Joyce Compton

Joyce Compton
Olivia Joyce Compton (January 27, 1907 – October 13, 1997) was an American actress.
Biography
Compton was born in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Henry and Golden Compton. (Despite frequent reports to the contrary, her name was not originally "Eleanor Hunt"; she had appeared in the film Good Sport (1931) with Hunt and this confusion in an early press article followed Compton throughout her career.) After graduating high school she spent two years at the University of Tulsa, studying dramatics, art, music and dancing. She won a personality and beauty contest and spent two months in a film studio as an extra.
Compton first made a name for herself when she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1926 with Mary Brian, Dolores Costello, Joan Crawford, Dolores del Río, Janet Gaynor and Fay Wray. Compton appeared in a long string of mostly B-movies from the 1920s through the 1950s. She was a comedy actress and protested at being stereotyped as a "dumb blonde".
Among her over 200 films were Imitation of Life, Magnificent Obsession, The Awful Truth, Mildred Pierce, and The Best Years of Our Lives.
A devout Christian, on her gravestone, just beneath her dates of birth and death, is written "Christian Actress". She died from natural causes, aged 90, and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.
Awards
For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Compton was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the south side of the 7000 block of Hollywood Boulevard.
Selected filmography
The Golden Bed (1925) as Minor Role (uncredited)
Sally (1925) as Minor Role (uncredited)
What Fools Men (1925) as Dorothy
Broadway Lady (1925) as Phyllis Westbrook
Syncopating Sue (1926) as Marge Adams
Ankles Preferred (1927) as Virginia
The Border Cavalier (1927) as Madge Lawton
Soft Living (1928) as Billie Wilson
The Wild Party (1929) as Eva Tutt
Dangerous Curves (1929) as Jennie Silver
Salute (1929) as Marian Wilson
The Sky Hawk (1929) as Peggy
High Society Blues (1930) as Pearl Granger
The Three Sisters (1930) as Carlotta
Cheer Up and Smile (1930) as College Co-Ed (uncredited)
Wild Company (1930) as Anita Grayson
Lightnin' (1930) as Betty - Larry's Wife
Not Exactly Gentlemen (1931) as Ace's Girl
Three Girls Lost (1931) as Edna Best
Up Pops the Devil (1931) as Luella May Carroll
Women of All Nations (1931) as Kiki (uncredited)
Annabelle's Affairs (1931) as Mabel
The Spider (1931) as Butch's Girl Friend (uncredited)
Good Sport (1931) as Fay
Under Eighteen (1931) as Sybil
Lena Rivers (1932) as Caroline Nichols
Westward Passage (1932) as Lillie (uncredited)
Unholy Love (1932) as Sheilla Bailey Gregory
Beauty Parlor (1932) as Joan Perry
Lady and Gent (1932) as Betty
Fighting for Justice (1932) as Amy Tracy
A Parisian Romance (1932) as Marcelle
Hat Check Girl (1932) as A Party Guest (uncredited)
False Faces (1932) as Dottie Nation
Madison Square Garden (1932) as Joyce
Afraid to Talk (1932) as Alice - Party Girl
If I Had a Million (1932) as Marie - Waitress (uncredited)
Luxury Liner (1933) as Girl Overboard (uncredited)
Sing, Sinner, Sing (1933) as Gwen
Only Yesterday (1933) as Margot (uncredited)
Dream Stuff (1934, Short)
Caravan (1934) as Party Girl at Beer Garden (uncredited)
The Trumpet Blows (1934) as Blonde on Train (uncredited)
Affairs of a Gentleman (1934) as Foxey Dennison
Million Dollar Ransom (1934) as Millie - Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
King Kelly of the U.S.A. (1934) as Maxine Latour
Imitation of Life (1934) as Young Woman at Party (uncredited)
The White Parade (1934) as Una Mellon
Rustlers of Red Dog (1935, Serial) as Mary Lee
Go into Your Dance (1935) as Café Showgirl
Mister Dynamite (1935) as Check Room Girl (uncredited)
Let 'Em Have It (1935) as Barbara
College Scandal (1935) as Toby Carpenter
Suicide Squad (1935) as Mary
Magnificent Obsession (1935, unbilled) as Nurse (uncredited)
Valley of the Lawless (1936) as Joan Jenkins
Love Before Breakfast (1936) as Mary Lee
The Harvester (1936) as Thelma Biddle
