Joan Rice (3 February 1930 – 1 January 1997) was an English film actress. Rice is best known for her role as Dalabo in the film '' His Majesty O'Keefe'' (1954) which co-starred Burt Lancaster. Apart from that she played

Maid Marian Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circums ...

in ''

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men ''The Story of Robin Hood'' is a 1952 action-adventure film produced by RKO- Walt Disney British Productions, based on the Robin Hood legend, made in Technicolor and filmed in Buckinghamshire, England. It was written by Lawrence Edward Watkin and ...

'' (1952), played the graverobber's wife in ''

The Horror of Frankenstein ''The Horror of Frankenstein'' is a 1970 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions that is both a semi-parody and semi-remake of the 1957 film '' The Curse of Frankenstein'', of Hammer's ''Frankenstein'' series. It was produced and direct ...

'' and appeared in ''

Operation Bullshine ''Operation Bullshine'' is a 1959 British colour comedy film directed by Gilbert Gunn and starring Donald Sinden, Barbara Murray and Carole Lesley. The working title of the film was ''Girls in Arms'' that features as a marching song in the fil ...

''. For several years in the early and mid-1950s, Rice was considered one of 'Rank's top stars'. She was loaned to Adelphi Films to make ''

The Crowded Day ''The Crowded Day'' is a 1954 British comedy drama film directed by John Guillermin and starring John Gregson, Joan Rice, Cyril Raymond and Josephine Griffin. The film follows a group of shopgirls working in Bunting and Hobbs, a London depar ...

''. She was reputedly discovered working as a waitress in a

Lyons Corner House J. Lyons & Co. was a British restaurant chain, food manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1884 by Joseph Lyons and his brothers in law, Isidore and Montague Gluckstein. Lyons’ first teashop opened in Piccadilly, London in 1894, an ...

in London, where she was crowned "Miss Lyons, 1949"; and thereafter trained at the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distrib ...

's "charm school". Her interment was at Braywick Cemetery in Maidenhead.

Filmography

References

External links

* *Joan Rice – More details at YouAndYesterday – https://web.archive.org/web/20080517042046/http://www.youandyesterday.co.uk/articles/Rice,_Joan_-_Maid_Marian_of_Abbey_Street 1930 births 1997 deaths English film actresses 20th-century English actresses People from Derby Burials in Berkshire {{UK-film-actor-stub