Joyce Compton Letter 80's

A letter Joyce Compton sent to a fan in the 1980's along with a photo.

 

 

 

 

Vintage Original glossy, photo without borders of JOYCE COMPTON from the early 1930’s.

Joyce Compton was an American actress who acted in more than 200 films during her 35 year career.  She was born Olivia Joyce Compton in Lexington, Kentucky and not "Eleanor Hunt" as is frequently erroneously stated.  She had appeared in the 1931 film “Good Sport” with Eleanor Hunt and this confusion in an early press article followed Compton throughout her career.

JOYCE COMPTON first made a name for herself when she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1926, alongside: Mary Brian, Dolores Costello, Joan Crawford, Dolores del Río, Janet Gaynor and Fay Wray.

She is most likely wearing her own gown and accessories, as she often had to use her own gowns, furs and jewels in many of the low budget movies she appeared in.  The opal ring that had belonged originally to her maternal aunt is shown on her pinkie finger in this photo and an excellent close-up of the ring.  JOYCE COMPTON reported her aunt died young at 40 years old and JOYCE was around 13 years old at the time.  She inherited this ring and wore it all through high school and wore it in almost all of her films.  This photo is one of the best in terms of seeing the opal ring on her pinkie. 

A devout Christian, on her gravestone, just beneath her dates of birth and death, is written "Christian Actress". One can see her faith addressed in the letter included, as she signed off with “God Bless”

Also selling is a 4 7/8” X 3 1/8” Vintage Original double-sided AUTOGRAPHED LETTER signed by JOYCE COMPTON with her own hand in black ink. It reads:

“Dear Peter--

Thank you for your interest thru these many years & your kind letter. I enjoyed very much.

Was pleased to see this photo copy of Chas Farrell & myself when we were young.  A whole series of romantic photos were taken of us when we were under contract to Fox Studios with the idea of teaming us together – when Janet Gaynor had had some trouble with the studio.  I never did get any of the prints.

Do you suppose you could send me a copy like this? Look who is asking for a pic-- Ha.

Thanks again—

God Bless.

Joyce”

JOYCE COMPTON sent this Autograph Letter to PETER HANSON, a well-known collector of movie star memorabilia.  I purchased this letter and photo from his estate.  I would estimate JOYCE COMPTON wrote this letter in the early 1980's, as she was known to use yellow stationary during that time frame.

A

Joyce Compton Letter And Photo 4 8 81

Joyce Compton sent this letter to a fan, along with a photo of her from the Hal Roach production TURNABOUT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Original glossy photo without borders of JOYCE COMPTON from the 1940 film, “TURNABOUT.”

On the back of the photo is an affixed typed snipe.  It reads “Joyce Compton, featured in the hilarious Hal Roach production, “Turnabout,” with her two prize Brussels Griffins.  Roach produced and directed the sparkling Thorne Smith novel with a stellar cast featuring Adolphe Menjou, Carole Landis, John Hubbard, William Gargan, Verree Teasdale and Mary Astor.  A United Artists release.”

Joyce Compton was an American actress who acted in more than 200 films during her 35 year career.  She was born Olivia Joyce Compton in Lexington, Kentucky and not "Eleanor Hunt" as is frequently erroneously stated.  She had appeared in the 1931 film “Good Sport” with Eleanor Hunt and this confusion in an early press article followed Compton throughout her career.

JOYCE COMPTON first made a name for herself when she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1926, alongside: Mary Brian, Dolores Costello, Joan Crawford, Dolores del Río, Janet Gaynor and Fay Wray.

Also selling is a 8 1/2” X 11” Vintage Original two-sided AUTOGRAPH Letter signed by JOYCE COMPTON with her own hand in black ink.  In this lengthy letter she speaks of some photos Peter Hanson had sent her, and of some of her personal memories, likes, and private moments in life.  She speaks of breeding pure-bred dogs and cats as well as doing oil painting and the specifics of  some of her paintings.  She speaks of being a red head, as well as being blonde during her career, but that she is now "a little old lady".   A portion of the original envelope she addressed is enclosed with a postmark date of April 8, 1981, which dates the timeframe of this letter to PETER HANSON to 1981.   Peter Hanson was a well-known movie star memorabilia collector and was known to be friends with many of the Hollywood stars.  I purchased this photo, along with this letter and envelope clipping from the PETER HANSON estate.   This is a must have fro the JOYCE COMPTON collector, as the letter very much personalizes the life of JOYCE COMPTON and most detailed.

