Joan Rice

{{Short description|English actress (1930–1997)}}

{{more footnotes needed|date=February 2013}}

{{Use British English|date=October 2012}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}

{{Infobox person

|image=Joan Rice.jpg

|birth_date={{birth date|1930|2|3|df=y}}

|birth_place=Derby, Derbyshire, England

|death_date={{death date and age|df=y|1997|1|1|1930|2|3}}

|death_place=Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

|occupation=Actress

}}

Joan Rice (3 February 1930 – 1 January 1997) was an English film actress.{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9f895db0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715111241/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9f895db0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-15 |title=Joan Rice | BFI |publisher=Explore.bfi.org.uk |accessdate=2014-06-24}}

Rice is best known for her role as Dalabo in the film His Majesty O'Keefe (1954) which co-starred Burt Lancaster. Apart from that she played Maid Marian in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), played the graverobber's wife in The Horror of Frankenstein and appeared in Operation Bullshine. For several years in the early and mid-1950s, Rice was considered one of 'Rank's top stars','Adelphi Films', http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1405736/index.html then signed to Adelphi Films to make The Crowded Day.{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=John Guillermin: Action Man|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/john-guillermin-action-man/|date=17 November 2020}}

Rice was reputedly discovered working as a waitress in a Lyons Corner House in London, where she was crowned "Miss Lyons, 1949"; and thereafter trained at the Rank Organisation's "charm school".{{cite web|url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/434/Joan+Rice/index.html |title=Joan Rice – The Private Life and Times of Joan Rice. Joan Rice Pictures |publisher=Glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com |accessdate=2014-06-24}}