Joan Miller (actress)

{{Short description|Film, TV and theatre actress.}}

{{Other uses|Joan Miller (disambiguation){{!}}Joan Miller}}

{{Citations needed|date=August 2023}}

File:Joan Miller.png

Joan Miller (18 February 1910 - 31 August 1988) in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada was an actress. She moved to London, UK in 1931 to pursue a career in acting.

Miller was the face of Picture Page, a topical magazine programme that began on the nascent BBC television service in 1936, broadcast from Alexandra Palace. In the programme Miller played the part of a switchboard operator "connecting" viewers to the show's guests; "introducing visitors, types and personalities". Before each interview Miller, sitting at a telephone switchboard, would introduce each guest.{{Cite web |date=26 August 2023 |title=Picture Page |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DN1eHVjXt0 |access-date=26 August 2023 |website=YouTube}} The programme was popular amongst early television viewers.{{Cite journal |last=Hunt |first=KP |date=January 1937 |title=Studio & Screen |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-UK/30s/Television-and-Short-Wave-World-1937-01-S-OCR.pdf |journal=Television and Short-Wave World |volume=10 |issue=107 |pages=29 |via=World Radio History}} However, the mock switchboard's homespun look was found to be irksome by the Television and Short-Wave World magazine.{{Cite journal |last=Corbishley |first=H |date=February 1937 |title=Scannings and Reflections |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-UK/30s/TV-and-Short-Wave-World-1937-02-S-OCR.pdf |journal=Television and Short-Wave World |volume=10 |issue=108 |pages=73 |via=World Radio History}} Miller got the job on the strength of her having been a trainer of switchboard operators in Vancouver.{{Cite news |last=Fisk |first=Alan |date=28 December 1986 |title="'Hello girl' flickered on first BBC screen" |pages=23 |work=Times Colonist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/42698132/joan_miller/}}

In addition to her role on Picture Page, Miller's versatility was often called upon to act in various BBC plays and TV movies. On 6 December 1937 Miller played the role of May in a 90-minute televised play called Once in a Lifetime, a satire on the effect of talking pictures on the entertainment industry.{{Cite journal |last=Corbishley |first=H |date=December 1937 |title=Scannings and Reflections |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-UK/30s/Television-and-Short-Wave-World-1937-12-S-OCR.pdf |journal=Television and Short-Wave World |volume=10 |issue=118 |pages=724 |via=World Radio History}} She also played the role of Cleopatra in a skit "You Can't Take Your Needle With You, Cleo!" for a BBC comedy show.{{Cite journal |last=Corbishley |first=H |date=April 1938 |title=Scannings and Reflections |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-UK/30s/Television-and-Short-Wave-World-1938-04-S-OCR.pdf |journal=Television and Short-Wave World |volume=11 |issue=122 |pages=215 |via=World Radio History}}

When interviewed for the 18 January 1938 edition of the News Chronicle about the differences between the broadcasting of television and radio plays she said, "Unlike radio plays, you have to learn your part by heart, often at short notice. It is almost impossible to get a prompt, a prompt being horribly audible." A radio play being less arduous as the players require no costumes and the players read their lines directly from scripts.{{Cite journal |last=Corbishley |first=H |date=March 1938 |title=Scannings and Reflections |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-UK/30s/Television-and-Short-Wave-World-1938-03-S-OCR.pdf |journal=Television and Short-Wave World |volume=11 |issue=121 |pages=155 |via=World Radio History}}

Having played the part of the switchboard girl in 106 episodes in the space of 34 months, Miller's role ended when the BBC television service ceased broadcasting for the duration of the Second World War on 1 September 1939.

In addition to her film and TV roles, Miller was a theatre and radio actress too. She was the winner of the Bessborough Trophy for Best Canadian Actress in 1934.