Joy Harmon

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Joy Harmon
Joy Harmon Roger Smith Mister Roberts 1965.JPG
Harmon with Roger Smith in an episode of Mister Roberts , 1965.
Born
Joy Patricia Harmon

(1940-05-01) May 1, 1940 (age 84)
Years active1956–1973
Known forCar washing girl in Cool Hand Luke
Spouse
(m. 19682001)
Children3
Website http://www.auntjoyscakes.com

Patricia Joy Harmon [1] or Joy Patricia Harmon (born May 1, 1940) [2] is an American baker and former actress.

Contents

Early years

The daughter of Homer Harmon, Joy Patricia Harmon was born in Jackson Heights, New York, [1] or Flushing, New York. She and her family moved to Connecticut in 1946. She was a Miss Connecticut, [2] [ when? ] She tied for fourth runner-up in the 1957 competition for Miss Connecticut. [3] [4]

When she was three years old, Harmon modeled clothes in Fox Movietone News newsreels. [1] She skipped two grades in elementary school and graduated from Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut. [1]

Career

Harmon's stage debut came in Pajama Tops at the Klein Memorial Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She toured the United States in stock company productions, including The Marriage-Go-Round , The Solid Gold Cadillac, The Tender Trap , The Importance of Being Ernest, and Susan Slept Here. [1] On Broadway, Harmon portrayed Betty Phillips in Make a Million (1958). [5] She also appeared in an off-Broadway production of Susan Slept Here (1961). [6]

Harmon was a contestant during the last season of Groucho Marx's television program You Bet Your Life (titled The Groucho Show during its last season), and later a regular on Marx's short-lived program Tell It to Groucho (credited as "Patty Harmon"). She guest-starred on several 1960s TV series, including Gidget , Batman , and The Monkees . She appeared in a cameo role as blonde Ardice in the Jack Lemmon comedy Under the Yum Yum Tree in 1963. She had a role as Tony Dow's girlfriend in the 1965–66 television soap opera Never Too Young .

Harmon's stand-out acting roles include the 30-foot-tall (9 m) Merrie in Village of the Giants (1965, in which she captures normal-sized Johnny Crawford and suspends him from her bikini top), and the car-washing Lucille in Cool Hand Luke (1967) [7] with her purportedly 41–22–36 measurements. [2]

Personal life

Harmon was married to film editor and producer Jeff Gourson from 1968 to 2001, raising three children. For a time, a son worked at Walt Disney Studios. She later established a bakery, Aunt Joy's Cakes, in Burbank, California. [8]

Filmography

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Patty Harmon Has Studied Long Time for Show Business Career". Corpus Christi Times. January 21, 1962. p. 52. Retrieved September 30, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 Listanti, Tom (2008). Glamor Girls of Sixties Hollywood: Seventy-Five Profiles. McFarland & Co., Inc. pp. 87–88. ISBN   978-0-7864-3172-4 . Retrieved June 29, 2017. Her amble [sic] bosom (41–22–36) was her ticket to Broadway in the comedy Make Me Laugh...
  3. Mastronardi, Pete (May 6, 1957). "Crosses Fingers to Woo Luck, Crown Brings Joy, With Tears". The Bridgeport Post. p. 18. Retrieved September 30, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  4. Glenn, Taylor (July 14, 1957). "So This Is Our Town". Progress Bulletin. p. B - 2. Retrieved September 30, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Joy Harmon". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  6. "Joy Harmon". Internet Off-Broadway Database. Lucille Lortel Foundation. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  7. "Catching up with the woman behind the famous 'Cool Hand Luke' car wash scene". Entertainment Weekly .
  8. "About Us". Aunt Joy's Cakes. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013.