Joan Perry (born Elizabeth Rosiland Miller; July 7, 1911 – September 16, 1996) was an American film actress.

Early years

Perry attended

Plant High School H.B. Plant High School is a public high school located in the neighborhood of South Tampa in Tampa, Florida, United States. It opened in 1927 between South Himes Avenue on the east and Dale Mabry Highway on the west. The school is named after rai ...

in Tampa, Florida.

Career

Perry gained early acting experience by participating in class plays in Tampa, Florida. In the early 1930s, Perry worked as a model in New York City. In 1935, she went to Hollywood and was signed under contract to

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, and during her time there, she co-starred with actors such as

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

Ralph Bellamy Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and award ...

Lew Ayres Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film ''All Quiet on the Western Fro ...

, and

Melvyn Douglas Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in 1929 as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy '' Ninotchka'' ( ...

. Following her leave from Columbia in the early 1940s, she went to

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

; her movies included '' International Squadron'' (1941) and '' Nine Lives Are Not Enough'' (1941).

Personal life

Perry was married three times. On September 30, 1941, she wed

mogul

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...

in New York City. They remained married until his death in 1958. She later married Harry Karl and, after divorcing him, married actor

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to Union of South Africa, South Africa at an early age, before ...

. They also divorced. She had a home in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

. After the death of Harry Cohn, Perry and actor

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond hair and clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. During the 1950s and 1960s ...

became close friends, and the media began speculating about their relationship, especially as Joan’s marriage to Harvey faced challenges. After divorcing Harvey, Joan proposed to Hunter, but despite their deep connection, he turned her down, preferring to maintain their friendship without any romantic involvement. Perry died from emphysema in September 1996 at age 85 in Montecito, California. She is buried at

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematorium, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries ...

in Hollywood, California.

Filmography

* '' Heir to Trouble'' (1935) * '' Case of the Missing Man'' (1935) * '' Gallant Defender'' (1935) * ''Dangerous Intrigue'' (1936) * '' The Mysterious Avenger'' (1936) * ''

Shakedown Shakedown or Shake Down may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational ...

'' (1936) * '' Meet Nero Wolfe'' (1936) * ''

Blackmailer Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a th ...

'' (1936) * '' Counterfeit Lady'' (1936) * '' The Devil Is Driving'' (1937) * '' Start Cheering'' (1938) * '' Blind Alley'' (1939) * ''

Good Girls Go to Paris ''Good Girls Go to Paris'' is a 1939 American romantic comedy film starring Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blondell. Plot Jenny Swanson is a waitress in a small college town whose dream is to go to Paris by any means necessary. She confides her plan for ...

'' (1939) * '' The Lone Wolf Strikes'' (1940) * ''

Maisie Was a Lady ''Maisie Was a Lady'' is a 1941 American comedy drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Ann Sothern, Lew Ayres and Maureen O'Sullivan. Produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is the fourth in a series of ten films starrin ...

'' (1940) * ''

Strange Alibi ''Strange Alibi'' is a 1941 American film noir directed by D. Ross Lederman, written by Kenneth Gamet, Leslie T. White and Fred Niblo Jr., and starring Arthur Kennedy, Joan Perry, Jonathan Hale, John Ridgely, Florence Bates and Charles Tr ...

'' (1940) * ''

Bullets for O'Hara ''Bullets for O'Hara'' is a 1941 American crime drama film directed by William K. Howard, written by Raymond L. Schrock, and starring Joan Perry, Roger Pryor, Anthony Quinn, Maris Wrixon, Dick Purcell and Richard Ainley. It was released by Wa ...

'' (1940) * '' International Squadron'' (1941) * '' Nine Lives Are Not Enough'' (1941)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Joan 1911 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American actresses American female models American film actresses Deaths from emphysema Actresses from Palm Springs, California Musicians from Pensacola, Florida People from Montecito, California Warner Bros. contract players Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery