Joan Bruce

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.

Joan Bruce
Born
Joan Olive Thompson[1]

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

Biography

Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, 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 (selected)

Title Year Role
The Good Oil (TV movie)1962unknown
Homicide1971-1972guest roles June Hutchinson/Marge Hayes
Division 4 (TV series)1972Guest role Mrs. Davies
Matlock Police1972-1973Guest roles Betty/Gladys Turner
Lindsay's Boy (TV Movie)1974unknown
Is There Anybody There? (TV Movie)1976Jmaie
The Emmigrants (TV series)1976Peggy Nicholls
Certain Women (TV series)1973-1976Jane Stone (257 episodes)
Glenview High (TV series)1977Guest role
Dot and the Kangaroo1977The Kangaroo/Mother (voice artist)
Chopper Squad (TV series)1978Mrs. Hayle (guest role)
The Newman Shame (TV movie)1978Betty Newman
Doctor Down Under (TV series)1979Sister Cummings (8 episode)
Cop Shop (TV series)1980Mrs. Keen
Sarah and the Squirrel1982Voice artist
Brothers1982Mrs. Williams
A Country Practice (TV series)Daisy Hatfield
The Facts of Life Down Under (TV movie)1987Mrs.Winters
Melba (TV mini-series)1988Mrs. Doyle
True Believers (TV mini-series)1988Dame Pattie Menzies (7 episode)

References

  1. Sue Baden-Powell (June 24, 2014). "Actress was rarely out of work on stage and screen". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. AusStage. "Frank Baden-Powell".


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