Wednesday, April 11, 2012

JOAN DAVIS: FUNNY AND TRAGIC

Joan Davis was one of those rubber faced comedians of the 1930s and 1940s, that highlighted any film she was in. Many comedians led tragic lives, but Davis' life was relatively happy. The sad tragedy happened after Joan Davis died at a young age.

Born Madonna Josephine Davis in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 29, 1907, zany comedienne Joan Davis began her show business career in vaudeville as a child. In the summer of 1931, Davis married vaudeville veteran straight man Si Wills, with whom she had become a comedy act; two years later their daughter Beverly was born. By the mid 1930s, Davis made her way to California in an attempt to break into films. She was almost immediately successful, securing a role in the Mack Sennett short Way Up Thar in 1935. Upon the release of the short in 1935, RKO signed Davis to a contract, but Davis and RKO parted ways soon after. In 1937, 20th Century-Fox put her under contract with much greater success.

As Davis' success grew, her marriage faltered. The couple parted ways in 1947. There were also reports that Davis was having an affair with vaudville comedian and singer Eddie Cantor. Cantor and Davis made two movies together - "Show Business" (1944) and "If You Knew Susie" (1948). Davis continued making movies through 1952, when her final film Harem Girl was released.


Leaving movies for television, Davis started her own production company, which produced Davis's NBC comedy I Married Joan from 1952 through 1955. Somewhat surprising is that she hired ex-husband Si Wills to write for the series. Davis also cast her daughter Beverly Wills in the role of Joan's younger sister. After I Married Joan left the air in 1955, Davis more or less retired.

Unknown to audiences the retirement was brought on by a growing heart problem. On May 22, 1961, Davis suffered a heart attack and died in Palm Springs at the age of 53. Her daughter and ex-husband made headlines after her death, wrangling over the million-dollar estate of Joan Davis, which was eventually settled in favor of her daughter. Tragically, on October 24, 1963, Davis's daughter Beverly Wills fell asleep smoking a cigarette; her Palm Springs home caught fire, killing her, her two sons, and Davis's mother. It was a tragic post script to an entertainer that delighted audiences in nearly every medium of entertainment...

50 comments:

  1. Your full of happy memories today, David. One of the many reasons they changes the paper on cancer sticks!

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    1. The difference between "your" and "you're" is the difference between knowing your s--t and knowing you're s--t.

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    2. My parents worked for the Davis family for a brief time in the early or mid 40's. As they told the story a dispute over Beverly grabbing a fire arm of some sort, my father gave her a spank as not to touch the weapon. Anyway they were released immediately. But that was one of many jobs my parents had when they first got married while living in Los Angeles. of course their recollections could be a bunch of huey!

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    3. I love I Married Joan! Joan was so talented! She and Jim Backus were wonderful together!

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    4. I loved I married Joan too!

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  2. LOL. I make sure for every sad hollywood story I write about, I try to write about two happy stories!

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  3. David,
    A very interesting look back at Joan's life and career.
    So sad about her daughter, grand children and her mother. Her hair and eyes remind me of Jeannette McDonald for some reason.

    What is it about Hollywood stars and affairs with comedians and band leaders?
    Page

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  4. Excellent post, David! You captured Joan Davis well. What a terrible shame about her heart diease, and even worse, her family's needless death -- if these idiots must smoke, can't they make sure they snuff out the cigarettes thoroughly?! Great post, though!

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  5. Joan Davis was doing what she loved from age 7 to about 50. She made millions of people laugh and made a fortune doing it.

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    1. JoanDavis was an outstandingcomic and DeservedAaSpecial Achievementaward in Comedy Which she Well deserved.Annoyious AJoanDavis Fan

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  6. One of my fondest childhood memories is watching reruns of The Joan Davis Show over and over again. I was never an I Love Lucy Fan, but always thought that Joan Davis was a great talent who is still underrated when it comes to TV history. I sometimes think that Joan Cusack, another great talent,is Joan Davis reincarnated. How nice it is to be able to see all those episodes of The Joan Davis Show again and to read about her life through your posting.

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  7. LLlly Tomlin has matched the Great Joan Davis as a Superb comic.

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    1. Lilly Tomlin deserves the Joan Davis Award as a Lifetime Achievement in Comedy.

