Joan Dowling (6 January 1928 – 31 March 1954) was a British character actress.

Life and career

Dowling was the illegitimate daughter of Vera Dowling. A piece in ''The

Laindon Laindon is a town and civil parish, which now forms part of the town of Basildon, in the Basildon district, in Essex, England. It is between Basildon and West Horndon. It was also an ancient parish. It was based on the manor of the same name. A ...

and District Times'', on 23 June 2015, written by her cousin John Strickland, says she was born in the house called 'Carlyle', which is one of the turreted bungalows in Laindon High Road North, and brought up by her great-grandmother, Elizabeth Dowling, in

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

. She had a passion for acting, although she was never formally trained, and took roles in small plays, pantomimes and other productions whenever she could. At the age of 14 she approached a London acting agency and was given her first 'proper' part in a small production (title unknown). Her major acting debut came when producer

Anthony Hawtrey Anthony John Hawtrey (22 January 1909 – 18 October 1954) was an English actor and theatre director. He began his acting career in 1930 and had begun directing by 1939. As director of the Embassy Theatre in London, several of his productions t ...

cast her in the role of Norma Bates in the Joan Temple play ''

No Room at the Inn No or NO may refer to: Linguistics and symbols * ''Yes'' and ''no'', responses * No, an English determiner in noun phrases * No (kana) (, ), a letter/syllable in Japanese script * No symbol (🚫), the general prohibition sign * Numero sign ( ...

''. The play's first performance was at the Embassy Theatre in July 1945. Subsequently, the play transferred under producer Robert Atkins to the Winter Garden Theatre,

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

. She also played the same role in the 1948 film version, with the screenplay co-written by the famous Welsh author

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

and Ivan Foxwell. She signed her first film contract at the age of 17 for Associated British Pictures. She was perhaps best known for her role as the tomboy Clarry in the 1947

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...

production ''

Hue and Cry In common law, a hue and cry is a process by which bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who has been witnessed in the act of committing a crime. History By the Statute of Winchester of 1285, 13 Edw. 1. St. 2. c. ...

'', a story set among the rubble and buildings of post-war London about a group of school children who discover that crooks have been sending coded messages about forthcoming jobs to their gang using the pages of a children's comic.''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' 1 April 1954 pp 8-9, "Tragedy of Farmer Street's Happy Child" In 1951 she married

Harry Fowler Henry James Fowler (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen. Personal life Fowler was born in Lambeth, so ...

, another actor from the cast of ''Hue and Cry''.

Death

On 31 March 1954, Dowling took her own life in the kitchenette of her home in Farmer Street, Kensington, by gas poisoning.''

'' 6 April 1954 page 6, "No one in the world for me but Joan, says Harry Fowler"

Filmography

Selected stage roles

*''

'' (1945–47) ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' 15 July 1945 p 2''

'' 5 May 1947 *''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1950) as Puck''

'' 5 January 1950 p 5 *''Robinson Crusoe'' (1952) as

Principal Boy In pantomime, a principal boy role is the young male protagonist of the play, traditionally played by a young actress in boy's clothes. The earliest example is Miss Ellington who in 1852 appeared in ''The Good Woman in the Wood'' by James Planc ...

'' 7 January 1953 p 4

Radio

*''Meet the Huggetts'' (1953, series 1. Replaced after her death by

Vera Day Vera Day (born 4 August 1933) is an English film and television actress. She was born and grew up in Forest Gate, Essex (now London Borough of Newham). Early career Leaving school at 15, she had various jobs before finding employment in a hai ...

)

References

External links

*
Video footage of Joan Dowling at British Pathe News

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowling, Joan 1928 births 1954 suicides 20th-century English actresses English people of Irish descent Suicides in Kensington Actresses from Surrey Deaths from asphyxiation English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses Suicides by gas 1954 deaths Actors from Chertsey People from Uxbridge