Joyce Grant
Encyclopedia
Joyce Grant was a UK-based South Africa
n actress.
.
She returned to South Africa to begin her acting career. Her performances included “Lola” in William Inge
's Come Back Little Sheba and as “Laura Wingfield” in Tennessee Williams
' The Glass Menagerie
.
's The Happy Apple,
her singing voice nightly brought the house down with her rendering of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
.
She appeared in Something’s Afoot, The Club,
Deathtrap
and Tonight at Eight-thirty. She played opposite Frankie Howerd
on Broadway in Rockefeller and the Red Indians. In 1988, she played Aunt Em/Glinda in the Royal Shakespeare Company
's The Wizard of Oz.
During the last nine years of her life she was determined, despite ill health, to broaden her outlook and took various courses at the City Literary Institute and at the University of the Third Age
. She lived with her companion of many years, Jean Ridge.
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...
n actress.
South Africa
Born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, she was encouraged by her father to come to London to study acting at the Central School of Speech and DramaCentral School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
.
She returned to South Africa to begin her acting career. Her performances included “Lola” in William Inge
William Inge
William Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
's Come Back Little Sheba and as “Laura Wingfield” in Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
' The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
.
London
At the end of the 1950s she returned to London permanently. In Jack PulmanJack Pulman
Jack Pulman was an award-winning British television screenwriter, most famous for the critically acclaimed 1976 BBC television series, I, Claudius, based on the novel of the same name by Robert Graves....
's The Happy Apple,
her singing voice nightly brought the house down with her rendering of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade", though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music"...
.
She appeared in Something’s Afoot, The Club,
Deathtrap
Deathtrap
Deathtrap may refer to:*Deathtrap , a 1978 play by Ira Levin which received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play*Deathtrap , a 1982 film based on the Levin play*Deathtrap , a plot device in fiction and drama...
and Tonight at Eight-thirty. She played opposite Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
on Broadway in Rockefeller and the Red Indians. In 1988, she played Aunt Em/Glinda in the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
's The Wizard of Oz.
Retirement
After retiring from the stage she became a “buddy” to HIV+ patients at the Lighthouse in London.During the last nine years of her life she was determined, despite ill health, to broaden her outlook and took various courses at the City Literary Institute and at the University of the Third Age
University of the Third Age
The University of the Third Age is an international organisation whose aims are the education and stimulation of retired members of the community - those in the third 'age' of life. It is commonly referred to as U3A.- France :...
. She lived with her companion of many years, Jean Ridge.