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    2. Obviously your blind and writtinfpg from a mental home

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    3. JoanDavis Was snoutstandiong comedian ,WhentheIMarried Joan TV show Left in1956 JoanDavis deserved an Achievementincomedy AJoanDavis fan

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  8. Joan Davis is a recent discovery for me. When I saw hold that ghost she instantly captured my admiration and heart. She was brilliant and very attractive as she and abbot n Costello had in tears. May she have the Angels laughing. Thank you for your body of work we can forever enjoy.

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    1. When I saw Joan in "Hold That Ghost," that film immediately become my #1 favorite Abbott & Costello movie of all time!

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  9. She was the best. She would be 107 this year.

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  10. I always waited for the "I married Joan " reruns and wandered why they never reopeted as million Lucy and others but they should be. It took me from 50's to 2014 ,now owning a computer to learn why. Tragic it was. Let us bring that oldie back I never heard of her husband.

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    1. What was the reason that I Married Joan was hardly ever in reruns?

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    2. It actually was for a while. "I Married Joan" was the first network show ever picked up for network daytime reruns. NBC aired it off-and-on for two years from 1955-57 at 5 p.m. Eastern. It went into syndication and had a lot of play on stations until around 1961. With only three years of episodes, they eventually played out with audiences. However, Ted Turner's WTCG aired them from 1967-69. When cable networks first developed in the early 1980s, Pat Robertson's CBN picked up "I Married Joan," along with Jack Benny, "Bachelor Father" and "The Life of Riley" for a late night comedy block. They finally came off CBN in 1983.

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    3. Steve, you have your facts straight. I wonder with the entire family gone, who owns the rights to I Married Joan? My friends and I wondered that and why there was no real bio done on Davis?

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  11. Joan Davis was born Josephine Madonna Davis on June 29, 1912 (not 1907). She died on May 23, 1961 at the age of 48 (just a few weeks shy of ther 49th birthday).

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    1. I believe the 1907 date is correct. Like many actresses of the day, Joan under-reported her age.

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    2. The Minnesota Birth Index at Ancestry has an entry for Josephina Donna Davis, born June 29, 1912 in Ramsey County (where St. Paul lies).

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    3. YES THERE ARE CONFLICTS ON HER YEAR OF BIRTH.

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  12. I discovered Joan in a bit part in a silly movie with an actor that I really like. She really stole the scene. I wanted to know more about her and tonight I saw another movie where she had another, bigger part, My Lucky Star. I went on YouTube to see her TV show and I could not believe how old she looked in the Dinah Shore show. If she died at 47, why does she look like she's 64? Smoking a! Still, really weird unexpected, but anyway I really like her she's really funny. And I do not like Lucille Ball whatsoever, so I hate and don't understand why they are being compared?!

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    1. I DO NOT LIKE LUCILLE BALL!GIMME JOAN DAVIS AND "I MARRIED JOAN" INSTEAD!

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  13. "I Married Joan" was still a network hit on the NBC daytime schedule after it left primetime TV in March, 1955. An endless series of reruns enabled an ailing Joan to garnish royalties while periodically making rare TV appearances and a failed sitcom pilot. However, after Joan' sudden death on May 23, 1961, her estate went into litigation and the show was pulled from syndication. As mentioned in previous entries. her daughter, Beverly, won most of the estate until her death (and remaining family members) in the October 24, 1963 house fire. A subsequent lawsuit was filed by Beverly's second husband (father of her two deceased sons) and the man she was currently married to in 1963. An ongoing court battle was highly publicized in the Los Angeles Times because attorneys argued over the sequence of deaths of Joan's Mother, (Nina Davis) and the two grandchildren (Guy and Larry) by trying to determine the sequence of deaths and who the most likely beneficiary might have been had a family member survived. The judge finally ruled in favor of Beverly's current husband, who was away on a business trip the night Beverly's careless smoking ended the family lineage.

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    1. Amazing oh, I cannot find anything that's happened to those for widowers. I'll say you for the record here the house was not torn down, I lived there for sometime. Actor Allen Worthy

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  14. I just saw an episode of "I Married Joan" on Big Central, a local channel in Birmingham UK.

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  15. I'm related to her. Pretty Neat.

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  16. My parents told me I sang the theme song from I married Joan at three and a half.they thought it was weird that a child loved this show. All in remember excess that jim Backus starred in it. I remember joan from the abbot and costello movie. I just watched I married Joan on decade TV. I feel sad finding out she died so young. Hearing the theme song makes me sad too thinking of my parents who are now deceased.

