Joyce Jacobs
{{Short description|British-Australian actress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{More footnotes|date=August 2015}}
{{infobox person
| name = Joyce Jacobs
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Joyce Mary Penn
| birth_date = {{birth date|1922|4|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = Carshalton, Surrey (now London Borough of Sutton) England, UK
| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|9|15|1922|4|15|df=y}}
| death_place = Taren Point, New South Wales, Australia
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1962–2000
| spouse = David Ian Hutchinson Jacobs (m. 1946/1947 - 2011; his death)
| known_for = A Country Practice (TV series) as Esme Watson (Seven Network and Ten Network)
| notable_works = {{bulleted|Number 96 (TV series) as Mrs. Daisy Carson|The Young Doctors (TV series) Muriel Palmer|All Saints (TV series) As Mavis Davis}}
}}
Joyce Mary Jacobs (née Penn; 15 April 1922 – 15 September 2013) was an English-born Australian character actress, and comedienne who had a successful career on the small screen, in soap opera and serials, after emigrating there from her native England in 1962.
Early life
Jacobs was born one of three siblings in Carshalton, Surrey, England to Leonard Watson Penn and Dora Elsie (née Ferrett) Penn.
She did not embark on a professional acting career until arriving in Australia in 1962.
Career
During the 1970s, Jacobs played the small, recurring role of Mrs. Carson in Number 96 and Muriel Palmer on The Young Doctors.
Joyce is best known for her portrayals of elderly gossips. She appeared in serial Number 96 as a speaking extra, often referred to as Mrs. Carson or Daisy, and appeared briefly in The Young Doctors as Muriel Cover
She appeared in the short film, Heaven on the 4th Floor, in 1998 opposite Bunney Brooke. She appeared in a guest episode on G.P., in the 1986 TV movie Hector's Bunyip and made a guest appearance on All Saints in 2000.
=''A Country Practice'' (Seven Network)=
Jacobs remains best known for her more permanent long running role on soap opera A Country Practice, as Esme Watson. In 1981, she appeared on the pilot episode of A Country Practice, as a character in the medical clinic called Norma, after which she returned to the series donning Edna Everage style glasses and playing Esme Watson on the long-running Seven Network series. She was originally a semi-regular, but became a regular, starting with Episode 99 in 1982. Having worked on the series for 12 years (805 episodes), she was one of the show's longest-serving actresses. She normally appeared on screen alongside fellow veteran actors Syd Heylen and Gordon Piper, although, unlike the latter actors who were written out of the series toward the end of its run on Network Seven to make way for a younger revamped cast, she was retained in the series.{{cite news |title=Keneally sworn in as state's first female premier |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/keneally-sworn-in-as-states-first-female-premier/story-e6frf7jx-1225806991122 |work=Herald Sun |location=Australia |date=4 December 2009 |access-date=4 December 2009 }}
=''A Country Practice'' (Network Ten)=
In 1994, Network Ten continued the series under the same title, but with a new setting and a mostly new cast. Jacobs, however, along with Joan Sydney (as matron) and Andrew Blackman as Dr. Harry Morrison, reprised her role of Esme Watson. The new version was not as successful as the original and was cancelled after 30 episodes.
Personal life
After retirement, in an interview with the magazine Woman's Day in 2012 she revealed that he had been battling Parkinson's disease for 10 years. After her husband of 64 years, David Ian Hutchinson Jacobs, died in 2011, she resided in a rest home facility, Goodhew Gardens, Taren Point, where she celebrated her 90th birthday with fellow cast members.[http://www.jocksjournal.com/aboland.htm Interview] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216094259/http://www.jocksjournal.com/aboland.htm |date=16 February 2010 }}, jocksjournal.com; accessed 22 March 2015.
Jacobs died aged 91, on 21 September 2013.[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/television/a-country-practice-star-joyce-jacobs-who-played-esme-watson-dies-aged-91/story-fni0cc2a-1226720847903 "A Country Practice star Joyce Jacobs who played Esme Watson dies aged 91"], Herald Sun, 17 September 2013; retrieved 17 September 2013.
Filmography
= Television =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 2011
| Today Tonight | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2006
| TV Turns 50: The Events That Stopped A Nation | Guest - Herself with 'A Country Practice' cast: Lorrae Desmond, Brian Wenzel, Joan Sydney, Shane Porteous, Anne Tenney, Josephine Mitchell & Emily Nichol | TV Special |
| 1998-2000
| Mavis Davis | 2 episodes |
| 1996
| G.P. | Jean Oswald | 1 episode |
| 1995
| Sale of the Century: Battle of the TV Classics | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1995
| Vriendin Denise | 1 episode |
| 1994
| Esme Watson | 29 episodes (Network 10) |
| 1981-1993
| Esme Watson / Norma | 805 episodes (Seven Network) |
| 1981
| Muriel Palmer | 1 episode |
| 1979
| Mrs Carson | 1 episode |
= Film =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1998
| Joyce Williams | Short film |
| 1986
| Ivy Clements | TV movie |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0414486|name=Joyce Jacobs}}
- [http://article.wn.com/view/2013/09/17/A_Country_Practice_star_Joyce_Jacobs_dies_7/?section=More+News&template=worldnews%2Findex_backup.txt Notice of death of actress Joyce Jacobs], article.wn.com; accessed 22 September 2015.
- [http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/tributes-flow-for-a-country-practice-star-joyce-jacobs-who-has-died-aged-91/story-e6frfmyi-1226720847903#ixzz2gJUttK3t Notice of death of Joyce Jacobs], news.com.au; accessed 22 September 2015.
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Joyce}}
Category:Australian television actresses
Category:British emigrants to Australia
Category:Actresses from Surrey
Category:Actresses from New South Wales
Category:20th-century Australian actresses
Category:21st-century Australian actresses
Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease
Category:Neurological disease deaths in New South Wales
Category:20th-century English actresses