Joan Shawlee

Joan Shawlee (March 5, 1926 – March 22, 1987), also credited as Joan Fulton, was an American film and television actress.

Spouses

• Walter Shawlee
• Eddie Barchet

Her most notable roles were small roles in Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder films. Her most famous role may have been as "Sweet Sue" in the 1959 classic comedy Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. She appeared as "Sylvia" in The Apartment, which starred Lemmon, Fred MacMurray, and Shirley MacLaine, and as "Amazon Annie" in Irma la Douce, which also starred Lemmon and MacLaine. She had a recurring role on TV in The Dick Van Dyke Show as "Pickles Sorrell", starred in her own brief series The Adventures of Aggie, and was a regular on Betty Hutton's short-lived series Goldie and on the 1976-1977 crime drama The Feather and Father Gang.

As reported in her obituary in the L.A. Times, she died of cancer, in Hollywood, California, March 22, 1987, aged 61.

Selected filmography and television

• Inside Job (1946)
• Lover Come Back (1946)
• Buck Privates Come Home (1947)
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1953)
• From Here to Eternity (1953)
• Pride of the Blue Grass (1954)
• A Star Is Born (1954)
• The Adventures of Aggie (1956)
• Some Like It Hot (1959)
• The Apartment (1960)
• The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963)
• Irma la Douce (1963)
• Critic's Choice (1963)
• Tony Rome (1967)
• Live A Little Love A Little (1968)
• Willard (1971)
• Columbo (1971) (Season 1, Episode 4: Suitable for Framing)
• The Feather and Father Gang (1976-1977)
• Buddy Buddy (1981)

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Joan Shawlee (March 5, 1926 – March 22, 1987), also credited as Joan Fulton, was an American film and television actress.

Early years

Shawlee was born in Forest Hills, New York, but moved to the West Coast when she was five years old.

Career

Dancing and modeling

Shawlee was a student of Ernest Belcher, studying ballet. At age 14, she went to New York, where she worked as a model for the John Robert Powers agency and as a showgirl. Billed as Joyce Ring, she performed in the Broadway productions By Jupiter (1942) and A Connecticut Yankee (1943).

Film

A tall woman (5'9"), she was known for small parts in Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder films. She is probably best remembered for her role as bandleader Sweet Sue in Some Like It Hot (1959) starring Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis, as well as Lemmon. She appeared as Sylvia in The Apartment (1960), and as Amazon Annie in Irma la Douce, both of which starred Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. She also appeared in Billy Wilder's final film Buddy Buddy (1981), starring Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

Television

She had a recurring role on TV in The Dick Van Dyke Show as "Pickles Sorrell", She played the lead in The Adventures of Aggie (1956–57), which only ran for one season. She played Lorna Peterson on Betty Hutton's short-lived series Goldie, Margo on the 1976-77 crime drama The Feather and Father Gang, and Tessie on Joe's World. She was also a regular on The Abbott and Costello Show. She played a dead criminal's wife in Stories of the Century with Jim Davis and a 1957 episode of Maverick titled "Stampede" starring James Garner and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in which she portrayed the exuberant "Madame Pompey." Her final acting appearance was in an episode of Crazy Like a Fox in 1985. This was the final chapter of a remarkable career in film and television acting that spanned over 40 years.

Comedy team

In the early 1960s, Shawlee and actress Mitzi McCall formed a team to perform as a night club act. They debuted their act at the Club Robaire in Cleveland. In January 1961, syndicated newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen reported that the team was "causing quite a stir", and she cited the partners' discrepancy in height — "Joan being six feet, three inches tall and Mitzi four feet, 10 inches short."

Personal life

Shawlee was married twice, her first husband was Walter Shawlee, a printing executive whom she divorced in 1956 and her second husband was Eddie Barchet, a resort hotel manager whom she met when she was in England. She and Shawlee had a son, Walter. She and Barchet had a daughter, Angela.

