Joan Bruce


Joan Olive Bruce was an English-Australian actress who appeared in theatre, radio, television and film.
Bruce was best known for her role in the television series Certain Women and for voicing the Kangaroo in the children's animation live action film ''Dot and the Kangaroo''

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 Australia and toured Oceania with the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust 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.
Bruce was best known for her role in the television series Certain Women and for voicing the Kangaroo in the children's animation/live film Dot and the Kangaroo
She married her second husband Kenneth William in 1978, and subsequently appeared on television in guesting roles in series Chopper Squad and A Country Practice.
She retired in 1988 and died several weeks after her husband on the New South Wales Central Coast in April 2014, aged 86.

Filmography

Films
YearTitleRoleType
1962The Good OilRole unknownTV film
1974Lindsay's BoyRole unknownTV film
1976Is There Anybody There?JamieTV film
1977Dot and the KangarooThe Kangaroo / Mother Feature animated film
1978The Newman ShameBetty NewmanTV film
1981Film ContinuityHerself - PerformerShort documentary film
1982Sarah and the SquirrelVoiceAnimated TV film
1982BrothersMrs. WilliamsFeature film, NZ
1987The Facts of Life Down UnderMrs. WintersTV film

TV series
YearTitleRoleType
1967-1968In Perth TonightPresenterTV series
1971;1972HomicideMarge Hayes / June HutchinsonTV series, 2 episodes
1972Division 4Mrs. DaviesTV series, 1 episode
1972;1973Matlock PoliceGladys Turner / BettyTV series, 2 episodes
1973-1976Certain WomenJane StoneTV series, 257 episodes
1976The EmigrantsPeggy NichollsTV series, 1 episode
1978Glenview HighGuest roleTV series, 1 episode
1978Chopper SquadMrs. HayleTV series, 1 episode: "A Dream Before Dying"
1979Doctors Down UnderSister CummingsTV series, 8 episodes
1980Cop ShopMrs. KeenTV series, 1 episode
1980The Mike Walsh ShowGuest - HerselfTV series, 1 episode
1983A Country PracticeDaisy HatfieldTV series, 2 episodes
1987MelbaMrs. DoyleTV miniseries, 2 episodes
1988The True BelieversPattie MenziesTV miniseries, 7 episodes