The daughter of Homer Harmon, Joy Patricia Harmon was born in Jackson Heights, New York, or Flushing, New York. She and her family moved to Connecticut in 1946. She was a Miss Connecticut,[when?] She tied for fourth runner-up in the 1957 competition for Miss Connecticut.
When she was three years old, Harmon modeled clothes in Fox Movietone News newsreels. She skipped two grades in elementary school and graduated from Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut.
Harmon's stage debut came in Pajama Tops at the Klein Memorial Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She toured the United States in stock company productions, including The Marriage-Go-Round, The Solid Gold Cadillac, The Tender Trap, The Importance of Being Ernest, and Susan Slept Here. On Broadway, Harmon portrayed Betty Phillips in Make a Million (1958). She also appeared in an off-Broadway production of Susan Slept Here (1961).

Return to Joy Harmon Autograph Profile