Joyce Taylor (born Joyce Crowder; September 14, 1937 – January 2024) was an American actress. She starred in feature films and television primarily during the 1950s and 1960s.

Early life

Born in

Taylorville, Illinois Taylorville is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,506 at the 2020 census, making it the county's largest city. History Taylorville was founded on May 24, 1839, and was named after J ...

on September 14, 1937, she based her stage name on her hometown. A coal miner's daughter, she attended public schools in Taylorville and was the top baton twirler at Taylorville High School. Her performance in a school talent show led to a recording contract.

Career

Taylor sang in amateur shows at age 10 and turned professional at age 15, signing with Mercury Records (billed as Joyce Bradley). When she was 16, she was singing at

Chez Paree The Chez Paree was a Chicago nightclub known for its glamorous atmosphere, elaborate dance numbers, and top entertainers. It operated from 1932 until 1960 in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago at 610 N. Fairbanks Court. The club was the ep ...

nightclub in Chicago and other similar venues. She was under contract to

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

-owned

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

in the 1950s, but he only allowed her to act in one movie (a small part in ''

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Beyond (a) reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the standard of balance of probabilities (US English: preponderance of t ...

'' in 1956). When her seven-year contract ended, she became a regular on the science-fiction adventure TV series ''

Men into Space ''Men into Space'' (a.k.a. ''Space Challenge'' in later US syndication) is an American black-and-white science fiction television series, produced by Ziv Television Programs, Inc., that was first broadcast by CBS from September 30, 1959, to S ...

'' (1959–1960) as well as acted in many other TV shows and several feature films.

Personal life and death

Taylor married stockbroker Edward Bellinson. She later married Richard Hinnant. Taylor died in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The population was 169,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an i ...

in January 2024, at the age of 87.

Selected filmography

Film

* 1956: ''

'' * 1959: ''

The FBI Story ''The FBI Story'' is a 1959 American crime drama film starring James Stewart, and produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John Twist is based on a book by Don Whitehead. Plot John Michael ("Chip") Hardes ...

'' * 1961: '' Atlantis, the Lost Continent'' * 1961: ''

Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes. It is about long and up to about wide, and surrounds most of the Pa ...

'' * 1962: ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' * 1963: ''Twice-Told Tales''

Television

* 1958: ''

The Real McCoys ''The Real McCoys'' is an American sitcom starring Walter Brennan, Richard Crenna, and Kathleen Nolan. Co-produced by Danny Thomas's Marterto Productions in association with Walter Brennan and Irving Pincus's Westgate Company, it was br ...

'' * 1958: ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American private detective crime drama television series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each epis ...

'' * 1959: ''

Sea Hunt ''Sea Hunt'' is an American action adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges ...

'' * 1959: '' Lawman'' * 1959: '' Lock-Up'' * 1959: ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was b ...

'' * 1959: '' The Gale Storm Show'' * 1959–1960: ''

'' * 1960: ''

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...

'' (episode: “Cattle and Canes” as Rancher Jane Taylor) * 1960: ''

The Untouchables Untouchable or Untouchables may refer to: People * Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status * Untouchables, word for the Dalits or Scheduled Castes of India * Untouchables (law enforcement), ...

'' * 1960–1962: ''

Tales of Wells Fargo ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series starring Dale Robertson in 201 episodes that aired from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until i ...

'' * 1962: ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'' (episode: "The War Comes to Washoe" as Morvath Terry) * 1962: ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

'' * 1963: '' 13 Frightened Girls'' * 1964: ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, p ...

'' * 1964–1965: ''

The Littlest Hobo ''The Littlest Hobo'' () is the Canadian television series based upon a 1958 American film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for a popular second run on C ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Joyce 1937 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women Actresses from Illinois American film actresses American television actresses RKO Pictures contract players People from Taylorville, Illinois