Joy Harmon, forever known for her brief role in the Paul Newman classic Cool Hand Lock The young woman who provocatively washes the car with lots of soap and water while the frantic prisoners look on at the chain gang also dies. She was 87 years old.
Her family announced that Harmon died on Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles.
Blond, blue-eyed, and always tanned, Harmon worked as Groucho Marx’s sidekick on the 1961 CBS game show. Tell that to GrouchoShe then played a girl in Hawaii who gets involved in a robbery in the film Beach Party One way is weak (1965).
She also appeared in many TV shows, including… Beverly Hillbillies, My three sons, Burke’s law, Tool and Batman to fascinated, Accidental wife, That girl, Monkeys and The odd couple.
In an interview with author Tom Lisanti for his 2007 book, Hot Hollywood girls of the 60sHarmon said her agent told her she should wear her bikini Cool Hand Lock I auditioned for Newman and director Stuart Rosenberg, so I did.
“I remember Paul Newman saying to me, ‘Oh my God, you have blue eyes!’” she recalls. “They just talked to me, and that was it. It was a small part with no lines, but I wanted to work with Newman, so when they offered it to me I accepted.”
In her scene in the 1967 film, Harmon, dressed in tattered house clothes, turns on the portable radio and washes a 1941 DeSoto in the hot sun as if she were making love to a man. (George Kennedy’s character imagines her name is Lucille.)
“Stuart was very specific and knew exactly what he wanted,” Lisanti said. “I think you can tell by the way the scene starts – but I didn’t realize it. And I don’t think I realized it immediately after I did it. There were a lot of things he made me do a certain way – cleaning the windows with soap, holding the hose – which had a double meaning. He was asking me to look in different ways, and we kept filming it over and over again. I thought I was washing the car. I’ve always been naive and innocent. I was acting and I wasn’t trying to be sexy.”
She continued, “I had no inclination for this to be a memorable role. Except for being in a film with Paul Newman, I never expected this part to stand out so much and get such a reaction. After seeing it at the premiere, I felt a bit embarrassed. Of all the things I’ve done, people know me best from this film.”
Born Joy Patricia Harmon in New York, she was a child model and Miss Connecticut finalist who made it to Broadway in the comedy 1958-1959. Make a million. In 1960, she was a contestant on the final season of Marks You are betting your lifewhich led to her gig on the comedian’s follow-up game show.
As a 30-foot-tall woman, Harmon found Johnny Crawford hanging from her bikini top Village of Giants (1965) Directed by Bert I. Gordon.
Her big screen biography is also included Under the yum yum tree (1963), carrier (1964), The beloved (1965), Young Dillinger (1965) and An angel in my pocket (1969).
After leaving acting, she worked at Disney Studios and owned a bakery in Burbank. Aunt Joey’s cupcakesSince 2003. “I get fan mail at home and at the bakery every week and I still send people pictures,” she said. Entertainment Weekly In 2017.
Survivors include her children, Jamie, Julie and Jason, and nine grandchildren. She was married to Emmy Award-nominated producer and film editor Jeff Gorson (You see, Quantum leap) from 1968 until their divorce in 2001.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with her medical costs.