Trapped by Television (1936) as Mae Collins
Star for a Night (1936) as Ellen Romaine
Sitting on the Moon (1936) as Blossom
Murder with Pictures (1936) as Hester Boone
Ellis Island (1936) as Adele
Under Your Spell (1936) as Secretary (uncredited)
Country Gentlemen (1936) as Gertie
Three Smart Girls (1936) as Judson's Secretary (uncredited)
The Awful Truth (1937)
China Passage (1937) as Elaine Gentry - Customs Agent aka Mrs. Katharine 'Kate' Collins
Top of the Town (1937) as Beulah (uncredited)
We Have Our Moments (1937) as Carrie
Wings Over Honolulu (1937) as Caroline
Pick a Star (1937) as Newlywed
Kid Galahad (1937) as Party Guest on Phone (uncredited)
Rhythm in the Clouds (1937) as Amy Lou
Born Reckless (1937) as Dora - at the Race Track (uncredited)
The Toast of New York (1937) as Mary Lou (uncredited)
Sea Racketeers (1937) as Blondie
She Asked for It (1937) as Miss Hurley (uncredited)
Small Town Boy (1937) as Molly Summers
Wings Over Honolulu (1937) as Dixie Belle Lee
Man-Proof (1938) as Guest (uncredited)
Love on a Budget (1938) as Millie Brown
Women Are Like That (1938) as Miss Hall
You and Me (1938) as Curly Blonde
Spring Madness (1938) as Sally Prescott
The Last Warning (1938) as Dawn Day aka Minnie Schultz
Artists and Models Abroad (1938) as 'Chickie'
Trade Winds (1938) as Mrs. Johnson
Going Places (1938) as Joan
The Flying Irishman (1939) as Sally - a Waitress (uncredited)
Rose of Washington Square (1939) as Peggy
Hotel for Women (1939) as Emeline Thomas
Reno (1939) as Bonnie Newcomb
Balalaika (1939) as Masha (Lydia's maid)
Escape to Paradise (1939) as Penelope Carter
Honeymoon Deferred (1940) as Kitty Kerry
Turnabout (1940) as Irene Clare
I Take This Oath (1940) as Betty Casey
They Drive by Night (1940) as Sue Carter (uncredited)
City for Conquest (1940) as Lilly
Sky Murder (1940) as Christine Cross
The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940) as Hazel Dalton
Who Killed Aunt Maggie? (1940) as Cynthia Lou
Let's Make Music (1941) as Betty
Ziegfeld Girl (1941) as Miss Sawyer - Auditioning Showgirl (uncredited)
Manpower (1941) as Scarlett
Scattergood Meets Broadway (1941, aka Blonde Menace) as Diana Deane
Moon Over Her Shoulder (1941) as Cecilia
Blues in the Night (1941) as Blonde
Bedtime Story (1941) as Beulah
Too Many Women (1942) as Barbara Cartwright
Thunder Birds (1942) as Saleswoman
Silver Skates (1943) as Lucille
A Gentle Gangster (1943) as Kitty Parker
Let's Face It (1943) as Wiggin's Girl (uncredited)
Silver Spurs (1943) as Millie Love
Swing Out the Blues (1943) as Kitty Grogan
Roughly Speaking (1945) as Prissy Girl (uncredited)
Pillow to Post (1945) as Gertrude Wilson (uncredited)
Hitchhike to Happiness (1945) as Joan Randall
Christmas in Connecticut (1945) as Mary Lee
Mildred Pierce (1945) as Waitress (uncredited)
Danger Signal (1945) as Kate
Dark Alibi (1946) as Emily Evans
Behind the Mask (1946) as Lulu
Night and Day (1946) as Chorine (uncredited)
Rendezvous with Annie (1946) as Louise Grapa
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) as Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Scared to Death (1947) as Jane Cornell
Exposed (1947) as Emmy
Linda, Be Good (1947) as Mrs. LaVitte
A Southern Yankee (1948) as Hortense Dobson
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) as Cotterell's Blonde Girlfriend (uncredited)
Luxury Liner (1948) (uncredited)
Incident (1948) as Joan Manning
Grand Canyon (1949) as Mabel
Mighty Joe Young (1949) as Alice (uncredited)
The Persuader (1957) as Julie
Jet Pilot (1957, made in 1951) as Mrs. Simpson (uncredited)
Girl in the Woods (1958) as Aunt Martha
77 Sunset Strip (1958) Television series. Season 1 episode 7 "All Our Yesterdays" (uncredited)
References
Further reading
External links
The Joyce Compton shrine
1907 births
1997 deaths
Actresses from Kentucky
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
Actors from Lexington, Kentucky
University of Tulsa alumni
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Actresses from Los Angeles
20th-century American actresses
WAMPAS Baby Stars