The TV station that I work at has a family channel that we stream online 24/7. We air kids shows and movies, and public domain television shows. Recently I was given a 2nd computer screen so I could have this channel on while I work.
I've been watching for a little over a month now. I have discovered that I really enjoy the TV shows from the 50's. They aren't always "politically correct" for today's world...and that might bother some people... but it doesn't bother me. It is what it is, and it is how it was.
One of my favorite "new" shows is "I Married Joan." After watching it for a few weeks, I decided to look up the actress and see if she had done anything in her later years that I might have seen. Turns out, she did not. But I did learn some things.
Joan Davis was born in 1912, in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was an only child, born to LeRoy and Nina Mae (Sinks) Davis. She began her showbusiness career in Vaudeville at the age of 7. Her first film was in 1935, and featured a then unknown Roy Rogers. One bio states, "she was tall and lanky, with a comically flat speaking voice... she became known as one of the few female physical clowns of her time... she had a reputation for flawless physical comedy." According to her obituary, at one time she was the highest paid woman on radio.
When "I Love Lucy" became a top rated TV series , sponsors wanted more of the same. "I Married Joan" premiered in 1952, "casting Davis as the manic wife of a mild-mannered community judge, who got her husband into wacky jams with or without the help of a younger sister." Joan's husband was played by Jim Backus, and her sister was played by her real-life daughter, Beverly Wills. Joan was even nominated in 1953 for Best Comedienne at the Emmys (she lost to Lucille Ball). The series was cancelled in 1955.
I was saddened to learn that Joan's life ended in May of 1961, when she died at her Palm Springs home of a heart attack, at age 48. She was so young! And there's more... in 1963 (just two years after her death), there was a house fire... Joan's mother, her only child Beverly, and her only two grandchildren all perished, and the legacy of Joan Davis came to a heartbreaking and tragic end.
Do yourself a favor and try to watch some episodes of "I Married Joan"...
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