Joyce Holden (born Jo Ann Heckert, September 1, 1930 – January 21, 2022) was an American film and television actress.

Early years

Holden was born in Kansas City, Missouri on September 1, 1930. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D.P. Heckert, she was of Swedish, English, German and Dutch ancestry. As a teenager, she modeled at a department store and used her drawing abilities to win a scholarship to the

Kansas City Art Institute The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. It has approx ...

. In the summer before Holden's senior year in high school, she and her brother went with their mother to Los Angeles, intending to spend two weeks' vacation there. Instead, they stayed, and she attended Hollywood High School her senior year. She went on to study at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA).

Film

Holden's screen debut was in Universal-International's ''

The Milkman ''The Milkman'' is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring Donald O'Connor, Jimmy Durante and Piper Laurie. Plot Roger Bradley is denied a milkman job at his father's company because of his postwar trauma; when he ...

'' (1950). Her other films included '' Iron Man'' (1951), '' Bronco Buster'', ''

Girls in the Night ''Girls in the Night'' is an American film noir directed by Jack Arnold. Released by Universal Pictures on January 15, 1953, the film stars Harvey Lembeck, Joyce Holden and Glenda Farrell. A family's efforts to move into a better neighborhood a ...

'' (1953) and '' You Never Can Tell'' (1951). In 1958, she retired from acting after having appeared in 13 films. Lee Cozad wrote in the book ''More Magnificent Mountain Movies'', "Holden found herself in a Hollywood that was awash with young brunette starlets and subsequently hung on for a couple of years, playing bit parts in 'A' movies and a few leads in 'B' pictures." In a 1952 newspaper column distributed by Newspaper Enterprise Association, Holden attributed the difficulties in her film career to the fact that she started in comedy films. "It's murder when a young actress is stamped as a comedienne in Hollywood," she said. "My big mistake was in showing I had a comedy flair. There's no chance in Hollywood for an actress who starts out in comedy. You graduate into it."

Television

Holden was a regular on ''

The Donald O'Connor Show ''The Donald O'Connor Show'' (also known as ''Here Comes Donald'') is an American musical situation comedy television series starring singer/dancer Donald O'Connor. It appeared on NBC from October 9, 1954, to September 10, 1955, alternating on t ...

'' (1954-1955).Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 276. She also appeared in the ''

Spin and Marty ''Spin and Marty'' is a series of television shorts that aired as part of ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' show of the mid-1950s, produced by Walt Disney and broadcast on the ABC network in the United States. There were three serials in all, set at the ...

'' segment on ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised ...

''.

Personal life

On June 16, 1951, Holden married song writer Arnold Stanford in Las Vegas, Nevada. They were divorced on October 31, 1955. Holden wed her second husband, industrial real estate broker David Mannhalter, in 1958. The couple were active members of the Jehovah's Witnesses. She died in

Encinitas, California Encinitas ( Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California. Located within Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego, between Solana Beach and Carlsbad, and about south ...

on January 21, 2022, at the age of 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Joyce 1930 births 2022 deaths 21st-century American women Actresses from Kansas City, Missouri American film actresses American Jehovah's Witnesses American television actresses