Joyce Jameson

Infobox actor
name = Joyce Jameson


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birthdate = birth date|1932|09|26
birthplace = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
deathdate = death date and age|1987|01|16|1932|09|26
deathplace = Burbank, California, U.S.A.
occupation = actress
yearsactive = 1951—1984
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Joyce Jameson (September 26 1932 - January 16 1987) was an American actress best remembered for her blonde bimbo roles during the Marilyn Monroe period. She is best known for her recurring role as “Skippy” in the 1960s television series "The Andy Griffith Show", [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=20829&GRid=6486083& Find a Grave] , Retrieved on July 7 2008] and notable roles as "The Blonde" in the 1960 Academy Award winner "The Apartment", in the 1962 horror film "Tales of Terror " as Annabel Herringbone, in "Frankie and Johnny" (1966) alongside Elvis Presley, and "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976) alongside Clint Eastwood.

Career

Jameson began work in the early 1950s with numerous uncredited roles in films and television. She made her film debut in 1951 playing a chorus girl dancer in the motion picture “Showboat.” Her other notable film credits of her early period include "Problem Girls" (1953), "Tip on a Dead Jockey" (1957), and the "The Apartment" (1960). In 1962 she starred alongside Vincent Price and Peter Lorre in the Roger Cormanhorror film "Tales of Terror " as Annabel Herringbone. She plays Lorre's vulgar, unfaithful wife and during the course of the film she and her paramour Vincent Price are locked up in Lorre's wine cellar. One year later, she was again starred alongside Lorre and Price in the raucous comedy "The Comedy of Terrors" (released in 1964), where she was more typically cast as she had been in the 1950s. In 1963 she also starred in "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour - How to Get Rid of Your Wife" episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".

1966 proved to be an important year for Jameson. She starred as Abigail in the Elvis Presley film "Frankie and Johnny" and in "Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!" alongside Bob Hope and Elke Sommer. She also appeared in an unsold comedy pilot for CBS called "The Mouse That Roared" but it was never released.

In the 1970s she had notable roles in films such as "Death Race 2000" (1975) playing Grace Pander and she appeared in the 1976 Clint Eastwood western "The Outlaw Josey Wales" as Rose, further illustrating that her acting spanned a great number of genres. She also appeared in "Every Which Way But Loose" (1978) and one of her last roles was "Hardbodies" (1984).

Jameson was well credited as a television actress. Aside from her ongoing role as Skippy in "The Andy Griffith Show", she appeared in guest roles in numerous television series including "Gunsmoke", "The Twilight Zone", "McHale’s Navy", "My Favorite Martian", "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "F-Troop", "Hogan's Heroes", "Alias Smith and Jones", "Emergency" and "Barney Miller". Towards the late 1970s she appeared in "Charlie's Angels" and in the early 1980s "The Love Boat".

Personal life and death

Contrary to her onscreen stereotype, off screen Jameson was said to be the direct opposite of her screen persona. She was reportedly intelligent, sensitive, and extremely well read. She was married to Actor/Songwriter Billy Barnes for much of her earlier life , and was a longtime girlfriend of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. star Robert Vaughn.

On January 16 1987 she died of a heart attack at Burbank, California. She was 54. [http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000042/thread/111379506?d=111379506#111379506] Her body was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.

References

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