Joyce Compton News & Notes

Paramount publicity still for Joyce's 1938 comedy Artists and Models Abroad . Pictured left to right are Joyce Compton, Joan Bennett and Jack Benny (other actors unidentified).

Very rare publicity photo from low budget film Girl in the Woods , one of the handful of projects Joyce worked on when she returned to acting in the late '50s. Pictured, left to right: Kim Charney, Bartlett Robinson, Maggie Hayes, Joyce Compton and Barton MacLane.

Fun shot of Joyce and Robert Benchley on the set for 1941's Bedtime Story . Is it candid or posed?

Fox publicity photo of Joyce Compton (in Clara Bow-ish mode) and William Janney in 1929's Salute .

Joyce Compton's page from a 1932 industry casting book containing various actors' headshots and profiles. "A young actress who will prove her worth when given roles suited to her personality."

On our recent trip to L.A., one of our stops was the venerable Larry Edmunds book and Hollywood memorabilia store. Although the shop has shelves upon shelves of vintage photos, the only things they had on our Joycie were two publicity pics of her posing with Charlie Ruggles. The photos didn't have any identification, but I could tell that they promoted 1939 MGM musical Balalaika . I snatched up this one. Nice quality!

Joyce Compton's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located directly outside the entrance to the legendary Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. I got to snap a few pictures of it last Monday, while explaining who she was to the actor who was hawking tours right in front of the star. It was fun, finally seeing it in person!

Screen grab of Franklin Pangborn and Joyce Compton in King Kelly of the U.S.A. Franklin and Joyce have supporting roles in this chintzy, at times incomprehensible musical made by the z-budget Monogram studio. Forgotten tenor Guy Robertson stars as a cocky showman who meets the woman of his dreams on a transatlantic cruise. As it turns out, the woman is the princess of a country known for its fine mops (??) and Robertson must find a way too win both her heart and her kingdom. Joyce plays a bubbly chorine, improbably paired with Franklin Pangborn as a romantic duo. Both actors display their usual reliable comic timing in their few scenes together, inadvertently highlighting the lead actors’ blandness (Robertson seems like Jimmy Cagney’s less charismatic older brother). Strangely, they both vanish halfway through the movie without explanation. In this film’s bizarre universe, that move actually makes sense. King Kelly of the U.S.A. is available here from Amazon.com.

Photo and decorated fan letter, March 1990.

A photo of Joyce with her beloved cat Taj, July 1987.

Set of bookmarks with inspirational quotes painted by Joyce, August 1985.

Tiny paintings of flowers on construction paper — art by Joyce Compton, June 1984.

Starting today, I thought I'd share photos and artwork from Joyce made in the '80s and '90s — after she retired from acting and nursing. These images come courtesy of Joe, who was a friend of Joyce's during this period. Here are a snapshot and two drawings from March 1984. Miss Compton often made tiny paintings (usually of flowers) for fans who corresponded with her.

20th Century Fox publicity portrait of Joyce for Elsa Maxwell's Hotel for Women , 1939.

Stills of Joyce and fellow cast members in 1932's Beauty Parlor .

Gorgeous publicity portrait of Joyce from the 1943 Columbia production Swing Out the Blues .

Autographed "Bathing Beauty" portrait of Joyce Compton from the early to mid '40s. Lookin' good, toots!

Flyer from Joyce's estate sale from circa early '90s. The sale happened just before she spent her final years at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital and Home in Woodland Hills, California.

Warner Bros. publicity portrait of Joyce as a prostitute (could she be anything else in that getup?) in 1941's Manpower .

RKO publicity photo of Joyce Compton and actor William Henry in Scattergood Meets Broadway (1941).

Publicity portrait of Joyce Compton in a whimsical feathered hat, circa 1939.

Lovely portrait of Joyce taken by Los Angeles-based Hunter Foster Studios in the mid-'20s — definitely from the period where she styled herself after silent movie queen Mae Murray . A grateful thank you to Tisha for this and the next few photographs.

BearManor Media and author Michael Ankerich proudly announce the autobiography of Joyce Compton, the first book exclusively devoted to our favorite blonde. The Real Joyce Compton: Behind the Dumb Blonde Movie Image will be published this Fall. Look out for it!