{{Short description|Australian actress and television presenter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = Joy Hruby | image = Joy Hruby nonfree.jpg | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Joy Elaine Cox | birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|07|01|df=y}} | birth_place = Taree, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|02|21|1927|07|01|df=y}} | death_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | education = Whitehall Academy of Dramatic Art, J.C. Williamson | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|comedian|television presenter|producer|film-maker|author|agent}} | notable_works = ''Joy's World''<br/>''Dubbo Dazzlers'' (book) | family = Anna Hruby (daughter) }}
'''Joy Elaine Hruby''' (1 July 1927 – 21 February 2017) was an Australian actress and entertainer, comedian, TV presenter and interviewer, producer, film-maker, author and celebrity agent with a career spanning more than 50 years.<ref name=abc>{{cite news|title=Joy Hruby|url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/09/08/2358452.htm|accessdate=6 June 2012|newspaper=ABC Brisbane|date=8 September 2008}}</ref> Hruby appeared in films including ''Caddie'', ''The Love Letters from Teralba Road'', ''Winter of our Dreams'', and ''Kitty and the Bagman''.<ref name="site" />
Hruby had small roles in TV soap operas including, ''Sons and Daughters'' and ''Home and Away'', ''G.P.'' and ''All Saints'' and featured the mini-series ''Brides of Christ'', she also appeared in numerous theatre productions and entered films into Tropfest.
==Biography== Hruby was born in Taree, New South Wales, the fourth of five siblings to Grace Adelaide Esther Thomas, a public speaker, union woman, community worker and suffragist and Henry "Harry" James Cox, who was a station master at Dubbo during WWII, ham radio enthusiast and maker of steel guitars. She married Czech jazz pianist Zdenek Hruby in 1954 and the couple had three children: actress Anna Hruby, Frank (a cameraman)<ref name="site" /> and Janette (a former film location caterer).<ref name="site" /><ref name=abc/> Hruby studied at the Whitehall Academy of Dramatic Arts and then the J. C. Williamson theatre, and appeared in a production of Othello as Desdemona.
Hruby also had a community TV program on Channel 31 (later TVS) in Sydney and Melbourne titled ''Joy's World''. She was known for brightly-coloured feathered costumes and feather boas, and her signature sign-off line, "...and keep smiling". After Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull cancelled community television, she launched her own website and YouTube channel.<ref name="site">{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/joy-hruby-launched-screen-careers-of-many-20170224-gukdig.html|title=Joy Hruby, actor who launched screen careers of many|date=March 2017 }}</ref>
Her contribution to the arts and entertainment was recognised with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the 2007 Queen's New Years Honours List.<ref name=smh>{{cite news|last=Iaccarino|first=Clara|title=A passion she cannot do without|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/a-passion-she-cannot-do-without/2007/01/25/1169594429022.html|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 January 2007}}</ref> Published in 2003, she wrote a wartime memoir, ''Dubbo Dazzlers'', which was also the name of a dance troupe she formed in Dubbo during WWII. Hruby had previously written notes for a biography titled ''The Spectacular Life of Joy Hruby''.<ref name="smh"/> She won a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for ''Half in Ernest''.
Hruby was later married to Denny, a pianist.<ref name="site" /> She died, aged 89<ref name=tvtonight-obit>{{cite web|last1=Knox|first1=David|title=Vale: Joy Hruby|url=http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2017/02/vale-joy-hruby.html|website=tvtonight.com.au|publisher=TV Tonight|accessdate=22 February 2017|date=22 February 2017}}</ref> on 21 February 2017.<ref name="deathnotice">[http://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/smh-au/obituary.aspx?n=joy-hruby&pid=184239083 Death Notice: Hruby, Joy Elaine], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 25 February 2017.</ref> Her service was held at Wilde Street Anglican Church at Maroubra, New South Wales on 2 March 2017.