Shawlee was a Democrat who was supportive of Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.

Death

Shawlee died of breast cancer, in Hollywood, California, on March 22, 1987, aged 61. She was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.

Selected filmography and television

• Men in Her Diary (1945) - Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
• This Love of Ours (1945) - Chorus Girl (uncredited)
• Frontier Gal (1945) - Hostess (uncredited)
• Because of Him (1946) - Autograph Seeker
• Idea Girl (1946) - Mabel
• Tangier (1946) - Rocco's Blonde
• House of Horrors (1946) - Stella McNally
• Cuban Pete (1946) - Ann
• The Runaround (1946) - Mamie 'Baby' Willis
• Inside Job (1946) - Ruth
• Lover Come Back (1946) - Janie
• White Tie and Tails (1946) - Virgie
• I'll Be Yours (1947) - Blonde
• The Michigan Kid (1947) - Soubrette
• Song of Scheherazade (1947) - French Girl (uncredited)
• Buck Privates Come Home (1947) - Sylvia Hunter
• The Vigilantes Return (1947) - Ben's Girl
• Woman on the Run (1950) - Blonde
• Prehistoric Women (1950) - Lotee
• Two Tickets to Broadway (1951) - Tall Brunette in Boardinghouse (uncredited)
• The Marrying Kind (1952) - Tall Party Dancer / Woman at Airport (uncredited)
• Sound Off (1952) - Showgirl (uncredited)
• Something for the Birds (1952) - Woman in Subway Station (uncredited)
• Because of You (1952) - Autograph Seeker (uncredited)
• All Ashore (1953) - Hedy
• Loose in London (1953) - Tall Girl at Party (uncredited)
• From Here to Eternity (1953) - Sandra (uncredited)
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1953, TV Series) - Marion / The Registrar
• Pride of the Blue Grass (1954) - Mrs. Casey
• Casanova's Big Night (1954) - Beatrice D'Brizzi (uncredited)
• About Mrs. Leslie (1954) - Jill - Nightclub Girl
• Francis Joins the WACS (1954) - Sgt. Kipp
• A Star Is Born (1954) - Joan (uncredited)
• Bowery to Bagdad (1955) - Velma 'Cindy Lou' Calhoun
• Conquest of Space (1955) - Rosie McCann
• Born for Trouble (1955)
• The Adventures of Aggie (1956-1957, TV Series) - Aggie
• A Farewell to Arms (1957) - Blonde Nurse (uncredited)
• Maverick (1957, Season 1: Episode 9 “Stampede”)
• Zorro (1958, Season 1: Episode 18 "Zorro Fights His Father," Episode 19 "Death Stacks the Deck") - Barmaid Clara
• Some Like It Hot (1959) - Sweet Sue
• The Apartment (1960) - Sylvia
• The Rifleman (1961, TV Series) - Mary Woodson
• The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963, TV Series) - Pickles Sorrell
• Critic's Choice (1963) - Marge Orr
• Irma la Douce (1963) - Amazon Annie
• Guerillas in Pink Lace (1964) - Miss Gloria Maxine
• The Wild Angels (1966) - Momma Monahan
• The Reluctant Astronaut (1967) - Blonde in Bar
• The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) - Edna, Frank's Girlfriend (uncredited)
• Tony Rome (1967) - Fat Candy
• Live A Little Love A Little (1968) - Robbie's Mother
• One More Train to Rob (1971) - Big Nellie
• Willard (1971) - Alice
• Columbo (1971, season 1 episode "Suitable for Framing") - Mitilda
• Flash and the Firecat (1975) - Rose
• Farewell, My Lovely (1975) - Woman in Ballroom
• The Feather and Father Gang (1976-1977, TV Series) - Margo
• Longshot (1981) - Motel Manager
• Buddy Buddy (1981) - Receptionist
• Kiss My Grits (1982) - Wanda
• City Heat (1984) - Peggy Barker