Patricia Joy Harmon or Joy Patricia Harmon (born May 1, 1940) is an American baker and former 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 was a contestant during the last season of Groucho Marx's television program You Bet Your Life (titled The Groucho Show during its last season), and later a regular on Marx's short-lived program Tell It to Groucho (credited as "Patty Harmon"). 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) 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.

Filmography

Films roles

Television roles