# Joan Bruce

Joan Olive Bruce (born Joan Thompson) (29 February 1928 – 26 April 2014) was an English-Australian actress who appeared in theatre, radio, television and film.

## Biography

Bruce was born as Joan Thompson in Surrey, England to George and Olive Thompson and took her stage name after her maternal grandmother. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, before launching her performance career in reportory theatre in northern England from 1948, after marrying first husband actor, director, stage manager and theatre entrepreneur Frank Baden-Powell. They immigrated the following year to Perth, Australia and toured Oceania with the Australian Elizabeth Trust company in plays Separate Tables and Sleeping Prince, with her husband taking on the role of stage manager and Bruce acting.
After returning to Perth to give birth to her daughters, she appeared in plays The Anniversary, Entertaining Mr. Sloane and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Lauded for her performances, she was considered one of Perth's finest actors. In Adelaide she featured in the production of Patrick White's The Ham Funeral, and was awarded as actress of the year. Before taking the show to Sydney, she also was in the cast of Night on Bald Mountain, another play by Patrick White, before moving with her daughters to Sydney in 1968, and spending the next ten years working numerously including roles in The Entertainer, Travelling North, Heartbreak House, The Life and Times of Nicholas Appelby and Something Afoot.
She married her second husband Kenneth William in 1978, and subsequently appeared on television in roles in Chopper Squad and A Country Practice, before retiring in 1988. She was best known however for her role in the Australian soap opera Certain Women and for voicing the kangaroo and Dot's mother in the 1977 children's animation/live action film Dot and the Kangaroo.
She died in 2014, aged 86.

## Filmography

Films
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1962 | The Good Oil | Role unknown | TV film |
| 1974 | Lindsay's Boy | Role unknown | TV film |
| 1976 | Is There Anybody There? | Jamie | TV film |
| 1977 | Dot and the Kangaroo | The Kangaroo / Mother (Voice) | Feature animated film |
| 1978 | The Newman Shame | Betty Newman | TV film |
| 1981 | Film Continuity | Herself - Performer | Short documentary film |
| 1982 | Sarah and the Squirrel | Voice | Animated TV film |
| 1982 | Brothers | Mrs. Williams | Feature film, NZ |
| 1987 | The Facts of Life Down Under | Mrs. Winters | TV film (US/Australia) |
TV series
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1967-1968 | In Perth Tonight | Presenter | TV series |
| 1971;1972 | Homicide | Marge Hayes / June Hutchinson | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1972 | Division 4 | Mrs. Davies | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1972;1973 | Matlock Police | Gladys Turner / Betty | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1973-1976 | Certain Women | Jane Stone | TV series, 257 episodes |
| 1976 | The Emigrants | Peggy Nicholls | TV series (UK/Australia), 1 episode |
| 1978 | Glenview High | Guest role | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978 | Chopper Squad | Mrs. Hayle | TV series, 1 episode: "A Dream Before Dying" |
| 1979 | Doctors Down Under | Sister Cummings | TV series, 8 episodes |
| 1980 | Cop Shop | Mrs. Keen | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1980 | The Mike Walsh Show | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1983 | A Country Practice | Daisy Hatfield | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Melba | Mrs. Doyle | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1988 | The True Believers | Pattie Menzies | TV miniseries, 7 episodes |