Joy Harmon

Patricia Joy Harmon or Joy Patricia Harmon (May 1, 1940 – April 14, 2026) was an American baker and actress.

Early years

The daughter of Homer Harmon, Joy Patricia Harmon was born in Jackson Heights, New York, or Flushing, New York. She and her family moved to Connecticut in 1946. She was a Miss Connecticut, She tied for fourth runner-up in the 1957 competition for Miss Connecticut.

When she was three years old, Harmon modeled clothes in Fox Movietone News newsreels. She skipped two grades in elementary school and graduated from Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut.

Career

Harmon's stage debut came in Pajama Tops at the Klein Memorial Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She toured the United States in stock company productions, including The Marriage-Go-Round, The Solid Gold Cadillac, The Tender Trap, The Importance of Being Ernest, and Susan Slept Here. On Broadway, Harmon portrayed Betty Phillips in Make a Million (1958). She also appeared in an off-Broadway production of Susan Slept Here (1961).

Harmon appeared as a contestant during the final season of Groucho Marx's television program You Bet Your Life (then titled The Groucho Show). She later became a regular on his follow-up series, Tell It to Groucho, where she was credited as "Patty Harmon." This pseudonym was reportedly requested by the show's sponsor, a soap manufacturer, to avoid cross-promoting a rival brand named "Joy".

She guest-starred on several 1960s TV series, including Gidget, Batman, and The Monkees. She appeared in a cameo role as blonde Ardice in the Jack Lemmon comedy Under the Yum Yum Tree in 1963. She had a role as Tony Dow's girlfriend in the 1965–66 television soap opera Never Too Young.

Harmon's stand-out acting roles include the 30-foot-tall (9 m) Merrie in Village of the Giants (1965, in which she captures normal-sized Johnny Crawford and suspends him from her bikini top), and the car-washing Lucille in Cool Hand Luke (1967)[8] with her purportedly 41–22–36 measurements.

Personal life

Harmon was married to film editor and producer Jeff Gourson from 1968 to 2001, raising three children. For a time, a son worked at Walt Disney Studios. She later established a bakery, Aunt Joy's Cakes, in Burbank, California.

Despite her surname, Harmon is not related to the popular actor Mark Harmon, nor to his family, the Harmon–Nelson family (a well-known California show business family).

Harmon died on April 14, 2026, aged 85.

Filmography

Film roles

• The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) – Minor Role (uncredited)
• Let's Rock (1958) – Pickup Girl
• Mad Dog Coll (1961) – Caroline
• Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963) – Ardice (uncredited)
• Roustabout (1964) – College Girl (uncredited)
• Young Dillinger (1965) – Nelson's Girl
• One Way Wahine (1965) – Kit Williams
• The Loved One (1965) – Miss Benson (uncredited)
• Village of the Giants (1965) – Merrie
• A Guide for the Married Man (1967) – Party Girl in Bar (uncredited)
• Cool Hand Luke (1967) – Lucille, The Girl
• Angel in My Pocket (1969) – Miss Holland

Television roles

• Tell It To Groucho (1961) Co-Host Series
• The Beverly Hillbillies (1963) – Kitty
• My Three Sons (1964) – Joanne Grant
• Burke's Law (1964–1965) – Barbara Sue / Belle Sue Walsh
• Gidget (1965) – Blonde Girl Dancing / Midge (uncredited)
• Batman (1966) – Julia Davis (uncredited)
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1966) – Barbara
• Bewitched (1966) – Francie
• The Rounders (1966) – Rosetta
• Occasional Wife (1967) – Model
• That Girl (1967) – Miss Bridges
• The Monkees (1967) – Cashier in S2:E2, "The Picture Frame"
• The Monkees (1967) – Zelda in S2:E14, "Monkees on the Wheel"
• Love, American Style (1972) – Rosalie (segment "Love and the Secret Habit")
• The Odd Couple (1972) – Waitress
• Thicker Than Water (1973) – (final appearance)