Donovan Joyce
Encyclopedia
Donovan Maxwell Joyce is known as the author of the international best-seller
The Jesus Scroll
. Joyce, an Australian radio producer and author
, was born in 1910 at Hawthorn, Melbourne
. Educated at Scotch College, Hawthorn, on leaving education he was employed by the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd, but finding himself unsuited to that work he performed in amateur theatricals in Melbourne and was stage manager for several productions of the Little Theatre Company.
In 1932 Joyce entered commercial radio, working in various stations across Australia, and eventually rising to station manager. He could not enlist during World War II
because of a childhood injury, so instead he served as an air-raid warden. At this time he wrote a regular and occasionally controversial column in Radio Times under the pseudonym 'Slapper'.
He formed Donovan Joyce Productions in 1945. For his new company he wrote and commissioned dramas and documentaries for radio, many of which he exported, particularly to South Africa
, where he also advised on local radio production. Although Joyce wrote the script for a television episode of 'Homicide' in 1966, he never adapted to writing for the small screen.
Joyce travelled to Israel
in 1964 to visit Masada
in order to write a book about it. Joyce claimed that he was prevented by Yigael Yadin
from visiting the archaeological
digs at Masada
. In his book, The Jesus Scroll, he claimed he met someone who had taken a scroll he had discovered at Masada. The scroll was allegedly written on 15 April 73 AD and signed by "Yeshua Ben Ya'akob Ben Gennesareth, the last rightful inheritor of the Hasmonean(Maccabean) Kings of Israel" - this is interpreted as Jesus of Gennesareth in this book.
After a brief return to radio in Australia, he published The Jesus Scroll
(Sydney, 1972; London, 1973), an original account of the life of Christ that became a best-seller and led to controversy and death threats.
Joyce died of hypertensive heart disease on 16 October 1980, aged 69, at Prahran and was cremated. He is survived by his wife and a son.
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
The Jesus Scroll
The Jesus Scroll
The Jesus Scroll was a best-selling book first published in 1972 and written by Australian author Donovan Joyce. A forerunner to some of the ideas later investigated in The Da Vinci Code, Joyce's book made the claim that Jesus of Nazareth may have actually died in 80 AD at Masada in Israel during...
. Joyce, an Australian radio producer and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, was born in 1910 at Hawthorn, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. Educated at Scotch College, Hawthorn, on leaving education he was employed by the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd, but finding himself unsuited to that work he performed in amateur theatricals in Melbourne and was stage manager for several productions of the Little Theatre Company.
In 1932 Joyce entered commercial radio, working in various stations across Australia, and eventually rising to station manager. He could not enlist during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
because of a childhood injury, so instead he served as an air-raid warden. At this time he wrote a regular and occasionally controversial column in Radio Times under the pseudonym 'Slapper'.
He formed Donovan Joyce Productions in 1945. For his new company he wrote and commissioned dramas and documentaries for radio, many of which he exported, particularly to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, where he also advised on local radio production. Although Joyce wrote the script for a television episode of 'Homicide' in 1966, he never adapted to writing for the small screen.
Joyce travelled to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 1964 to visit Masada
Masada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...
in order to write a book about it. Joyce claimed that he was prevented by Yigael Yadin
Yigael Yadin
Yigael Yadin on 21 March 1917, died 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, politician, and the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.-Early life and military career:...
from visiting the archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
digs at Masada
Masada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...
. In his book, The Jesus Scroll, he claimed he met someone who had taken a scroll he had discovered at Masada. The scroll was allegedly written on 15 April 73 AD and signed by "Yeshua Ben Ya'akob Ben Gennesareth, the last rightful inheritor of the Hasmonean(Maccabean) Kings of Israel" - this is interpreted as Jesus of Gennesareth in this book.
After a brief return to radio in Australia, he published The Jesus Scroll
The Jesus Scroll
The Jesus Scroll was a best-selling book first published in 1972 and written by Australian author Donovan Joyce. A forerunner to some of the ideas later investigated in The Da Vinci Code, Joyce's book made the claim that Jesus of Nazareth may have actually died in 80 AD at Masada in Israel during...
(Sydney, 1972; London, 1973), an original account of the life of Christ that became a best-seller and led to controversy and death threats.
Joyce died of hypertensive heart disease on 16 October 1980, aged 69, at Prahran and was cremated. He is survived by his wife and a son.
Radiography
Below are a list of radio shows produced by Donovan Joyce Productions or penned by Donovan Joyce.- Adam and Eve
- Amazing Duchess
- Case of the Purple Cow, The
- Convict Girl
- Departure Delayed
- Devil's Duchess, The
- Devil's Holiday
- Empty Arms
- File of Queer Stories
- Forty Glorious Years
- Gabrielle
- Image of Dorinda
- Knave of Hearts
- Legend of Kathy Warren, The
- Lilian Dale Affair
- Mad Monk Man
- Man Hunt
- Office Wife
- Passing Parade
- Popular Fallacies
- Scarlet Harvest
- Search for Karen Hastings, The
- Sparrows of London
- Stepmother
- Strange House of Jeffrey Marlowe, The
- Stranger in Paradise
- T-Men (The first Donovan Joyce Radio Production ever submitted to the United States, was sold to US networks and independent stations within a week of its arrival.)
- This Man is Mine
- Two Roads to Samarra
- Walk a Crooked Mile
- Woman in the Mirror