Joan Hooley
Encyclopedia
Joan Hooley is an actress and screenwriter
. Born in Jamaica
, Hooley moved to the United Kingdom
as a young girl, and her career has been based there. She is possibly best known for playing the role of Josie McFarlane
in BBC's EastEnders
, but she has also appeared in a variety of other television programmes, since the 1950s.
hospital drama Emergency Ward 10
. She played Dr Louise Mahler, but was embroiled in an off-screen race controversy in 1964 after her character emarked on an interracial relationship with a Caucasian
doctor, Giles Farmer (played by John White), which included the first interracial on-screen kiss. A love scene between the two characters was cut because it was considered "a little too suggestive". She has commented, "I suddenly found myself in the papers under the headline: 'Black and White TV Kiss Banned'. It was very upsetting and it hit my self-esteem. My part suddenly evaporated and Dr Mahler was sent back to Africa on a holiday where she was bitten by a snake and died. What an exit!"
Other credits include roles in No Hiding Place
(1961); Danger Man
(1965); Special Branch
(1969); as Umma in C.A.B.
(1988); The Bill
(1988; 1993); Bugs
(1995) and Kavanagh QC
(1997). In 1998 she was cast as Josie McFarlane
, the mother of Mick McFarlane
(Sylvester Williams), in the successful BBC soap opera
EastEnders
. The character was introduced by executive producer Matthew Robinson, but in November 1999 it was announced that Hooley's character was being axed. Hooley made her last appearance on-screen in episodes that aired in February 2000. Since leaving the serial, Hooley has publicly accused EastEnders and the BBC of racism
and tokenism
, for giving her character no significant storylines, and using her like a prop. In 2000 she commented, "It was very demeaning and a form of insidious racism. That is a very strong phrase to use against the BBC and EastEnders but I feel very badly about how they handled my character. They were just fulfilling a duty to have a black face in the show."
Hooley went on to have roles in Urban Gothic (2000); Doctors
(2004), and Respectable
(2006), among others. As well as acting, Hooley is also a writer, and has written scripts for Channel 4
's successful sitcom Desmond's
.
in his one man Dickens show. They met and became a couple in 1993, and remained together until Harris' death of cancer in 2004.
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. Born in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Hooley moved to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as a young girl, and her career has been based there. She is possibly best known for playing the role of Josie McFarlane
Josie McFarlane
Josie McFarlane is a fictional character that appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Joan Hooley between 1998 and 2000...
in BBC's EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, but she has also appeared in a variety of other television programmes, since the 1950s.
Career
Hooley began acting on television in the 1950s. She rose to prominence in the 1960s when she was cast in the ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
hospital drama Emergency Ward 10
Emergency Ward 10
Emergency – Ward 10 is a British television series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. Like The Grove Family, a series shown by the BBC between 1954 and 1957, Emergency – Ward 10 is considered to be one of British television's first major soap operas.-Overview:The series was made by the ITV...
. She played Dr Louise Mahler, but was embroiled in an off-screen race controversy in 1964 after her character emarked on an interracial relationship with a Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
doctor, Giles Farmer (played by John White), which included the first interracial on-screen kiss. A love scene between the two characters was cut because it was considered "a little too suggestive". She has commented, "I suddenly found myself in the papers under the headline: 'Black and White TV Kiss Banned'. It was very upsetting and it hit my self-esteem. My part suddenly evaporated and Dr Mahler was sent back to Africa on a holiday where she was bitten by a snake and died. What an exit!"
Other credits include roles in No Hiding Place
No Hiding Place
No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967....
(1961); Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
(1965); Special Branch
Special Branch (TV series)
Special Branch is a British television series made by Thames Television for ITV and shown between 1969 and 1974. A police drama series, the action was centred on members of the Special Branch anti-espionage and anti-terrorist department of the London Metropolitan Police.The first two series were...
(1969); as Umma in C.A.B.
C.A.B.
C.A.B. is a British television programme that was produced by Thames Television for Children's ITV. The drama revolved around Colin Freshwater and Franny Barnes and the strange happenings in their junk shop.-Cast:...
(1988); The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
(1988; 1993); Bugs
Bugs (TV series)
Bugs was a British television drama series which ran for four series from April 1995 to August 1999. The programme, a mixture of action/adventure and science-fiction, involved a team of specialist independent crime-fighting technology experts, who faced a variety of threats based around computers...
(1995) and Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
(1997). In 1998 she was cast as Josie McFarlane
Josie McFarlane
Josie McFarlane is a fictional character that appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was played by Joan Hooley between 1998 and 2000...
, the mother of Mick McFarlane
Mick McFarlane
Mick McFarlane is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sylvester Williams.Mick was an easy-going guy, who hoped to make it big as a musician. However his music career failed and he ended up selling CDs on a market stall in Albert Square...
(Sylvester Williams), in the successful BBC soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. The character was introduced by executive producer Matthew Robinson, but in November 1999 it was announced that Hooley's character was being axed. Hooley made her last appearance on-screen in episodes that aired in February 2000. Since leaving the serial, Hooley has publicly accused EastEnders and the BBC of racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and tokenism
Tokenism
In the arts, employment, and politics, tokenism is a policy or practice of limited inclusion or artistic and/or political representation of members of a traditionally marginalized group, usually creating a false appearance of inclusive practices rather than discrimination, intentional or not...
, for giving her character no significant storylines, and using her like a prop. In 2000 she commented, "It was very demeaning and a form of insidious racism. That is a very strong phrase to use against the BBC and EastEnders but I feel very badly about how they handled my character. They were just fulfilling a duty to have a black face in the show."
Hooley went on to have roles in Urban Gothic (2000); Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
(2004), and Respectable
Respectable (TV series)
Respectable is a British sitcom, first shown in six episodes from 30 August to 4 October 2006 on Five; it was later repeated on Paramount Comedy 1....
(2006), among others. As well as acting, Hooley is also a writer, and has written scripts for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's successful sitcom Desmond's
Desmond's
Desmond's is a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. The first series was shot in 1988, with the first episode broadcast in January 1989...
.
Personal life
In 2002, at the age of 67, Hooley married actor Geoff Harris, known for his portrayal of Charles DickensCharles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
in his one man Dickens show. They met and became a couple in 1993, and remained together until Harris' death of cancer in 2004.