Joyce Jacobs

Joyce Mary Jacobs (née Penn; 15 April 1922 – 15 September 2013) was a British Australian character actress, best known for her long-running and iconic role as the beloved Esme Watson on the long-running rural soap opera A Country Practice. Originally written and conceived as a gossip busybody style character, the character became somewhat more sympathetic as the series progressed. She shared most her screen time with Syd Heylen at the bar as Vernon "Cookie" Locke and town plumber Bob Hatfield, portrayed by Gordon Piper, and behind the screens the three that were quite the comedy trio were affectionly nicknamed The Three Musketeers^[1]

Biography

One of three siblings born in Surrey, England to Leonard W. Penn and Dora Elsie (née Ferrett) Penn, she did not embark on a professional acting career until arriving in Australia in 1965. During the 1970s, Jacobs played the small, recurring role of Mrs. Carson in Number 96 and Muriel Palmer on The Young Doctors.

in 1981, Jacobs appeared on the pilot episode of A Country Practice , as a character in the medical clinic called Norma after which she returned to the series thereafter donning Edna Everage style glasses and playing Esme Watson on the long-running Seven Network drama series, A Country Practice. Becoming a regular, starting with Episode 99 in 1982. Having worked on the series for 12 years, she was one of the show's longest-serving actresses. She remained with the show until it ended in 1993.

In 1994, Network Ten continued the series under the same title, but with a new setting and a mostly new cast. Jacobs, however, reprised her role of Esme. The new version was not as successful as the original and was cancelled after 29 episodes. She appeared in the short film, Heaven on the 4th Floor, in 1998 opposite Bunney Brooke. She appeared in a guest episode on G.P. and in the 1986 television movie Hector's Bunyip. A guest appearance on All Saints in 2000 reunited her with Georgie Parker, her co-star on A Country Practice. She appeared in many A Country Practice reunions, including the Television Turns 50 special in 2006, with fellow cast members, including Lorrae Desmond and Joan Sydney.

After retirement, in an interview with the magazine Woman's Day in 2012 she revealed that had been battling Parkinson's disease for 10 years. After her husband of 64 years, David Ian Hutchinson Jacobs, died in 2011, she resided in a rest home facility, Goodhew Gardens, Taren Point, where she celebrated her 90th birthday with fellow cast members.^[2]

Jacobs died from Parkinson's disease, aged 91, at Goodhew Gardens rest home facility, Taren Point, New South Wales, on 21 September 2013.^[3] ACP cast member Lorrae Desmond, paid tribute to Jacobs "Stating Joyce Jacobs was a lovely lady, who did not have a nasty bone in her body" Brian Wenzel also acknowledged Jacobs as a marvelous lady.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

• Joyce Jacobs at the Internet Movie Database
• Notice of death of actress Joyce Jacobs, article.wn.com; accessed 22 September 2015.
• Notice of death of Joyce Jacobs, news.com.au; accessed 22 September 2015.