Joy Harmon

Patricia Joy Harmon (May 1, 1938 – April 14, 2026) was an American actress and baker.

Patricia Joy Harmon was born in Flushing, Queens, New York City, on May 1, 1938,^[a] the daughter of Bernice and Homer Harmon.^[1] She and her family moved to Connecticut in 1946, and she tied for fourth runner-up in the 1957 competition for Miss Connecticut.^[2][3]

When she was three years old, Harmon modeled clothes in Fox Movietone News newsreels.^[4] She skipped two grades in elementary school and graduated from Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut in 1956.^[1][4]

Harmon's stage debut came in Pajama Tops at the Klein Memorial Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She toured the United States in stock company productions, including The Marriage-Go-Round, The Solid Gold Cadillac, The Tender Trap, The Importance of Being Ernest, and Susan Slept Here.^[4] On Broadway, Harmon portrayed Betty Phillips in Make a Million (1958).^[5] She also appeared in an off-Broadway production of Susan Slept Here (1961).^[6]

Harmon appeared as a contestant during the final season of Groucho Marx's television program You Bet Your Life (then titled The Groucho Show). She later became a regular on his follow-up series, Tell It to Groucho, where she was credited as "Patty Harmon." This pseudonym was reportedly requested by the show's sponsor, a soap manufacturer, to avoid cross-promoting a rival brand named "Joy".^[7]

She guest-starred on several 1960s TV series, including Gidget, Batman, and The Monkees. She appeared in a cameo role as blonde Ardice in the Jack Lemmon comedy Under the Yum Yum Tree in 1963. She had a role as Tony Dow's girlfriend in the 1965–66 television soap opera Never Too Young.

Entre los papeles más destacados de Harmon se encuentran el de Merrie, de 9 metros de altura, en Village of the Giants de 1965 , donde captura de forma memorable al pequeño Johnny Crawford y lo cuelga de su bikini, y el de la sensual Lucille, la lavacoches que cautiva a la cuadrilla de presos de Paul Newman en Cool Hand Luke de 1967. ^{[ 8 ]}

Su último trabajo como actriz fue un papel como invitada en la efímera comedia de situación de 1973, Thicker Than Water . Finalmente, dejó la actuación para dedicarse a criar a sus tres hijos. ^{[ 8 ]}

En 2003, fundó Aunt Joy's Cakes, una pastelería mayorista que abastecía a estudios de cine y televisión, ^{[ 9 ]} en Burbank , California. ^{[ 10 ] [ 11 ]} Continuó trabajando en esta pastelería hasta que fue hospitalizada con neumonía semanas antes de su muerte. ^{[ 12 ]}

Harmon se casó con el editor y productor de cine Jeff Gourson en 1968, con quien tuvo tres hijos. ^{[ 8 ]} La pareja se divorció en 2001. ^{[ 11 ] [ 12 ]} Durante un tiempo, un hijo trabajó en Walt Disney Studios .

Harmon murió de neumonía mientras recibía cuidados paliativos en su casa de Los Ángeles el 14 de abril de 2026, a la edad de 87 años. ^{[ 1 ]}

• Joy Harmon en IMDb
• Sullivan, Steve (15 de junio de 1998). Bombshells: Glamour Girls of a Lifetime . Macmillan. pp.  43–. ISBN 9781429956222. Consultado el 6 de mayo de 2012 .