Joyce Mary Jacobs was an English-born Australian character actress,and comedienne who had a successful career on the small screen, in soap opera and serials, after immigrating there from her native England in 1962. She remains best known for her portrayals of elderly gossips with a stint as Muriel Palmer in The Young Doctors and her permanent long running role as Esme Watson on soap opera A Country Practice, who after 12 years and 805 episodes at the time one of the longest roles on Australian television, normally appearing on screen alongside fellow veteran actors Syd Heylen and Gordon Piper, although unlike the latter actors who were written out of the series toward the end of its run onNetwork Seven to make way for a younger revamped cast, she was retained in the series when it switched to Network Ten.
Biography
Early life and career
Jacobs was born one of three siblings in Carshalton, Surrey, England to Leonard Watson Penn and Dora Elsie Penn. She did not embark on a professional acting career until arriving in Australia in 1962. 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 donning Edna Everage style glasses and playing Esme Watson on the long-running Seven Network series. She was originally a semi-regular, but became 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 alongside Brian Wenzel and Shane Porteous until it ended in 1993.
A Country Practice (Network Ten)
In 1994, Network Ten continued the series under the same title, but with a new setting and a mostly new cast. Jacobs, however, along with Joan Sydney and Andrew Blackman as Dr. Harry Morrison reprised her role of Esme Watson. The new version was not as successful as the original and was cancelled after 30 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 movieHector's Bunyip.She appeared on a guest appearance on All Saints in 2000.
Personal life
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. Jacobs, who was married for 64 years died aged 91, on 21 September 2013.
