Archie Panjabi

Archana Panjabi was born 31 May 1972{{Cite web |last=Mike Rose |first=cleveland com |date=31 May 2024 |title=Famous birthdays list for today, May 31, 2024 includes celebrities Clint Eastwood, Brooke Shields |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2024/05/famous-birthdays-list-for-today-may-31-2024-includes-celebrities-clint-eastwood-brooke-shields.html |access-date=31 May 2024 |website=cleveland |language=en}} in Edgware, London, to Govind and Padma Panjabi, both Sindhi Hindu immigrants from India.{{Cite web|title=Archie Panjabi (British Actress) Bio, Wiki, Career, Net Worth, Husband, Wife, Net Worth, Parents|url=https://biogossipy.com/archie-panjabi-bio-wiki-age-husband-children-net-worth-relationship-height-movies-nationality-ethnicity/|date=24 November 2019|website=Biogossipy.com|language=en-US|access-date=18 May 2020|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728004345/https://biogossipy.com/archie-panjabi-bio-wiki-age-husband-children-net-worth-relationship-height-movies-nationality-ethnicity/|url-status=dead}} Her ancestry belongs to Sindh, now in Pakistan; her parents settled in India after the Partition of India.{{cite news |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704017904575409522272105784 |title=A Cultural Conversation with Archie Panjabi|first= Joann| last= Kaufman|work=The Wall Street Journal |date= 1 September 2010|location=New York City |issn=0099-9660 |access-date=7 September 2014}}{{cite web |url= http://www.verveonline.com/54/people/mighty.shtml |title= Mighty Sensational |first= Nisha |last= Paul|work=verveonline.com |date=October 2007|access-date=7 September 2014}}{{cite web |url= http://www.eventcombo.com/bollywood/bollywood_features/bolly_article.cfm?id=286 |title=Archie Panjabi, Exclusive chat for A Mighty Heart |first=Khalid |last=Ilahi |work=eventcombo.com |year=2007 |access-date=7 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140810092321/http://www.eventcombo.com/bollywood/bollywood_features/bolly_article.cfm?id=286 |archive-date=10 August 2014 }} She graduated from Brunel University with a degree in management studies in 1994.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_good_wife/cast/61122/?pg=1 |title=The Good Wife Cast: Archie Panjabi |publisher=CBS |year=2012 |access-date=18 February 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120108061051/http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_good_wife/cast/61122/?pg=1 |archive-date=8 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web | title = Honorary degree for acclaimed actress Archie Panjabi | date = 20 July 2011 | url = http://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/news-items/ne_98123 | publisher = Brunel University London | access-date = 27 September 2015 | archive-date = 16 May 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160516074703/http://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/news-items/ne_98123 | url-status = dead }}{{cite magazine |title= It's Evening in America| magazine= Vanity Fair| date= May 2012| page= 152| publisher= | first= | last= }} She is also trained in ballet.

File:Archie Panjabi with Emmy crop.JPG in 2010 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for playing Kalinda Sharma in The Good Wife.]]

Panjabi has appeared in film and television, from early appearances in the 1999 comedy film East is East to the BBC television series Life on Mars. Her first Hollywood role, as a British diplomat, was in the Oscar-winning The Constant Gardener, released in 2005. One of her highest profile film roles was in the 2002 comedy release Bend It Like Beckham. Panjabi then landed the role of witty and wisecracking office colleague Gemma in the 2006 Ridley Scott-directed romantic comedy A Good Year, alongside Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard.

Panjabi next appeared in 2007 with Angelina Jolie in the film adaptation of A Mighty Heart, a book by Mariane Pearl, wife of the journalist Daniel Pearl. Panjabi played the role of former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Nomani. In 2008, she played the role of Chandra Dawkin in Traitor.

She provided the voices for several characters in the British children's television animation Postman Pat.{{cite news| url= http://film.guardian.co.uk/Player/Player_Page/0,,1008848,00.html |title= Archie Panjabi| work= The Guardian| date= | first= | last= | publisher= | access-date= }} She lent her voice to the video game Dead Space: Extraction. Panjabi appeared on the BBC Four World Cinema Award show in February 2008, arguing the merits of five international hits such as The Lives of Others and Pan's Labyrinth with Jonathan Ross and Christopher Eccleston. In 2009, she portrayed an MI5 agent in the French movie Espion(s), and in the same year she joined the cast of the new CBS television series The Good Wife as Kalinda Sharma, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. Panjabi is the first actor of Indian descent to win an Emmy award.{{cite news |last1=Cheng |first1=Susan |title=Only 1 Asian Actor Has Ever Won An Emmy |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/susancheng/asians-with-emmys |access-date=22 September 2020 |work=BuzzFeedNews |date=15 September 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Shanley |first1=Patrick |title=Emmys: Sandra Oh Makes History as First Woman of Asian Descent Nominated for Lead Actress in Drama Series |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sandra-ohs-emmy-nomination-makes-emmys-history-1126570 |access-date=22 September 2020 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=12 July 2018}}{{cite magazine |last1=Bradley |first1=Laura |title=With a Lead-Actress Emmy Nomination, Sandra Oh Just Made History |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/07/emmy-nominations-2018-sandra-oh-lead-actress-historic |access-date=22 September 2020 |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=12 July 2018}}{{cite news |title=Indian Origin Actress Archie Panjabi Wins Her First Emmy |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/indian-origin-actress-archie-panjabi-wins-her-first-emmy/691896 |access-date=22 September 2020 |work=Outlook |date=30 August 2010}}