Also included is an 4 1/4” X 4 1/4” envelope clipping from the envelope the letter was sent in. It has a April 8, 1981 postmark.

A

Joyce Compton In The Fan Magazines

A little about Joyce Compton from the fan magazines.




PICTURE PLAY, 1937

A feature about movie stars in bathing suits.

 

 

Joyce Compton appears on this page in a photo on the left.

INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, June 1940 - Pictures from THE VILLIAN STILL PURSUED HER.

 

 

Joyce Compton appears in a photo on this page on the left.  

 

 

A

Joyce Compton Ad

Joyce Compton and Billie Burke in an ad for Lux soap.

A

Joyce Compton Ad

Joyce Compton, usually a blonde, is depicted as a redhead here.

A

Joyce Compton And Clara Bow

Joyce Compton and Clara Bow in THE WILD PARTY.

A

Joyce Compton And Wrong Way Corrigan

You just can't keep that guy away from the women. First it was Dorothy Appleby and now it's Joyce Compton.

 

 

A

Dorothy Appleby Photos

More Dorothy Appleby photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autographed photo. 

 

 

 

With Buster Keaton in GENERAL NUISANCE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Spook Speaks - 1940 - Dorothy Appleby, Buster and Elsie Ames 

 

 Autographed by Buster Keaton.

                                                                    Glass Slides

 

 

 

 

Posters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SQUARE CROOKS Press Sheet

 

 

A

Joyce Compton was one of Hollywood's favorite dumb blondes.

Joyce Compton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    

Joyce Compton
Born	Olivia Joyce Compton (1907-01-27)January 27, 1907 Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	October 13, 1997(1997-10-13) (aged 90) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Years active	1925–1961
Spouse(s)	William Francis Kaliher (1955-1956) (divorced)

Joyce Compton (January 27, 1907 – October 13, 1997) was an American actress.
She was born Olivia Joyce Compton in Lexington, Kentucky and not "Eleanor Hunt" as is frequently erroneously stated.^[1] (She had appeared in the film Good Sport (1931) with Hunt and this confusion in an early press article followed Compton throughout her career.) After graduating high school she spent two years studying at the University of Tulsa, studying dramatics, art, music and dancing. She won a personality and beauty contest and spent two months in a film studio as an extra.
Compton first made a name for herself when she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1926, alongside Mary Brian, Dolores Costello, Joan Crawford, Dolores del Río, Janet Gaynor and Fay Wray. Compton appeared in a long string of mostly B-movies from the 1920s through the 1950s. She was a comedy actress and protested at being stereotyped as a "dumb blonde".^[2]

Compton and Robert Benchley in Bedtime Story

Among her over two hundred films^[3] were Imitation of Life, Magnificent Obsession, The Awful Truth, Mildred Pierce, and The Best Years of Our Lives.^[4]
A devout Christian, on her gravestone, just beneath her dates of birth and death, is written "Christian Actress".^[5] She died from natural causes, aged 90, and was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.

Partial filmography

• Broadway Lady (1926)
• Dangerous Curves (1929)
• The Wild Party (1929)
• The Sky Hawk (1929)
• The Three Sisters (1930)
• Up Pops the Devil (1931)
• Annabelle's Affairs (1931)
• Under 18 (1932)
• Unholy Love (1932)
• Sing, Sinner, Sing (1933)
• Imitation of Life (1934)
• The White Parade (1934)
• King Kelly of the U.S.A. (1934)
• Magnificent Obsession (1935) unbilled
• Trapped by Television (1936)
• Country Gentlemen (1936)
• Murder with Pictures (1936)
• Sitting on the Moon (1936)
• The Awful Truth (1937)
• Sea Racketeers (1937)
• Small Town Boy (1937)
• Wings Over Honolulu (1937)
• Going Places (1938)
• Rose of Washington Square (1939)
• Reno (1939)
• Escape to Paradise (1939)
• I Take This Oath (1940)
• They Drive by Night (1940) (uncredited)
• Let's Make Music (1941)
• Bedtime Story (1941)
• Thunder Birds (1942)
• Hitchhike to Happiness (1945)
• Mildred Pierce (1945)
• Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
• Dark Alibi (1946)
• Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
• A Southern Yankee (1948)

