Joyce Howard

Born: 1922-02-28

Joyce Howard (28 February 1922 in London – 23 November 2010 in Santa Monica, California) was an English actress, writer, and film executive. After studying at RADA, she was spotted by film director Anthony Asquith in a play at London's Embassy Theatre. He cast the 19-year-old in Freedom Radio (1941), and starring roles in films followed, including opposite James Mason in The Night Has Eyes and They Met in the Dark, the former winning her rave reviews. She was also active in theatre, including Romeo and Juliet at the Old Vic and in A Streetcar Named Desire. She performed in London throughout World War II, even as Nazis were bombing the city. In 1950, after 13 films, she more or less retired from acting to raise her three children by actor Basil Sydney. Howard also began a second career as a writer. She wrote three well-received novels, Two Persons Singular (1960), A Private View (1961) and Going On (2000). She also wrote plays, including Broken Silence, which was produced by the BBC. After her divorce from Sydney, Howard married American psychoanalyst Joel Shor, and moved to California in 1964. Although the couple eventually separated, Howard remained in California. To support her family as a single mother, she embarked on a third career as a story analyst for network television. She was promoted to executive and story editor at Paramount Pictures and Paramount TV, eventually becoming responsible for property acquisition and development. She also continued to write for television and wrote original treatments for the miniseries The Whiteoaks and Picasso's Painted Ladies. At the request of Henry Miller's widow, Howard collated, edited and wrote the introduction to Letters by Henry Miller to Hoki Tokuda Miller (1986).


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The Gentle Sex

as Anne Lawrence
Released: 1943-05-23

During the War seven women from very different backgrounds find themselves together in the...

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Back-Room Boy

as Betty
Released: 1942-04-15

Jilted by his fiancee, Arthur Pilbeam gets a job as far away from women as possible. Alone in a...

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The Night Has Eyes

as Marian Ives
Released: 1942-06-01

Two teachers, man-hungry Doris and restrained Marian, visit the Yorkshire moors a year after...

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They Knew Mr. Knight

as Freda Blake
Released: 1946-03-05

After a chance train encounter with Laurence Knight, Tom Blake's family's fortunes prosper on...

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They Met in the Dark

as Laura Verity
Released: 1943-08-11

A Royal navy Commander is tricked by a pretty girl who is working for the Nazis. She tricks him...

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Appointment with Crime

as Carol Dane
Released: 1946-05-13

Small-time jewel thief Leo Martin is deserted by his partners-in-crime, club owner Gus Loman and...

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Freedom Radio

as Elly Schmidt
Released: 1941-02-04

Hitler's doctor is gradually realising that the Nazi regime isn't as good as it pretends to be...

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Mrs. Fitzherbert

as Maria Fitzherbert
Released: 1947-12-03

The tangled affairs of George, Prince of Wales, leading to his illegal marriage to commoner Mrs....

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Talk About Jacqueline

as June Marlow
Released: 1942-11-30

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Love on the Dole

as Helen
Released: 1941-06-28

Depressing and realistic family drama about the struggles of unemployment and poverty in 1930s...

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Hot Summer Night

as Judy Gomez
Released: 1959-02-01

Jacko, a respected union man, is fighting for the promotion of a Jamaican colleague to...

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Shadow of the Past

as Lady in Black
Released: 1950-09-04

A man catches sight of a woman believed by everyone to be dead.

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