In 2010, she played Saamiya Nasir in the British comedy The Infidel. On 28 May 2012, she was cast as pathologist Tanya Reed Smith in BBC Two drama series The Fall.{{cite web|title=The Good Wife Star Archie Panjabi Cast in BBC Two's 'The Fall'|url=http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2012/05/the-good-wife-star-archie-panjabi-cast-in-bbc-twos-the-fall/|first=Patrick|last=Munn|work=TVWise|date=28 May 2012|access-date=28 May 2012|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215407/http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2012/05/the-good-wife-star-archie-panjabi-cast-in-bbc-twos-the-fall/|url-status=dead}} Panjabi appeared as Blaise in the BBC World Service radio series Westway. After leaving The Good Wife in 2015, she guest starred in Fox comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She joined the cast of Shetland series 3.{{cite web |url= https://deadline.com/2015/04/ciaran-hinds-archie-panjabi-cast-shetland-bbc-trailer-1201407178/|title= Archie Panjabi, Ciaran Hinds Trek To 'Shetland' For BBC Drama's Third Season |first= Nancy |last= Tartaglione |date= 9 April 2015|access-date= 1 February 2016}}

In 2016, it was announced that she will star in ABC anthology drama series The Jury as the show's protagonist, Kim Dempsey.{{cite web |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/archie-panjabi-star-abc-anthology-860500|title= Archie Panjabi to Star in ABC Anthology Drama 'The Jury'| first= Lesley |last= Goldberg |website= The Hollywood Reporter|date= 29 January 2016|access-date= 1 February 2016}} She also joined the cast of NBC drama Blindspot.{{cite web |url= https://www.avclub.com/article/archie-panjabi-joins-cast-blindspot-season-two-238625|title= Archie Panjabi joins the cast of Blindspot for season two|last1= Chavez|first1= Danette|date= 22 June 2016|website= The A.V. Club|access-date= 18 July 2016}}

In December 2017, Panjabi commented in The Daily Telegraph on the improvement for offers of parts for actors from ethnic groups "I think there's definitely been an acknowledgement of there being a lack of diversity...".{{cite news| url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/12/30/archie-panjabi-next-kin-drama-may-spur-debate-radicalisation/ |title= Archie Panjabi: I hope 'Next of Kin' drama will spur debate on radicalisation| work= The Daily Telegraph| first= | last= | publisher= | date= 30 December 2017| access-date= }} In an interview with The Guardian in February 2018, subsequent to her The Good Wife success, Panjabi ruefully recalled "A US talent agent once told me an Indian woman could never have a career in Hollywood".{{cite news| interviewer= Rosanna Greenstreet| url= https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/03/archie-panjabi-actor-q-and-a-interview |first= Archie |last= Panjabi |title= Archie Panjabi Interview| work= The Guardian| date= 3 February 2018| access-date= }} She also starred as Reece Shearsmith's third love interest, in the ITV drama The Widower, first aired in August 2019. She starred in TNT's drama Snowpiercer in Season three in 2022.

In May 2021, Panjabi voiced Depa Billaba in the series premiere of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.{{cite web|last=Cao|first=Caroline|url=https://www.polygon.com/star-wars/22419078/star-wars-caleb-bad-batch-jedi-rebels-easter-egg|title=Star Wars: The Bad Batch retcons a Jedi backstory that's key to Rebels|website=Polygon|date=4 May 2021|access-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101122148/https://www.polygon.com/star-wars/22419078/star-wars-caleb-bad-batch-jedi-rebels-easter-egg|archive-date=1 January 2023|url-status=live}}

In September 2024, it was reported by Deadline that Panjabi had been cast in the fifteenth series of Doctor Who.{{cite news |last1=Cordero|first1=Rosy|title=Archie Panjabi To Play 'Doctor Who' Villain In New Season From Disney+ And BBC|url=https://deadline.com/2024/09/doctor-who-archie-panjabi-villain-new-season-1236092374/|work=Deadline|date=17 September 2024}} At the end of "The Interstellar Song Contest" it was revealed that she is playing the newest incarnation of The Rani, a villain not seen since the 1993 special Dimensions in Time.{{Cite web |date=17 May 2025 |title=Archie Panjabi joins Doctor Who as legendary character the Rani |url=https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2025/doctor-who-archie-panjabi-the-rani |access-date=17 May 2025 |website=BBC |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Gooden |first=Tai |date=17 May 2025 |title=DOCTOR WHO's Mid-Credits Scene Reveals the Truth About Mrs. Flood |url=https://nerdist.com/article/doctor-who-mid-credits-scene-mrs-flood-revelation-the-rani-villain/ |access-date=17 May 2025 |website=Nerdist |language=en-US}}

