Joan Winfield
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Joan Winfield (born Joan Marie Therese MacGillicuddy; 24 September 1918 – 16 June 1978) was an Australian-born actress and talented violinist, who appeared in Hollywood films in the 1940s, mostly in uncredited roles. She married director and writer
John Meredyth Lucas John Meredyth Lucas (May 1, 1919 – October 19, 2002) was an American Television writer, writer, Television director, director and Television producer, producer, primarily for television. Career Son of screenwriter Bess Meredyth and writer/dir ...
in 1951.


Childhood in Australia

She was born Joan Marie Therese MacGillicuddy and grew up in East Melbourne, the second daughter of Dr. Maurice MacGillicuddy and his wife Nell. Joan and older sister Mauricette attended Catholic Ladies College in nearby Grey St, East Melbourne. Her father was a well-known Melbourne doctor, and both parents were active in the Catholic Church and Melbourne charity work. As children, Joan and Mauricette were encouraged to develop a love of music. Mauricette was an accomplished pianist while Joan became a noted violinist while still in her teens. Joan also performed onstage in charity pantomimes in Melbourne in 1930 and 1931.


Travel overseas and film career

In April 1936, Joan accompanied her parents and Mauricette to England. According to John Meredyth Lucas's memoirs, Maurice had discovered he had cancer, and decided to take the family for an extended trip overseas, to make the most of life while he could. Joan studied at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...
and was presented at Court in July 1937. In mid-1939 the family moved to New York. Lucas states Joan met a Warner Bros. talent scout at a New York party and soon found herself at work in Hollywood. Joan's stage surname was changed by the studio ("Joan Winfield" was a character
Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...
had played in '' The Bride Came C.O.D.'') and she was offered several roles in B films at Warner Bros. She was presented by studio publicists as a stereotypical pin-up girl, supposedly popular with Australian soldiers. However, despite the positive publicity, most of her forty film appearances were minor or un-credited roles. She met
John Meredyth Lucas John Meredyth Lucas (May 1, 1919 – October 19, 2002) was an American Television writer, writer, Television director, director and Television producer, producer, primarily for television. Career Son of screenwriter Bess Meredyth and writer/dir ...
on the set of one of these, the wartime spy drama ''The Gorilla Man'', a B film made in 1943. They married in 1951 and raised three children, Elizabeth, Victoria and Michael.


Later life

Most of Winfield's later films were bit parts, often in the films of father-in-law
Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silen ...
, the last being ''
The Helen Morgan Story ''The Helen Morgan Story'', released in the UK as ''Both Ends of the Candle'', is a 1957 American biographical film directed by Michael Curtiz starring Ann Blyth and Paul Newman. The screenplay by Oscar Saul, Dean Riesner, Stephen Longstreet, ...
'', made in 1957. In 1959, Lucas was offered the role of associate producer, director, and scriptwriter on the Australian TV series ''Whiplash'', an imaginative retelling of the
Cobb and Co Cobb & Co was the name used by several independent Australian coach businesses. The first company to use 'Cobb & Co' was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name grew to great prominence in the late 19th century ...
story starring
Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor who portrayed Jim Phelps in the television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 to 1973 and in its reviv ...
. Joan and John took their young family to Australia while the series was made, her first visit home in twenty-five years. Joan devoted much of her later life to charity work, becoming President of the US charity SHARE. She developed lung cancer in the later 1970s and died, aged 59, in 1978.Lucas (2004) pp. 274–277 Her sister, Mauricette, took the name Dale Melbourne and appeared on the New York stage.


Selected filmography

* ''
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 ...
'' (1941) ''(credited role)'' * ''
Manpower Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...
'' (1941) * ''
Passage from Hong Kong ''Passage from Hong Kong'' is a 1941 American comedy mystery film directed by D. Ross Lederman and written by Fred Niblo Jr. and Earl Derr Biggers. The film stars Lucile Fairbanks, Douglas Kennedy, Paul Cavanagh, Richard Ainley, Marjorie Gate ...
'' (1941) * '' The Smiling Ghost'' (1941) * ''
I Was Framed ''I Was Framed'' is a 1942 American crime film directed by D. Ross Lederman. According to Warner Bros records the film earned $159,000 domestically and $90,000 foreign. Plot Cast * Tod Andrews as Ken Marshall (Scott) (as Michael Ames) * Jul ...
'' (1942) * ''
Yankee Doodle Dandy ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' is a 1942 American biographical musical drama film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, Geo ...
'' (1942) * ''
Lady Gangster ''Lady Gangster'' is a 1942 Warner Bros. B picture crime film directed by Robert Florey, credited as "Florian Roberts". It is based on the play ''Gangstress, or Women in Prison'' by Dorothy Mackaye, who in 1928, as #440960, served less than ten m ...
'' (1942) * ''
The Gay Sisters ''The Gay Sisters'' is a 1942 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper, and starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp, Gig Young (who adopted his character's name as his screen name) and Nancy Coleman. The ...
'' (1942) * '' The Big Shot'' (1942) * '' Gentleman Jim'' (1942) * ''
The Gorilla Man ''The Gorilla Man'' is a 1943 American drama film directed by D. Ross Lederman. Despite the title and marketing, it is not a horror film, but a World War II espionage thriller. Plot Military officer Captain Craig Killian is wounded in the lin ...
'' (1943) ''(credited role)'' * ''
Mission to Moscow Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada * Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...
'' (1943) * '' Murder on the Waterfront'' (1943) ''(credited role)'' * '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'' (1943) * '' The Adventures of Mark Twain'' (1944) * '' Mr. Skeffington'' (1944) * ''
Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...
'' (1945) * ''
Of Human Bondage ''Of Human Bondage'' is a 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The novel is generally agreed to be Maugham's masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although he stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in it ...
'' (1946) * '' Night and Day'' (1946) * '' A Stolen Life'' (1946) ''(credited role)'' * '' The Unfaithful'' (1947) * ''
The Babe Ruth Story ''The Babe Ruth Story'' is a 1948 American biographical film about professional baseball player Babe Ruth (1895–1948), who achieved fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees. However, most of the film, except for the basic details ...
'' (1948) * '' Johnny Belinda'' (1948) * '' Breakthrough'' (1950) * ''
The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous ...
'' (1952) * ''
The Egyptian ''The Egyptian'' (''Sinuhe egyptiläinen'', Sinuhe the Egyptian) is a historical novel by Mika Waltari. It was first published in Finnish in 1945, and in an abridged English translation by Naomi Walford in 1949, from Swedish rather than Finni ...
'' (1954) * ''
The Helen Morgan Story ''The Helen Morgan Story'', released in the UK as ''Both Ends of the Candle'', is a 1957 American biographical film directed by Michael Curtiz starring Ann Blyth and Paul Newman. The screenplay by Oscar Saul, Dean Riesner, Stephen Longstreet, ...
'' (1957)


References


External links

*
''Eighty Odd Years'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winfield, Joan 1918 births 1978 deaths Australian film actresses Actresses from Melbourne 20th-century Australian actresses Australian emigrants to the United States