Joan Freeman

Roustabout, 1964

Born: January 8, 1942, in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Husband: Bruce Kessler (? - present)

with Barbara Stanwyck
in Roustabout

In Roustabout, Joan played Elvis' love interest, Cathy, who helps Maggie (Barbara Stanwyck) and her father Joe (Leif Erickson) run the carnival that Elvis gets stuck working for, while waiting for his motorcycle to get fixed. Roustabout is another attempt at musical-drama that has its moments but it doesn't quite make it, mainly (in my opinion anyway) due to some of the really bad carnival-oriented novelty songs like "It's Carnival Time" and especially "Carny Town". Too bad, since he does a couple of decent ones like "Little Egypt" and "Hard Knocks". The drama doesn't really work either, in spite of Barbara Stanwyck's efforts, and ends up being just another Elvis flick.

Joan had been acting in bit parts and guest shots on TV shows since childhood, and after Roustabout, continued doing much of the same. Another interesting costar was Roy Orbison (!) in Fastest Guitar Alive. (Check out the photos below.) Apparently, Joan does a number called "Snuggle Huggle". It was Roy's only film and I haven't seen it all, but from the video clips I've seen, I can only imagine that we're all better off with a copy of A Black And White Night instead!

Years back, I'd run across a web article about Joan and her husband living aboard a yacht and cruising the east coast, but couldn't get confirmation from the webmaster that this was the same Joan Freeman. I soon received an email from a friend of theirs confirming it! Great to hear Joan is alive and well!

Joan Links