==Filmography== ===Film=== {| class="wikitable" |- !Year !Title !Role !Type |- | 1976 || ''Caddie'' || Mrs Sweeney || Feature film |- | 1977 || ''The Love Letters from Teralba Road'' || Len's Mother || Short Feature film |- | 1981 || ''Winter of Our Dreams'' || Marge || Feature film |- | 1982 || ''Heatwave'' || Old Lady || Feature film |- | 1982 || ''The Dark Room'' || Ida Henning || Feature film |- | 1985 || ''A Street to Die'' || Maureen || Feature film |- | 1987 || ''Confidentially Speaking'' || EAP Lady || Film short |- | 1993 || ''You and Me and Uncle Bob'' || Mrs Patterson || Feature film |-| 1995 || ''Rough Diamonds'' || Mrs Burns || Feature film |- | 1998 || ''Praise'' || Old Woman || Feature film |- | 1999 || ''All the Way'' || Mrs Kravytz || Feature film |- | 2007 || ''Music Box'' || Aunt Mary || Film short |- | 2008 || ''The Eighth'' || Story || Film short |- | 2010 || ''Conference of the Planets'' || Role unknown || Film short |- | 2010 || ''Donation Only'' || Mrs B || Film short |- | 2010 || ''The Key to the Computer'' || Story || Film short |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable" |- !Year !Title !Role !Type |- | 1976 | ''No Room to Run'' | Woman On Beach | ABC TV movie, US/AUSTRALIA |- | 1977 | ''The Outsiders'' | Guest role: Ella | TV series Germany/Australia, 1 episode |- | 1977 | ''Puzzle'' | Guest role | ABC TV movie, US/Australia |- | 1980 | ''Spring & Fall'' | Guest role: Woman Selling House | ABC TV series, 1 episode |- | 1982;1983 | ''A Country Practice'' | Guest role: The Waitress | TV series, 2 episodes |- | 1983 | ''Scales of Justice'' | Guest role: Mrs Simpson | ABC TV film series, 1 episode 1. "The Job" |- | 1983 | ''A Country Practice'' | Guest role: Mrs Farrow | TV series, 2 episodes |- | 1984 | ''Sweet And Sour'' | Guest role | ABC TV series, 1 episode |- | 1985 | ''Sons And Daughters'' | Guest role: Prostitute | TV series, 1 episode |- | 1986 | ''A Fortunate Life'' | Recurring role: Ma | TV miniseries, 1 episode |- | 1986 | ''Alice to Nowhere'' | Recurring role: Mrs Leary | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |- | 1987-2001 | ''Sunday Joyride'' | Herself - Presenter | TV series |- | 1988 | ''Mother and Son'' | Guest role: Woman Shopper | ABC TV series, 1 episode |- | 1988 | ''Mike Willesee's Australians'' | Guest role: Mrs Whittle | TV film series, 1 episode 5: "Lottie Lyell" |- | 1988;1989 | ''Rafferty's Rules'' | Guest roles: Mrs Barnes / Dero Lady | TV series, 2 episodes |- | 1990-2015 | ''Joy's World'' | Herself - Presenter | TV series |- | 1991 | ''Brides of Christ'' | Recurring role: Sister Polycarp | ABC TV miniseries, 6 episodes |- | 1992 | ''Phoenix'' | Guest role: Fat Alice | ABC TV series, 1 episode |- | 1994;1996 | ''G.P.'' | Guest roles: Mrs Lucas / Millie | ABC TV series, 2 episodes |- | 1994;1995 | ''Darren Gray Down Under'' | Herself - Guest | TV series, 3 episodes |- | 1994 | ''TVTV'' | Herself & The Young Doctors cast | ABC TV series, 1 episode |- | 1995-1996 | ''Agatha Ramsbottom Show'' | Herself - Presenter | TV series |- | 1996;1998 | ''Home and Away'' | Guest roles: Mrs Riley / Mrs Penrose | TV series, 2 episodes |- | 1998;2004 | ''All Saints'' | Guest roles: Mrs Heinrich / Robin Wallace | TV series, 3 episodes |- | 2000 | ''Above the Law'' | Guest role: Mrs Meriwether | TV series, 1 episode |- | 2004 | ''Double the Fist'' | Guest role: Edith | ABC TV series, 1 episode |- | 2011 | ''The Hamster Wheel'' | Additional Cast | TV series, 2 episodes |- | 2011;2012 | ''Laid'' | Recurring Guest role: Nan-Nan | ABC TV series, 2 episodes |- | 2017 | ''Ten News'' | Herself - Joy Hruby Funeral Service | TV series, 1 episode |- | 2017 | ''The Project'' | Herself - Joy Hruby Funeral Service | TV series, 1 episode |}
==References== <references/>
==External links== *[http://www.joysworld.biz Joy's World website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904224241/http://www.joysworld.biz/ |date=4 September 2019 }} * {{IMDb name|0398669|Joy Hruby}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hruby, Joy}} Category:1927 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Actresses from Sydney Category:Australian film actresses Category:Australian soap opera actresses Category:Australian television personalities Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Category:People from Dubbo Category:20th-century Australian actresses Category:21st-century Australian actresses
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