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Joan Bruce

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Joan Bruce
Born
Joan Olive Thompson[1]

(1928-02-29)29 February 1928[1]
Died26 April 2014(2014-04-26) (aged 86)[1]
Alma materLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art[1]
OccupationActress
Years active1948–1988
Spouses
  • Frank Baden-Powell
    (1954–?)
  • Kenneth Williams
    (1978–2014; his death)
[1]
ChildrenTwo[1]

Joan Olive Bruce (born Joan Thompson) (29 February 1928 – 26 April 2014) was an English-Australian actress born in Surrey, England to George and Olive Thompson, and taking the stage surname name of Bruce after her maternal grandmother.

Biography

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Trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, she appeared in repertory theatre in northern England from 1948, when after marrying first husband actor, director, stage manager and theatre entrepreneur Frank Baden-Powell[2] in 1954, they immigrated the following year to Perth, Australia and toured Oceania with the Australian Elizabeth Trust company in plays Separate Tables and Sleeping Prince, with her husband taking on the role of stage manager and Bruce acting.

After returning to Perth to give birth to her daughters, she appeared in plays The Anniversary, Entertaining Mr. Sloane and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Lauded for her performances, she was considered one of Perth's finest actors. In Adelaide she featured in the production of Patrick White's The Ham Funeral, and was awarded as actress of the year. Before taking the show to Sydney, she also was in the cast of Night on Bald Mountain, another play by Patrick White, before moving with her daughters to Sydney in 1968, and spending the next ten years working numerously including roles in The Entertainer, Travelling North, Heartbreak House, The Life and Times of Nicholas Appelby and Something Afoot.

She married her second husband Kenneth William in 1978, and subsequently appeared on television in roles in Chopper Squad and A Country Practice, before retiring in 1988. She was best known however for her long-running roles in the Australian soap opera Certain Women with Queenie Ashton and June Salter and for voicing the kangaroo and Dot's mother in the 1977 children's animation/live action film Dot and the Kangaroo. She died in 2014, aged 86.

Filmography

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Films

Year Title Role Type
1962 The Good Oil Role unknown TV film
1974 Lindsay's Boy Role unknown TV film
1976 Is There Anybody There? Jamie TV film
1977 Dot and the Kangaroo The Kangaroo / Mother (Voice) Feature animated film
1978 The Newman Shame Betty Newman TV film
1981 Film Continuity Herself - Performer Short documentary film
1982 Sarah and the Squirrel Voice Animated TV film
1982 Brothers Mrs. Williams Feature film, NZ
1987 The Facts of Life Down Under Mrs. Winters TV film (US/Australia)

TV series

Year Title Role Type
1967-1968 In Perth Tonight Presenter TV series
1971;1972 Homicide Marge Hayes / June Hutchinson TV series, 2 episodes
1972 Division 4 Mrs. Davies TV series, 1 episode
1972;1973 Matlock Police Gladys Turner / Betty TV series, 2 episodes
1973-1976 Certain Women Jane Stone TV series, 257 episodes
1976 The Emigrants Peggy Nicholls TV series (UK/Australia), 1 episode
1978 Glenview High Guest role TV series, 1 episode
1978 Chopper Squad Mrs. Hayle TV series, 1 episode: "A Dream Before Dying"
1979 Doctors Down Under Sister Cummings TV series, 8 episodes
1980 Cop Shop Mrs. Keen TV series, 1 episode
1980 The Mike Walsh Show Guest - Herself TV series, 1 episode
1983 A Country Practice Daisy Hatfield TV series, 2 episodes
1987 Melba Mrs. Doyle TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1988 The True Believers Pattie Menzies TV miniseries, 7 episodes

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Sue Baden-Powell (24 June 2014). "Actress was rarely out of work on stage and screen". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. ^ AusStage. "Frank Baden-Powell".
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