After a successful run on regional stage and summer stock, Queens-born Joy Harmon was a contestant on the final season of Groucho Marx’s game show You Bet Your Life. Groucho was so taken by Joy’s good looks and bubbly personality that she was tagged to appear regularly on his follow-up series Tell It to Groucho. The show’s soap manufacturer sponsor insisted that she be credited as “Patty Harmon,” hoping to avoid any association with “Joy” dishwashing soap, its main competitor.
Joy began to take small acting roles on 60s TV series like Gidget, Batman, That Girl and The Monkees. On the big screen, Joy appeared as the 30-foot tall “Merrie” in the teen sci-fi spoof Village of the Giants, where she famously dangled a regular-sized Johnny Crawford from her bikini top. In 1967, she took on her most memorable role as “Lucille,” the scantily-clad blond bombshell seductively washing her car to the delight of prison inmates Paul Newman and George Kennedy in the film Cool Hand Luke. Joy had a guest role in the short-lived sitcom Thicker Than Water, her final screen credit before leaving show business to raise her family.
Out of the spotlight for three decades, Joy opened Aunt Joy’s Cakes, a bakery in Burbank that catered to movie and TV studios. Joy worked with her three children and the business venture proved unbelievably successful. Aunt Joy’s Cakes became the “go-to” bakery for parties by nearly every studio in Hollywood. Joy continued to work in the bakery until she entered the hospital with pneumonia 2026. Her health declined and Joy entered home hospice. She passed away on April 14, 2026 at the age of 87.