Joy Westmore

Joy Westmore (née Grisold; 1932 – 5 November 2020)[1][2] was an Australian actress on radio, stage and television, and in voice-over. She was best known to local and international television viewers for her long-running role in Prisoner as the friendly but highly ineffectual bespectacled officer Joyce Barry, who goes on to marry prison chef Mervin Pringle (played by Ernie Bourne). She won a Penguin Award for her work in the show. Entertainment reporter Peter Ford stated that "Joyce Barry was probably the world's worst prison officer, because she was too overly nice and trustworthy, although she provided a lot of comic relief in the series".[1]

Joy Westmore
Born	Joy Grisold 1932 Australia
Died	November 5, 2020 (aged 88) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia[1]
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Actress (radio, stage, television), voice-over artist[1]
Years active	1950–2013
Known for	Prisoner also known as Prisoner Cell Block H aka Caged Women – Officer Barry/Joyce Pringle (maiden name Joyce Barry)
Notable work	The Sentimental Bloke Neighbours Blue Heelers Cluedo

Career

Westmore had been an actress since 1950. She read commercials on radio and was particularly known for her performances opposite Barry Humphries's alter ego Dame Edna Everage. She also appeared in early television comedy sketches with Graham Kennedy and Ernie Sigley. She made her small-screen debut in the TV movie The Sentimental Bloke, and subsequently had roles in the soap The Sullivans and in Bellbird, before taking on the longer-lasting role of Officer Joyce Barry in Prisoner. She was in the recurring cast throughout the first five years of the show, but became regular in 1984 and continued until the series' finale in 1986.

After Prisoner she played Mrs Blanche White in an Australian version of the TV game show Cluedo, and had two brief roles in Neighbours, as Mrs Forster in 1991 and as Dee Bliss's grandmother, Nancy Bliss, in 2003. She also played various small roles in one-off and long-running dramas, including Waiting at the Royal, Fergus McPhail and Blue Heelers.

Joy Westmore was married to Dr Brian William Westmore from 1960 until his death in 2019. They had four children.

Joy Westmore died from dementia in an aged care facility in Melbourne, Victoria, on 5 November 2020, aged 88.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1976	The Sullivans (TV series)
1976	The Sentimental Bloke (TV movie)
1977	Bellbird	Guest roles - Bella - Stella
1978	Summerfield	Mrs. Shields
1979	The Odd Angry Shot	Bill's Mother
1979	Taxi	Mrs. Peters
1980	Stage Fright	Matron
1983	A Slice of Life	Receptionist 1
1984	A Test of Love	Receptionist
1986	The More Things Change	Mrs. Deagan
1987	Les Patterson Saves the World	Lady Gwen Patterson
1988	Col'n Carpenter
1991	The Worst Day of my Life (TV series)
1992	Cluedo	Mrs. White
1994	The Damnation of Harvey McHugh	Head Warder
2000	Waiting at the Royal	Diana's Mother
1991–2003	Neighbours	Mrs. Forster – Nancy Bliss
2004	Fergus McPhail	Mrs. Vance
1994–2005	Blue Heelers	3 roles - Mrs. Buchanan - Anne Duffy - Dora Tufnell
2011	The Op Shop (short)	Claudia
2013	Echo (short film)	Mother
2013	It's a Date	June
1979–1986	Prisoner aka Prisoner: Cell Block H	Mrs. Joyce Barry

Regular roles

Year	Title	Role
1959	Bandwagon
1972–1975	The Graham Kennedy Show
1974–1976	Ernie Sigley Show
1976	Ernie (hosted by Ernie Sigley)
1977	Blankety Blanks	Panellist
1986	Punchlines (TV Special)

Awards

• Penguin Award – Joyce Barry in Prisoner

References

1. Cartwright, Darren (5 November 2020). "Joy Westmore from TV hit series Prisoner dies".
2. Richard Lane. "Prisoner:Cell Block H".

External links

• Joy Westmore at IMDb