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Brunette, blue-eyed Joyce Meadows was one of three siblings, born of German ancestry as Joyce Johanna Burger in Alberta, Canada, to Joseph Henry Burger (1908-1989) and Johanna Louise Schelske (1913-1972). Being raised on a farm, she learned to ride from early childhood, a skill which later served her well during many appearances in television western series like Tombstone Territory (1957), The Texan (1958), Cheyenne (1955) and Tales of Wells Fargo (1957). After the family moved to California, Joyce went to school in Sacramento. There, she formed a song-and-dance act with a girlfriend, won Miss Sacramento and Miss Hollywood beauty pageants back- to-back and made her stage debut as Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Little Eaglet Theater. Joyce completed her musical training in San Francisco at the Geary Conservatory (since 2006, known as the American Conservatory Theater). She also taught herself to play the guitar.

Joyce subsequently pursued further acting studies under Jeff Corey in Hollywood and Stella Adler in New York. She acted on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse and later in Glendale, where she was spotted by an agent during a performance and signed under contract. Her first film appearance was opposite John Agar in the AIP low budget western Flesh and the Spur (1956). She later co-starred with Agar again in the independently-produced (cultish) sci-fi The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) and in the western Frontier Gun (1958). For the most part, Joyce was gainfully employed in television, where she enjoyed recurring or semi-regular roles as the assistant to George Nader's scientist in The Man and the Challenge (1959) and as a saloon owner in Two Faces West (1960). Between 1958 and 1965, she was a frequent guest actress in shows like Markham (1959), Sea Hunt (1958), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), 77 Sunset Strip (1958) and Perry Mason (1957).

Said to have been 'disillusioned with Hollywood', Joyce took a lengthy hiatus from the screen in the mid-60s to go on tour in classic theatrical plays like King Lear, The Glass Menagerie, Richard III and The Rainmaker. Additionally, she did some instructional work at drama workshops in different states. A comeback to screen acting followed in the early 90s which included repeat appearances on the soaps Santa Barbara (1984) and Days of Our Lives (1965).

Joyce Meadows in Tombstone Territory (1957)

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