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She was born in Melbourne, Australia, and both she and her sister Mauricette (later Dale Melbourne) were musical prodigies. At the age of 13, with her sister accompanying her on piano, Joan defeated challengers more than three times her age to be awarded "Best Violinist of Australia." Two years later, the MacGillicuddy family moved to London, where at fourteen Joan auditioned and was accepted for the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with a monologue from Romeo and Juliet. She always said that the highlight of her time at RADA was being directed by George Bernard Shaw in his play Back to Methuselah. On a trip to New York, Joan was approached at a cocktail party by a talent scout from Warner Brothers Studio, and a screen test landed her a seven-year contract. When Joan was introduced to her new boss Jack Warner, he said that her last name would not fit on a marquee, and gave her the character name from a recent Bette Davis film. Thus she became Joan Winfield. In her time at the studio Joan worked in several of Bette Davis' films, her favorite role being that of Lucy, the maid who knows too much in A Stolen Life. On a forgettable film called Gorilla Man she met John Meredyth Lucas, then working on the show as a script supervisor. They married in 1951, and had three children, Elizabeth, Victoria and Michael. After her marriage she acted in fewer films, and devoted her time to charity work. For many years she was on the Board of Directors of SHARE, an organization that works to assist children with developmental disabilities. Joan died in 1978. |
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