References

1. Jump up ^ Compton, Joyce & Ankerich, Michael (2009). "The Real Joyce Compton: Behind the dumb blonde movie image". BearManor Media, p.286-7.
2. Jump up ^ Compton & Ankerich, (2009), p.12.
3. Jump up ^ Lamparski, Richard (1982). Whatever became of-- ?: eighth series. Crown Publishers. 
4. Jump up ^ Compton & Ankerich, 2009.
5. Jump up ^ Find a Grave

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joyce Compton.

Biography portal

• Joyce Compton at the Internet Movie Database
• Joyce Compton at Find a Grave
• The Joyce Compton shrine

                                                 *                              *                            *

Joyce Compton made a career out of playing dumb blondes. She made two-reel comedies for Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, but it better known for her work in feature films. She made some television programs, including THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW. When her acting career slowed down in the fifties she also had a career as a nurse.

Joyce Compton appeared in several movies with Dorothy Appleby and so they are seen in publicity pictures together. They were both associated with comedy films, although they didn't actually play the same type. Joyce Compton played a dumb blonde and Dorothy Appleby tended to be a wise guy.



Joyce Compton and Clara Bow in THE WILD PARTY ( 1929 )

Joyce Compton, Loretta Young, and Joan Marsh in Three Girls Lost (1931)

Cheesecake shot for Mack Sennett, 1933.

With Charley Chase in MANHATTAN MONKEY BUSINESS ( 1935 ).

Eric Linden and Joyce Compton in the film Let 'Em Have It (1935)

 

 

 

Autographed picture of Joyce Compton from THE AWFUL TRUTH ( 1937 )

 

 

 

 

 

Dorothy Appleby, Douglas "Wrong-Way" Corrigan, and Joyce Compton in THE FLYING IRISHMAN ( 1939 ).

 

This film was based on aviator Corrigan's real-life exploits.

 

 

 

With Buster Keaton in THE VILLIAN STILL PURSUED HER ( 1940 )

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce Compton testifying in the trial of George Raft in THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT ( 1940 ).

 

 

 This movie also featured Ida Lupino. It reused some elements from BORDERTOWN ( 1935 ) which had starred Bette Davis and Margaret Lindsay.


MANPOWER ( 1941 )

Dorothy Appleby at left with Barbara Pepper, Lucia Carroll, Marlene Dietrich, and Joyce Compton. Eve Arden is visible in the rear.




Joyce Compton, Roy Rogers, and Phyllis Brooks in Silver Spurs (1943)

Molly Lamont, Joyce Compton, and Douglas Fowley in Scared to Death (1947)

With Red Skelton in A SOUTHERN YANKEE, 1948.

Joyce Compton with Abbott and Costello on an episode of their tv show in 1953, "Las Vegas".

Robert Paige, Ruth Warrick (center) & Joyce Compton in the NBC-TV series Fireside Theater, episode The Gift Horse

                                                                             POSTERS


SUICIDE SQUAD ( 1935 ) - With Norman Foster

SMALL TOWN BOY ( 1937 ) with Stuart Erwin and Dorothy Appleby.

MANPOWER  ( 1941 ) Left to right- Lucia Carroll, Eve Arden, Marlene Dietrich, Lynn Baggot, Joyce Compton.

SILVER SPURS ( 1943 ) With Roy Rogers and Smiley Burnette.

SCARED TO DEATH ( 1947 ) With Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, and Nat Pendleton

GRAND CANYON ( 1949 ) With Richard Arlen and Mary Beth Hughes.

I think Joyce Compton is the girl with the two guys at lower left on this poster.



                                                                                     COVER GIRL


PICTUREGOER ( 1932 )

WILFRED WAVES ( Sept. 1940 )

THE AWFUL TRUTH - MY DREAMS ARE GONE WITH THE WIND:



HOLLYWOOD HOBBIES:




SCARED TO DEATH:




Joyce Compton Shrine:
http://scrubbles.net/joyce.html

Joyce Compton:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0174049/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


A