. She actually had lunch with Sharon at 10050 Cielo Drive just hours before the Manson family arrived. That kind of "what if" stays with a person forever.
- The Hostage Situation: In 1990, while filming Terror in Paradise in the Philippines, Joanna was actually held hostage during a coup attempt. She had to flee the country. After that, she sort of just decided she’d had enough of the drama—on and off screen.
- Personal Tragedy: In 1995, her only son, Damien Zachary Cord, died of a heroin overdose. He was only 26.
That was the breaking point. She retreated. She spent years living a quiet, almost reclusive life in the California desert, and for a while, she lived in London with her long-time companion, the legendary actor Alan Bates, until he passed away in 2003.
Is Joanna Pettet Still Alive in the Public Eye?
Sorta, but not really.
She doesn't do "the circuit." You won't see her at Comic-Cons or doing "where are they now" TV specials. The most recent "appearance" of Joanna Pettet was actually a fictionalized version of her. In Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, she was played by Rumer Willis.
It was a bittersweet nod to her status as a 1960s "It Girl."
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People still talk about her roles in The Group (1966) and her four iconic episodes of Night Gallery. She had this "wispy, wraithlike" energy that directors loved. But these days, she’s just Joanna Jane Salmon (her birth name), living a private life far from the lens.
What You Should Know About Her Current Status:
- Location: She has spent much of her recent years in the California desert area, though she has moved between the US and UK in the past.
- Social Media: She does not have an official Instagram or Twitter. Information usually comes through a dedicated Facebook fan page run by a close friend.
- Legacy: She remains a cult icon for fans of 60s cinema and 70s television.
If you're looking for a way to support or follow her, the best bet is to keep an eye on reputable film history archives or the few "tribute" communities that respect her privacy. She’s earned her quiet. After surviving a hostage situation, the loss of her best friend, the death of her son, and a literal mountain falling on her, Joanna Pettet is nothing if not a survivor.
The most actionable way to appreciate her today is to revisit her work. Check out The Night of the Generals or her Night Gallery episodes like "The House." They remind us why we’re still asking about her all these years later.
For those tracking her health, she continues to live privately in California. While the 2021 accident left a lasting impact on her physical mobility, she remains a resilient figure of a bygone Hollywood era.
If you want to stay updated on other stars from that era, checking the "News" sections of major film databases like IMDb or the British Film Institute is your best bet for verified info.