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    1. Me, too. My Mom always gave me great advice on classic films/TV/music and I still enjoy everything she recommended. I watch "I Married Joan" often now (on DVD and YouTube) and I always think of my Mom and I watching and laughing when it was on cable TV in the 1980s, trying not to wake up my Dad who had to get up early for work. My parents are gone now, too. :(

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  17. In "I Married Joan," All of the actors (except Sharon Baird, Danny Richards, Jr., and Leon Tyler; Although the whereabouts of Tom Peters, Virginia Rose, Charlie Smith, and Wayne Taylor remains a mystery to this day) resting silently in their graves of all eternity. Life is so short.

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  18. JoanDavis should becredited as Asuperb comic, Along Laurel and Hardy ,Martha Raye, LillyTomlinand SteveMartin.

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    1. Lucille Ball was overated as a Comedian, I thought she stunk . AJoanDavis Fan Annoyous

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  19. IRemember the Day I came home Myfather told meJoan Davis passed Away Iwas !2 years old and Icried .Because Hollwood lost a Great comedian. AJoanDavis fan

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  20. LOVED Joan Davis in 'Just Around The Corner'!!!! She was a WONDERFUL COMEDIENNE!!!! May You and Your Family Rest in Eternal Peace Joan!

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  21. I grew up on I Married Joan reruns. Always enjoyed the acapella theme tune and incidental music. Still periodically hum that song to this day. RIP Joan Davis. Love, Khymmberleigh

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  22. I love Joan Davis, especially her appearance in "Hold That Ghost", & her TV series, "I Married Joan" - What a tremendous talent!

    Two things that I just don't understand... First, why hasn't anyone made a movie about her life & career, and... Second... Why hasn't anyone released the complete series of "I Married Joan"?

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    1. I HAVE 54 EPISODES OF I"I MARRIED JOAN" ON DVD.I GOT THEM FROM MOVIES UNLIMITED.THEY ARE A FIVE VOLUME COLLECTION.I CHERISH THEM!I WISH THE REST OF THE SERIES WAS AVAILABLE!I THINK THERE 98 EPISODES.

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  23. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=i+married+joan+complete+series&crid=26Y4UAW076R4B&sprefix=i+marr%2Caps%2C144&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_8_6

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  24. Do you watch Decades a channel which focus on TV
    Shows etc from former years.
    Joan Davis Show is able to watch around 4:30 a.m.
    Mon thru Friday. I hope your cable has Decades.

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  25. My Mom had great taste in classic films/TV/music, and, when we got cable TV in the 1980s, she encouraged me to watch "I Married Joan." I was hooked within minutes!

    Now, I get up extra early for work during the week just to watch Joan on Decades TV. Her talent has remained so underrated through the years!

    Not only did Joan's poor daughter, mother and 2 grandsons die tragically in a home fire, but the great actress who played Joan's best friend, Mabel, also died from a fire after the car she was in flipped over in 1954 (she was a passenger). So much sadness!

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  26. I'm sure l'm wrong , but spose that fire were a murder ? By someone that wanted the estate 🤔 l wonder what the explosion was ? So sad 😔

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  27. There was more to it than that; I have read it was a deliberate fire. It had occurred earlier when the daughter was a child too; a fire started in their Beverly Hills home but was quickly put out. An interviewer was scheduled to come to the house that morning and he was not cancelled, so Ms. Davis tried to have the interview. She thought the interviewer understood the situation more than he did but he picked up very quickly that the fire did not take place in the area already reported to the press. The daughter had to have counseling. Ms. Davis and her husband evidently had a diagnosis on the child much earlier and that is why they stayed together; someone always had to be at home with her. Who did the daughter marry first? A beginner fireman. My guess? He figured out the cause of some fire, and he was seduced into keeping quiet, not by the comedienne but her daughter whom I thought was highly skilled, charming on camera and always delivered as a performer with or without her mother. She made a strong impression as one of the girl orchestra in "Some Like It Hot."

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  28. Joan a good person? Um ... not so much. https://thelifeandtimesofhollywood.blog/2017/02/18/the-unlikable-joan-davis-the-lucy-wannabe/

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  29. Website Archive.org has episodes of I married Joan in its archives. You can also checkout books, periodicals, videos etc. All free of charge as a service to the public.

    Another comment is the house fire should have been investigated because I think it strange the entire Joan Davis clan, who inherited her estate, perished in that house fire. I think maybe arson…

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