The Tragic Death Of Secrets Of Isis Star JoAnna Cameron
JoAnna Cameron, the actor best known for starring in the DC Comics-adapted superhero series "The Secrets of Isis," has died in Hawaii at the age of 70, The New York Post reported. The news was tweeted by Cameron's "Secrets of Isis" co-star, Joanna Pang Atkins, on October 24. "Sad to post that JoAnna Cameron 'The Mighty Isis' has flown to heaven," Atkins wrote alongside a promo photo of herself, Cameron, and their co-star, Brian Cutler. "She suffered a stroke and passed away from complications this past Friday. We shared the wonderful lasting experience of making 'The Secrets of Isis,'" Atkins continued.
Atkins' line about Cameron taking flight is apt, considering her titular character on "The Secrets of Isis" soars from an archeologist to an Egyptian goddess (with the power of flight, amongst others) after discovering a much-coveted amulet. Her catchphrase "Oh mighty Isis!" (also referenced in Atkins' tweet) caught something of a cult following during the show's run on CBS from 1975 to 1976, per NYP.
Born in Colorado, per the outlet (who cited IMDb), Cameron retired from television in 1980 and threw herself into healthcare work as well as hotel marketing in Hawaii. Let's take a look at what else the erstwhile on-screen superhuman accomplished throughout her career.
JoAnna Cameron broke a TV record and much more
Aside from a multi-decade acting career, JoAnna Cameron also bore the honor of making the Guinness Book of World Records with, at the time, a record-breaking 105 commercial appearances, per TV Guide's 1979 archives. Cameron's achievement was even highlighted during an appearance on "The Merv Griffin Show." When Cameron denied host Griffin's awareness of her good looks, Griffin retorted back (perhaps fairly), "But you must know how pretty you are because everybody is asking for you ... And you know your commercials aren't for, you know, pimple cream." Indeed, as TV Guide wrote, advertisers, "spent more than $100 million using JoAnna as the beauteous centerpiece of their commercials for cosmetics, shampoo, wine, beer ..." and more.
Per The New York Post, after a breakout guest arc on the early '70's medical show "Marcus Welby, M.D." (opposite screen icon James Brolin), Cameron proved very much in demand on the small screen. In addition to a head-turning cameo in the Farrah Fawcett TV movie "The Great American Beauty Contest" in 1973, Cameron crossed over from her "The Secrets of Isis" lead role into other superhero series. Per her IMDb, Cameron appeared on three episodes of the simultaneously-running DC "Shazam!" series, and two episodes of "The Amazing Spider-Man" two years after her show concluded.
With directing (the 1982 short documentary "Blue Angels in Razor Sharp") and camerawork being her last credits, there clearly was always a lot more to Cameron than just beauty.