Joyce Coad (April 14, 1917 – May 3, 1987) was a

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated ...

in motion pictures.

Child prodigy

Coad was the survivor of

triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bir ...

whose parents died shortly after she was born. She was adopted by a childless couple and taken to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Her foster father was Raymond E. Coad. By the age of five she became a reader of children's stories on radio station KHJ in Los Angeles with the Beacon Light Company. It was commented that Coad's genius was first observed when she began to commit to memory songs, speeches, and music she heard over the radio.

Film actress

Coad moved to Los Angeles at the same time in 1926 that

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

was searching for a "million dollar baby". She won the contest conducted by the ''Los Angeles Evening Express'' and was brought to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

to play the leading role in ''

Hearts In Dixie ''Hearts in Dixie'' (1929) starring Stepin Fetchit was one of the first all-sound film, "talkie", big-studio productions to boast a predominantly African-American cast. A musical film, musical, the film celebrates African-American music and dan ...

''. She was selected from among one thousand youngsters to play a part in ''

The Devil's Circus ''The Devil's Circus'' is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Danish director Benjamin Christensen, based upon his screenplay. The film stars Norma Shearer and Charles Emmett Mack. It was the first of seven films directed by Christens ...

'' (1926) directed by

Benjamin Christensen Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a Danish people, Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor, both in film and on the stage. As a director, he is best known for the 1922 film ''Häxan'' (aka ''Witchcraft Thr ...

. Coad played the role of ''Little Anita''. She also received a contract to perform on radio station KNX in Hollywood. Her programs included recitations, songs, and stories. She performed the role of ''Pearl'' in ''

The Scarlet Letter ''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a work of historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym ...

'' (1926), a film which featured

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...

chose

Victor Seastrom The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

to direct the movie. He proved a fine choice because of his attentiveness to characterization. ''

Drums of Love ''Drums of Love'' (1928) is a silent romance film directed by D. W. Griffith. Plot After finding out her father and his estate is in danger, Princess Emanuella saves his life by marrying Duke Cathos de Alvia, a grotesque hunchback. She actually ...

'' (1928), directed by

D.W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...

, is set in the middle of the nineteenth century in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Coad appeared in the role of the little sister in a screen production which starred

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931) ...

Don Alvarado Don Alvarado (born José Ray Paige, November 4, 1904 – March 31, 1967) was an American actor, assistant director and film production manager. Life and career Born Jose Paige in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Alvarado first studied agriculture on ...

, and

Tully Marshall Tully Marshall (born William Phillips; April 10, 1864 – March 10, 1943) was an American character actor. He had nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience before his debut film appearance in 1914 which led to a film career spanning alm ...

. The number of her film appearances declined after 1931. She played the role of ''Elsa The German Milkmaid'' in ''

Captured! ''Captured!'' (aka ''Fellow Prisoners'') is a 1933 American pre-Code film about World War I prisoners of war in a German camp. The film was directed by Roy Del Ruth and stars Leslie Howard and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ''Captured!'' was based ...

'' (1933). In June 1937 Coad was cast in ''

The Deerslayer ''The Deerslayer, or The First War-Path'' (1841) was James Fenimore Cooper's last novel in his ''Leatherstocking Tales''. Its 1740–1745 time period makes it the first installment chronologically and in the lifetime of the hero of the Leathers ...

'', which was being filmed by Standard Pictures. She was twenty years old.

Death

Joyce Coad died at

March Air Force Base March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB) is located in Riverside County, California between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fo ...

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

in 1987, aged 70, from undisclosed causes.

Select filmography

References

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External links

Joyce Coad
photo from silentsaregolden.com, retrieved 2-13-08. * 1917 births 1987 deaths American child actresses American film actresses American silent film actresses Actresses from Wyoming People from Laramie, Wyoming 20th-century American actresses {{US-film-actor-1910s-stub