Joyce Jameson
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2009) |
Joyce Jameson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 26, 1932 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 16, 1987 (aged 54) Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Resting place | Cremated, ashes scattered into the Pacific Ocean |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1951–1984 |
| Spouse | Billy Barnes (divorced) |
| Children | Tyler Barnes |
Joyce Jameson (September 26, 1932 – January 16, 1987) was an American actress, known for many television roles, including recurring guest appearances as “Skippy”, one of the "fun girls" in the 1960s television series The Andy Griffith Show, as well as for film portrayals such as the woman taken advantage of by philandering businessmen, and credited only as "The Blonde" in the 1960 Academy Award winner The Apartment.
Career
Films
Jameson began work in the early 1950s with numerous uncredited roles in films and television. She made her film debut in 1951 playing a chorus girl dancer in the motion picture Show Boat. Her other notable film credits of that early period included Problem Girls (1953), Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957) and The Apartment (1960).
In 1962, she starred alongside Vincent Price and Peter Lorre in the Roger Corman horror film Tales of Terror as Annabel Herringbone. She played Lorre's vulgar, unfaithful wife and during the course of the film she and her paramour (Price) were locked up in Lorre's wine cellar. One year later, she again starred alongside Lorre and Price in the raucous comedy The Comedy of Terrors (released in 1964), where she was more typically cast as she had been in the 1950s. In 1964, she appeared as a hotel hooker in the comedy Good Neighbor Sam, starring Jack Lemmon and Romy Schneider.
For Jameson, 1966 proved to be an important year. She starred as Abigail in the Elvis Presley film Frankie and Johnny and in Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! alongside Bob Hope and Elke Sommer. She also appeared in 1968's The Split, a crime film with Jim Brown and Warren Oates, and in an unsold comedy pilot for CBS called The Mouse That Roared but it was never released.
In the 1970s, Jameson had notable roles in films such as Death Race 2000 (1975) playing Grace Pander and she appeared in the 1976 Clint Eastwood western The Outlaw Josey Wales as Rose, further illustrating that her acting spanned a great number of genres. She also appeared in Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and one of her last roles was Hardbodies (1984).
Television
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Jameson was also a television actress. She made two appearances on Perry Mason: first as Lorraine Iverson who killed her husband in the 1963 episode, "The Case of the Floating Stones", then as Dolly Jameson in the 1965 episode, "The Case of the Feather Cloak". She also had roles on Gunsmoke, Club Oasis, The Twilight Zone, McHale's Navy, My Favorite Martian, The Munsters, F-Troop, Hogan's Heroes (1967 episode: "The Great Brinksmeyer Robbery", as Mady Pleiffer), Alias Smith and Jones, Emergency! and Barney Miller. Towards the late 1970s she appeared in Charlie's Angels and The Feather and Father Gang, and in the early 1980s in The Love Boat. Her ongoing role as Skippy paired with Daphne (played by Jean Carson) in the The Andy Griffith Show established The Fun Girls, and inspired the characters for the later series Laverne & Shirley.
Personal life and death
She was married to actor/songwriter Billy Barnes for many years; they had one child, a son named Tyler Barnes. Subsequently, Jameson was a longtime girlfriend of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. star Robert Vaughn. She acted opposite Vaughn as the guest star on U.N.C.L.E. episode #45, The Dippy Blond Affair in 1967.
According to Vaughn's autobiography, A Fortunate Life, Jameson suffered from depression. She was also an insomniac and regularly took Miltown to help her sleep.[1]
On January 16, 1987, Jameson committed suicide by overdosing on pills at the age of 54.[2] Her body was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.
Selected filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1951 | The Son of Dr. Jekyll | Barmaid | Uncredited |
| 1954 | Phffft! | Secretary | Uncredited |
| 1956 | Crime Against Joe | Gloria Wayne | |
| 1960 | The Apartment | The Blonde | |
| 1962 | Tales of Terror | Annabel Herringbone | |
| 1963 | The Balcony | Penitent | |
| 1963 | The Comedy of Terrors | Amaryllis Trumbull | |
| 1964 | Good Neighbor Sam | Elsie Hooker | |
| 1968 | The Split | Jennifer | |
| 1975 | Death Race 2000 | Grace Pander | |
| 1976 | The Outlaw Josey Wales | Rose | |
| 1976 | Scorchy | Mary Davis | Alternative title: Race with Death |
| 1980 | Pray TV | Millie Peebles | Alternative title: K-GOD |
| 1983 | The Man Who Loved Women | Uncredited | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1956 | Science Fiction Theatre | Nina Lasalle | 1 episode |
| 1958 | Playhouse 90 | Miss Cooper | 1 episode |
| 1959 | Yancy Derringer | Bonnie Mason | 1 episode |
| 1960 | The Betty Hutton Show | Beverly Bell | |
| 1961 | Lock-Up | Coralee | 1 episode |
| 1961–1963 | The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis | Lola LaVerne | 3 episodes |
| 1962 | Outlaws | Lotus | 1 episode |
| 1962–1965 | Andy Griffith Show | Skippy | 3 episodes |
| 1963 | The Danny Thomas Show | Nikki Stewart | 1 episode |
| 1963 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Rosie Feather | 1 episode |
| 1963 | McHale's Navy | Kate O'Hara | 1 episode |
| 1964 | Grindl | Laverne | 1 episode |
| 1965 | The Baileys of Balboa | Mary Brown | 1 episode |
| 1965 | The Munsters | Miss Valentine | Season 1 Episode 22 |
| 1966 | The Dick Van Dyke Show | Blanche | 1 episode |
| 1966 | Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. | Irene | 1 episode |
| 1966 & 1967 | Hogan's Heroes | Mady Pfeiffer Eva Mueller |
1 episode 1 episode |
| 1967 | The Big Valley | The Blonde | 1 episode |
| 1967 | The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. | Shirley Fummer | 1 episode |
| 1969 | The Virginian | Millie | 1 episode |
| 1970 | Run, Simon, Run | Esther | Television movie Alternative titles: Savage Run The Tradition of Simon Zuniga |
| 1971 | Ironside | Mrs. Akerman | 1 episode |
| 1972 | Women in Chains | Simpson | Television movie |
| 1973 | Here's Lucy | Prisoner | 1 episode |
| 1974 | Movin' On | Angela Wentworth | 1 episode |
| 1975 | The First 36 Hours of Dr. Durant | Mrs. Graham | Television movie |
| 1976 | Baretta | Lucille | 1 episode |
| 1977 | The Feather and Father Gang | Norma | 1 episode |
| 1978 | Crash | Sophie Cross | Television movie Alternative title: Crash of Flight 401 |
| 1979 | The Wild Wild West Revisited | Lola (Showgirl) | Television movie |
| 1982 | The Fall Guy | Lucille | 1 episode |
References
- ^ Vaughn, Robert (2008). A Fortunate Life. Macmillan. p. 88. ISBN 0-312-37112-8.
- ^ Del Valle, David (2001-01-01). "CAMP DAVID JANUARY 2007". filmsinreview.com. p. 4. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