Panjabi was appointed the first Pratham USA Ambassador, representing the largest educational movement in India.{{cite web| url= http://www.prathamusa.org/news/archie-panjabi-appointed-pratham-ambassador |title= Archie Panjabi Appointed as Pratham Ambassador| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114062947/http://www.prathamusa.org/news/archie-panjabi-appointed-pratham-ambassador |archivedate=14 November 2011 |website= Pratham.org| date= 25 August 2011| access-date= 31 October 2012}} She is a celebrity participant in the Rotary International's "This Close" public service campaign to end polio.{{cite web|url=http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/121002_news_globalfestival.aspx |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130415175340/http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/121002_news_globalfestival.aspx |url-status= dead |archive-date=15 April 2013 |title=Rotary shares Polio Eradication message |website= rotary.org| publisher= Rotary International |access-date=31 October 2012 }} In support of women's rights, she has partnered with Amnesty International to head their Stop Violence Against Women campaign to change the "no recourse to public funds" rule that traps women in a cycle of violence.{{cite web| url= https://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17681 |title= Violence against women: Movie star leads battle to overturn 'unjust' UK law| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604052131/http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17681 |archivedate= 4 June 2012 | website= amnesty.org.uk| publisher= Amnesty International| location= UK| date= 28 February 2008| access-date= 31 October 2012}} On 9 February 2011, Panjabi walked in The Heart Truth's Red Dress Collection Fashion Show to increase awareness of the danger of heart disease, the number one killer of women.{{cite web| url= http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/get-involved/event-photos.htm |title= The Heart Truth Event Photos |website= NHLBI.NIH.gov |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140630040357/http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/get-involved/event-photos.htm |archivedate= 30 June 2014 |publisher= National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institutes of Health| location= US| access-date= 31 October 2012}} The Harvard Foundation and Office for the Arts at Harvard University invited Panjabi to participate in their Artist in Residence Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to share her creative process as an actress.{{cite web| url= http://www.ikonzmag.co.uk/ikonz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73:archie-named-artist-in-residence-at-harvard&catid=8:celebs&Itemid=20 |title= Archie named 'Artist in Residence' at Harvard| website= Ikonzmag.co.uk| publisher= | date= | access-date= 31 October 2012}}{{cite web| url= http://www.indianewengland.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=4BC35B1FA25C40FDA72327723B9D1789&AudID=Community%20Photos |title= TV star Panjabi spends two days at Harvard| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140714235013/http://www.indianewengland.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=4BC35B1FA25C40FDA72327723B9D1789&AudID=Community%20Photos |archivedate=14 July 2014 | website= Indianewengland.com| publisher= | access-date= 4 July 2014}}

{{main|List of awards and nominations received by Archie Panjabi}}

Panjabi was awarded the Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. She was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for The Good Wife, winning in 2010. She won an NAACP Image Award in 2011 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the same role. She was also nominated for three SAG Awards with her co-stars of The Good Wife for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Panjabi married Rajesh Nihalani, a bespoke tailor, at the age of 26.{{cite web |last= Francis |first= Pam |title= Good Wife's Archie Panjabi: 'Risk is the vital ingredient that flavours success' |url= http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/562308/Good-Wife-Archie-Panjabi-interview |work=Daily Express|access-date= 27 April 2016 |date= 8 March 2015 |quote= Married at 26 to bespoke tailor Rajesh Nihalani. They have 5 dogs and 3 cats. Archie left him at home in England for her first nine months to work on the role [in TV show The Good Wife]}}

The couple have a son and a daughter.{{cite web |last1=Villarreal |first1=Yvonne |title=For 'Under the Bridge,' Archie Panjabi mined a mother's loss: 'I could not control the pain' |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-05-29/archie-panjabi-under-the-bridge-hulu |work=Los Angeles Times |date=29 May 2024 |access-date=11 March 2025}}

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Category:1972 births

Category:20th-century English actresses

Category:21st-century English actresses

Category:Actors from the London Borough of Barnet

Category:Actresses from London

Category:Alumni of Brunel University London

Category:Chopard Trophy for Female Revelation winners

Category:English film actresses

Category:English Hindus

Category:English people of Indian descent

Category:English people of Sindhi descent

Category:English television actresses

Category:English voice actresses

Category:Living people

Category:Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners

Category:People from Edgware

Category:Sindhi Hindus