Actress and singer Joan O’Brien has died at the age of 89 after battle with Alzheimer’s
Actress and singer Joan O Brien has lost her battle with Alzheimer’s at the age of 89. She was born on Valentine’s Day in 1936 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA but later moved to California at the age of 15.
Joan O’ Brien worked as a singer on CBS’ The Bog Crosby Show after graduating from Chaffey High School in Ontario in California. When it came to her acting career, she appeared in the 1958 drama Handle With Care and the World War II comedy Operation Petticoat in 1959.
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Hide AdIn the movie It Happened at the World’s Fair, she played the role of a nurse who has to look after pilot Mike Edwards (played by Elvis Presley), who suffers a leg injury after he was kicked in a shin. The actor who kicked Elvis Presley in the shin was actor Kurt Russell who was starring in his first movie, and went on to become the partner of Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn.


According to The Hollywood Reporter, “In January 1965, she swallowed the contents of a pill box at his home on Mulholland Drive and was hospitalized in a coma after what police termed an attempted suicide.”
“O’Brien didn’t do much acting after that, though she did sing with Harry James’ band.”
When it came to her personal life, Joan was married five times in total, her husbands included guitarist Billy Strange, NBC executive John Meyers, actor and dancer Harvey Allen and artist Dino Kotopoulis. These four marriages all ended in divorce.
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Hide AdJoan O’Brien then married for the fifth time in 1979 to Bernard Campbell, who was a retired U.S. military officer, he predeceased her in 2004.
Elvis Presley fan accounts on Instagram have been paying tribute to Joan and Gabrijela Marija wrote: “Remembering Joan. Just learnt of her passing, lucky gal gets to see E again.” On February 14, the account called Evlis Presley Fans of Nashville, wrote: “Happy Birthday to actress Joan O’Brien!
“Elvis Presley and Joan O’Brien worked together in the 1963 film ‘It Happened at the World's Fair,’ Joan was Diane Warren, the World’s Fair nurse and the love interest of Elvis’ character Mike Edwards.”
There were rumours that Elvis Presley and Joan O’Brien once enjoyed a brief romance.
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