Joan Barry (born Ina Florence Marshman Bell; 5 November 1903 – 10 April 1989) was a British actress, whose career straddled the development of

talkies A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

Family

She was daughter of Francis Marshman Bell, who went to Sydney,

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberla ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and wife Norah Cavanagh.

Biography

Born in Carlisle,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

, although some sources claim she was born three years earlier in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, she had her first role at the age of 15. Barry appeared at

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...

, London when seventeen. She memorably dubbed the voice of

Anny Ondra Anny Ondra (born Anna Sophie Ondráková; 15 May 1903 – 28 February 1987) was a Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In 1933, she married German boxing champion M ...

in the early Alfred Hitchcock thriller '' Blackmail'' (1929). The limited sound technology available at the time meant that Barry had to dub the

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

actress in real time as she performed the role. Barry appeared on-screen for Hitchcock in ''

Rich and Strange ''Rich and Strange'', released in the United States as ''East of Shanghai'', is a 1931 romance film directed by Alfred Hitchcock during his time in the British film industry. The film was adapted by Hitchcock, his wife Alma Reville, and Val V ...

'' two years later. She continued to appear in a mixture of leading and top supporting roles (most memorably in ''

Rome Express ''Rome Express'' is a 1932 British thriller film directed by Walter Forde and starring Esther Ralston and Conrad Veidt. Based on a story by Clifford Grey, with a screenplay by Sidney Gilliat, the film is a tale about a European express train ...

'' (1932)) until she retired to start a family.

Marriages and issue

She retired from the screen after her first marriage in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, on October / December 1919 to Henry Hampson in 1934. On 3 October 1936 she married her second husband, Henry Frederick Tiarks III ( Woodheath, Chislehurst,

, 8 September 1900 -

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

, 2 July 1995), son of banker Frank Cyril Tiarks and himself a wealthy

merchant banker A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...

with Schroders also marrying for the second time, having married firstly on 27 April 1930 and divorced in 1936 to Lady Millicent Olivia Mary Taylour of the Marquesses of Headfort, who died on 24 December 1975. They had two children. One of them, Edward Henry Tiarks, died when he was only six months old in 1943. The other, Henrietta Joan Tiarks, married Robin Russell, the Marquess of Tavistock, who eventually became the 14th Duke of Bedford. She is now

Henrietta, Dowager Duchess of Bedford Henrietta Russell, Dowager Duchess of Bedford (born Henrietta Joan Tiarks; 5 March 1940) is a landowner and horse breeder, and the widow of Robin Russell, 14th Duke of Bedford, with whom she lived, at Woburn Abbey. Until her husband succeeded to ...

Filmography

References

* "Burke's Peerage and Baronetage"

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Joan 1903 births 1989 deaths Actresses from London English stage actresses English film actresses English silent film actresses English voice actresses 20th-century English actresses