Wikipedia

Joan Shawlee

Joan Shawlee(néeFulton;[2]March 5, 1926[3]– March 22, 1987) was an American film and television actress. She is known for her recurring role as Fiona "Pickles" Sorrell inThe Dick Van Dyke Show,a career-defining turn inBilly Wilder's comedySome Like It Hot(1959) playing Sweet Sue, the abrasive martinet in charge ofMarilyn Monroe's all-girl jazz band, and as the flamboyant Madame Pompey in the 1957Maverickepisode "Stampede"withJames Garner.She was sometimes credited under her birth name.

Joan Shawlee
Shawlee in 1945
Born(1926-03-05)March 5, 1926
Forest Hills, New York,U.S.
DiedMarch 22, 1987(1987-03-22)(aged 61)
Hollywood, California,U.S.
Resting placeRemains scattered at sea
Other namesJoan Fulton
Joyce Ring
OccupationActress
Years active1945–1986
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
Walter Shawlee
​
​
(m.1950;div.1956)​
[1]
Eddie Barchet
​
​
(m.1958, divorced)​
Children2

Early years

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Shawlee was born inForest Hills, New Yorkto Theodore Cuyler Fulton, an automobile salesman, and Esther L. (Ring) Fulton,[4]and she moved with her parents and two brothers, Theodore Cuyler Fulton Jr. and Albert Fulton, toVancouver, British Columbia[5]when she was five years old.[6]

Career

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Dancing and modeling

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Shawlee studied ballet underErnest Belcher.At the age of fourteen, she began to work as amodelfor theJohn Robert Powersagency in New York, and worked later as ashowgirlon Broadway.[6]Billed asJoyce Ring,she appeared in the musical productionsBy Jupiter(1942) andA Connecticut Yankee(1943).[7]

Film

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A tall woman (5'9 "), she was known for small parts inJack LemmonandBilly Wilderfilms. She is probably best remembered for her role as bandleader Sweet Sue inSome Like It Hot(1959) starringMarilyn Monroe,Tony Curtis,and Lemmon. She appeared as Sylvia inThe Apartment(1960), and as Amazon Annie inIrma la Douce,both of which starred Lemmon andShirley MacLaine.She also appeared in Wilder's final film,Buddy Buddy(1981).

Television

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Shawlee had a recurring role on TV inThe Dick Van Dyke Showas Fiona "Pickles" Sorrell,[8]wife of writer Maurice "Buddy" Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam). She played the lead inThe Adventures of Aggie(1956–57), which ran for only one season.[9]: 20 She played Lorna Peterson onBetty Hutton's short-lived series[9]: 94 Goldie;Margo on the 1976–77 crime dramaThe Feather and Father Gang;[9]: 338 and Tessie onJoe's World.[9]: 537–538 She was also a regular onThe Abbott and Costello Show.[9]She played a dead criminal's wife inStories of the CenturywithJim Davisand a1957 episodeofMavericktitled "Stampede", starringJames GarnerandEfrem Zimbalist Jr.,in which she portrayed the exuberant Madame Pompey. Her final acting appearance was in an episode ofCrazy Like a Foxin 1985.

Comedy team

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In the early 1960s, Shawlee and actressMitzi McCallteamed up as anight clubact.[6]They opened at the Club Robaire in Cleveland.[10]In January 1961, syndicated newspaper columnistDorothy Kilgallenreported that the team was "causing quite a stir", while drawing attention to – and exaggerating – their discrepancy in height: "Joan being six feet, three inches tall and Mitzi four feet, 10 inches short."[11]

Personal life

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Shawlee and her second husband, Eddie Barchet, had a daughter, Angela.[12][6]

Shawlee was aDemocratwho was supportive ofAdlai Stevenson's campaign during the1952 presidential election.[13]Shawlee was a practicingEpiscopalian.[14]

Death

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Shawlee died of breast cancer, in Hollywood, California, on March 22, 1987, aged 61.[1]She wascrematedand her ashes scattered at sea.[15]

Selected filmography and television

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References

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  1. ^abFolkart, Burt A. (March 31, 1987)."Joan Shawlee; Busy Actress in Zany Comedies".Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^"Actress Joan Shawlee Dies of Cancer at 58 [sic]".The Associated Press.March 31, 1987.Miss Shawlee, who also had acted under the name of Joan Fulton... changed her professional name after her marriage to businessman Walter Shawlee.
  3. ^Joan Shawlee's date of birth,familysearch.org; accessed February 14, 2016.
  4. ^"Joan Fulton".My Heritage.Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  5. ^"Wooster Chapter".Catalog of Beta Theta Pi.J. T. Brown. 1917.
  6. ^abcd"Joan Shawlee Sparkles Like a Spring Tonic".The Boston Globe.April 30, 1961. p. 65.RetrievedSeptember 21,2018– via Newspapers.
  7. ^"Joyce Ring".Internet Broadway Database.Archived fromthe originalon September 22, 2018.RetrievedSeptember 22,2018.
  8. ^Heffernan, Harold (November 9, 1950)."12 New Film Beauties Selected For Musical".The Blade.Toledo, Ohio.
  9. ^abcdeTerrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014).Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010(2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 4.ISBN978-0-7864-6477-7.
  10. ^"They're Back".Los Angeles Times.California, Los Angeles. October 20, 1960. p. 54.RetrievedSeptember 22,2018– viaNewspapers.
  11. ^Kilgallen, Dorothy (January 7, 1961)."The Voice of Broadway".The Mercury.Pottstown, Pennsylvania. p. 4.RetrievedSeptember 22,2018– viaNewspapers.
  12. ^Birth record of Angela Barchet
  13. ^Motion Picture and Television Magazine.November 1952. page 33. Ideal Publishers.
  14. ^Morning News, January 10, 1948,Who Was Who in America(Vol. 2)
  15. ^Wilson, Scott (August 19, 2016).Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons(3d ed.). McFarland.ISBN978-1-4766-2599-7– via Google Books.
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