Joyce Coad (April 14, 1917 – May 3, 1987) was an American child actress in motion pictures.

Joyce Coad
Born(1917-04-14)April 14, 1917
DiedMay 3, 1987(1987-05-03) (aged 70)
March Air Force Base, Riverside County, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1926–1933

Child prodigy

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Coad's foster father was Raymond E. Coad.[1] By the age of five she became a reader of children's stories on radio station KHJ in Los Angeles.[2]

Film actress

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Coad moved to Los Angeles at the same time in 1926 that Metro Goldwyn Mayer was searching for a "million dollar baby". She won the contest conducted by the Los Angeles Evening Express.[3] She also received a contract to perform on radio station KNX in Hollywood. Her programs included recitations, songs, and stories.[4]

She performed the role of Pearl in The Scarlet Letter (1926), a film which featured Lillian Gish. Louis B. Mayer chose Victor Seastrom to direct the movie. Drums of Love (1928), directed by D.W. Griffith, is set in the middle of the nineteenth century in South America. Coad appeared in the role of the little sister in a screen production which starred Lionel Barrymore, Don Alvarado, and Tully Marshall.

The number of her film appearances declined after 1931. She played the role of Elsa The German Milkmaid in Captured! (1933). In June 1937 Coad was cast in The Deerslayer, which was being filmed by Standard Pictures. She was twenty years old.

Death

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Coad died at March Air Force Base, Riverside County, California in 1987, aged 70, from undisclosed causes.[citation needed]

Select filmography

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Year Film Role Notes
1926 The Devil's Circus Little Anita
The Scarlet Letter Pearl
1927 Children of Divorce Little Kitty
Mother Betty Ellis
The Magic Garden Amaryllis Minton, as a child
One Woman to Another The Niece
1928 Drums of Love The Little Sister
1931 Blood and Thunder (uncredited)
Devotion Elsie (uncredited)
X Marks the Spot Gloria
1933 Captured! Elsa the German Milkmaid

References

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  1. ^ "Riches sought for Joyce Coad". Los Angeles Evening Express. California, Los Angeles. April 22, 1931. p. 17. Retrieved February 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Tune In On These Tonight". The Pomona Progress Bulletin. California, Pomona. October 1, 1924. p. 9. Retrieved February 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Winners in Evening Express Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Baby Contest". Los Angeles Evening Express. California, Los Angeles. March 8, 1926. p. 11. Retrieved February 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Joyce Coad retains her love for broadcasting on radio". Los Angeles Evening Express. California, Los Angeles. August 1, 1929. p. 8. Retrieved February 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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  • Joyce Coad photo from silentsaregolden.com, retrieved 2-13-08.