Brenda Joyce

Brenda Joyce (born Betty Graftina Leabo, February 25, 1917 – July 4, 2009) was an American film actress. She was best known for playing Jane Porter in RKO's Tarzan films from 1945 to 1949.

Early life The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Grafton Leabo, Joyce was born in Excelsior Springs, Missouri on February 25, 1917, and was known to family and friends as Graftina.

When she was 5 years old, she moved with her mother to San Bernardino, California, staying there through her junior high school years. They moved to Los Angeles, California, where she attended high school. She entered the University of Southern California on a scholarship but transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles after one semester.

Between her years in college and those in film, Joyce was a model for photographers. She appeared "in current magazines -- in new automobiles, using toothpaste, modeling shoes, smiling her way through the glossy life of a magazine girl." Later, as Betty Ward, she became director of the Catholic Re-settlement Office in Monterey, California, and "helped hundreds of refugees find new lives in America." Her final resting place is in Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1939 The Rains Came Fern Simon Here I Am a Stranger Simpson Daniels 1940 Little Old New York Harriet Livingston Fulton Maryland Linda Public Deb No. 1 Penny Cooper 1941 Private Nurse Mary Malloy Marry the Boss's Daughter Fredericka Barrett 1942 Right to the Heart Jenny Killian Whispering Ghosts Elizabeth Woods The Postman Didn't Ring Julie Martin Little Tokyo, U.S.A. Maris Hanover 1943 Thumbs Up Louise Latimer 1945 Tarzan and the Amazons Jane I'll Tell the World Lorna Gray Strange Confession Mary The Enchanted Forest Anne Pillow of Death Donna Kincaid 1946 Tarzan and the Leopard Woman Jane Little Giant Miss Ruby Burke The Spider Woman Strikes Back Jean Kingsley Danger Woman June Spenser 1947 Tarzan and the Huntress Jane Stepchild Dale Bullock 1948 Tarzan and the Mermaids Jane Shaggy Laura Calvin 1949 Tarzan's Magic Fountain Jane (final film role)