Joy Harmon Said Groucho Marx Was 'Like a Father to Me:' 'I Loved Him Very Much'
Joy Harmon Said Groucho Marx Was 'Like a Father to Me:' 'I Loved Him Very Much'
Angela AndaloroSat, April 25, 2026 at 1:59 PM UTC
0
Joy Harmon and Groucho Marx in 1961Credit: CBS via Getty -
Joy Harmon was in modeling and beauty pageants before getting her big break in show business
It was while she was in Broadway's Make a Million in 1958 that she caught the attention of Groucho Marx
In a 2024 interview, Harmon talked about Marx's influence in her life
Joy Harmon had serious gratitude for Groucho Marx.
In a 2024 interview with the Vanguard of Hollywood podcast, the actress, who died at age 87 on Tuesday, April 14, reflected on her start in the industry.
Before her unforgettable appearance in Cool Hand Luke, Harmon was modeling and doing beauty pageants. After she took a chance on acting around age 18, she got a role in the 1958 Broadway play Make a Million.
"I got the show on Broadway and I was very young," she said on the podcast. "My mom saw the open casting call, and I just went in and tried out, and it was the ingenue lead."
During one performance, she noted that Marx was in the audience and invited her to appear on his show, You Bet Your Life.
"We would have more fun looking through the curtains and see who was out there. And one night, when we were performing, we were peeking through the cracks, and we saw Groucho with Jack Benny. And we thought that was so exciting," she said.
Joy Harmon in an 1972 appearance on "The Odd Couple"Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
"I didn't have an agent. I just tried out for the part," she continued. "My mom sat in the back, and I was still a teenager, and they called her and I got the part, but then I guess Groucho saw me in the part, and he went backstage, and I didn't know this, but he got my mom's number."
Harmon's mom and sister later accompanied her to California in 1960 for You Bet Your Life, and things went so well that, the following year, Marx asked her if she'd appear on his show Tell It to Groucho.
"I went out, and this time my mom couldn't go, so my sister and I went, but Groucho was like a dad to me," she shared. "Because he lived in Beverly Hills and we stayed on Sunset Boulevard in a hotel, my sister and I, but he worried about us. So, he would have me come at night and have dinner with him at his house, or watch movies. My sister and I would spend a lot of evenings with him."
Advertisement
Harmon's experience with Marx was very different from his reputation as being "very flirty" on his sets.
"That wasn't like him at all, because then he would be questioning me, 'Where did you go last night? What are you doing? No, you don't do that.' He was just like a dad to me," she added. "Yeah. But I loved him very much, and I went a lot to his house."
Marx died in 1977 at the age of 86 due to complications from pneumonia.
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Joy Harmon and Groucho Marx in 1961 on "Tell It To Groucho"Credit: CBS via Getty
After Harmon began making cameo appearances on TV, she expanded to film. She played a giant in 1965's Village of the Giants. Opposite Paul Newman, she was featured as a character known as Lucille, The Girl, who sensuously washed his car in an iconic scene from 1967's Cool Hand Luke.
However, Harmon retired from acting in 1973 to focus on her family.
Harmon was married to filmmaker Jeff Gourson from 1968 to 2001; the pair shared three children, Jason, Julie and Jamie. She pivoted from Hollywood to baking after sharing treats she had baked with coworkers on film sets, including Marx.
Gourson confirmed Harmon's death in a statement exclusive to PEOPLE, sharing that she "died peacefully and surrounded by family."
"She was a wonderful person, who always loved baking," Gourson said. "Even back when she was acting, she'd bake cookies and bring them to set, and later she opened her bakery and went to it every single day. She loved that place. She also loved animals. She lived above Burbank in Shadow Hills and there were all these peacocks that would come around, the chickens, the squirrels, the peacocks would come right up to her because she'd feed them. So she loved people, she loved animals, and she loved baking. We'll miss her dearly. We miss her already."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
