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British actress best known for her role as Mildred Roper in the '70s sitcom Man About the House and its spin-off George and Mildred. Born to musical parents Hurst Needham and Jessica Rivett in 1927, Joyce was trained at RADA, toured with ENSA and came to prominence via the Joan Littlewood Theatre Workshop, securing roles in TV shows such as The Avengers, Man in a Suitcase, Te Saint, Jason King and Steptoe and Son, and the films The Pumpkin Eater, A Man For All Seasons, Charlie Bubbles, All the Right Noises and Burke and Hare. She was married to fellow actor Glynn Edwards from 1956 to 1968, and they remained friends all her life. An alcoholic, Joyce died from liver failure in 1980, just four days after her 53rd birthday. Her sitcom co-star Brian Murphy was by her side. In 1986 the Smiths used an image of Joyce on the sleeve of their UK single release "Ask" and the German release of "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" securing her place as a British cultural icon.

Man About the House: 50 Years of Laughs
as Archive Footage

The World of Hammer
as Self (archive footage)

George & Mildred
as Mildred Roper

George and Mildred
as Mildred Roper

Man About the House
as Mildred Roper

Frankenstein: The True Story
as Hospital Matron

Frankenstein: The True Story
as Hospital Matron

Man About the House
as Mildred Roper

Steptoe & Son Ride Again
as Freda

Seven of One
as Mrs Scully

Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width
as Mrs. Finch

Burke & Hare
as Mrs. Hare

Nearest and Dearest
as Mrs. Rhoda Rowbottom

Jason King

The Road Builder
as Mrs. Palafox

All the Right Noises
as Mrs. Bird

Fragment of Fear
as Miss Ward-Cadbury

The Misfit
as Pamela

Manhunt
as Denise
W. Somerset Maugham
as Elvira

On the Buses

Maigret at Bay
as Mlle. Motte

ITV Saturday Night Theatre
as Erica Seydoux

Twenty-Nine
as The Prostitute

Your Name's Not God, It's Edgar

Charlie Bubbles
as Woman in Cafe

Luther
as Katharine Luther

ITV Playhouse
as Phoebe

Our Mother's House
as Mrs. Quayle

Stranger in the House
as Shooting Range Girl

A Man for All Seasons
as Averil Machin

Kaleidoscope
as Museum Receptionist

BBC Play of the Month
as Mademoiselle Motte
The Wednesday Thriller
as Mrs Seam

Catch Us If You Can
as Nan

Fanatic
as Anna

Redcap
as Magda

The Wednesday Play
as Rosalind Arnold

The Pumpkin Eater
as Woman at Hairdresser's

Theatre 625
as Jane Matthews
Story Parade
as Ruth Cowley

A Place to Go
as Bit Role (uncredited)

Sparrows Can't Sing
as Barmaid

The Saint
as Milanov
The Fishing Match
as Cissy
Corrigan Blake

The Avengers
as Miss Lister

No Hiding Place

Armchair Theatre
as Cissy