Miss Joyce Compton

I wanted to do a quick entry on Joyce Compton because she is oh so cute, and because Michael Ankerich wrote a book about her that I plan on reading soon and I wanted to know a lil bit more about her before reading it. Does that make sense? Kinda like you want to clean the house before the maid comes over or something. Michael Ankerich is the loverly man that wrote the great book, Dangerous Curves atop Hollywood Heels, so I am looking forward to reading the Joyce book. He is working on a Mae Murray one now, and can't wait for it!

Joyce Compton was born Olivia Joyce Compton on January 27, 1907 in Lexington, Kentucky.

It seems her acting career began after she graduated high school and went to study acting at Tulsa University. She got her break in the movies kinda like Clara Bow, by winning a contest. Her prize was to appear in a couple films, but only as an extra.

She got a big boost in her career when she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1926. She was in good company with Mary Brian, Joan Crawford, Dolores Del Rio, Janey Gaynor, Marceline Day, Mary Astor, Fay Wray, and Dolores Costello. They really snagged some stars that year, eh?

Not all WAMPAS girls became big stars like Crawford and Gaynor. Some only appeared in bit parts in movies, or appeared mostly in B movies. Joyce was the latter. She didn't appear in many big pictures, but she did mostly play the same character. She was seen as the 'ditzy blonde' kinda like Jayne Mansfield or Judy Holliday.

Some notable films she appeared in were: The Awful Truth, Imitation of Life, Mildred Pierce, and The Best Years of Our Lives.

Joyce Compton passed away on October 13, 1997 of natural causes in Los Angeles.

She was laid to rest at Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills.

Apparently religion was very important to Joyce, and she wanted to be known as a Christian actress. She even had it put on her gravestone.

Joyce was married once, to William Kaliher from 1955 to 1956. No kids, and no clue why they divorced. But it's Hollywood, so not surprising to see such a short marriage.

Contrary to some information out there, Joyce was NOT born Eleanor Hunt. Apparently after she and actress Eleanor Hunt appeared in a movie together, a press article confused the two which led some people to believe that her name really was Eleanor.

Some of the movies she appeared in were so low budget, she had to wear her own clothes and jewelry for her character's wardrobe.

I mentioned her similar start to that of Clara Bow's....well, they must of had a lot more than that in common because the two were close friends. What a couple of lovely girls.

Joyce and Clara Bow

"I made some movies, but lucky for me, I made even better friends." ~ Joyce Compton