Joan Croydon (actress)
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Joan Croydon (May 15, 1908 - April 23, 1985, Manhattan, New York) was an American stage actress.
[edit] Career
She appeared in only one film, The Bad Seed, in which she reprised her stage role, Miss Fern. It was rather surprising casting, given that Croydon was a quite lovely young woman at the time, and the character she played, a murderous child’s suspicious teacher, is one described in the play’s stage notes as “dowdy”, “a spinster”, and “middle aged”, and is generally played by much older actresses (i.e. Anne Haney in a television version starring Blair Brown, Richard Kiley and Lynn Redgrave).
In any event, Croydon received a poor review for her film performance from the New York Times' film critic, Bosley Crowther, who gave poor or mixed reviews to the entire cast in his September 13, 1956 review (see [1]).
Croydon received rave reviews for playing the Mother in Bill Ball's acclaimed production of "Six Characters in Search of an Author". Croydon then became one of the founding members of The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) which originated in Pittsburgh and is now in San Francisco.
Croydon received a Clarence Derwent Theatre Award in 1957 for her performance as Miss Connolly (Housekeeper) in The Potting Shed.
[edit] Stage credits
- Major Barbara as "Mrs. Baines" - from February 26, 1980 until March 30, 1980
- Compulsion as "Mrs. Straus" - from October 24, 1957 until February 22, 1958
- The Potting Shed as "Miss Connolly" - from January 29, 1957 until June 1, 1957
- The Bad Seed as "Miss Fern" - from December 8, 1954 until September 27, 1955
- The First Crocus as "Miss Engebretsen" - from January 2, 1942 until January 6, 1942
