Joy Hruby

Hruby was born in Taree, New South Wales, the fourth of five siblings to Grace Adelaide Esther Thomas, a public speaker, union woman, community worker and suffragist and Henry "Harry" James Cox, who was a station master at Dubbo during WWII, ham radio enthusiast and maker of steel guitars. She married Czech jazz pianist Zdenek Hruby in 1954 and the couple had three children: actress Anna Hruby, Frank (a cameraman)^[2] and Janette (a former film location caterer).^[2][1] Hruby studied at the Whitehall Academy of Dramatic Arts and then the J. C. Williamson theatre, and appeared in a production of Othello as Desdemona.

Hruby also had a community TV program on Channel 31 (later TVS) in Sydney and Melbourne titled Joy's World. She was known for brightly-coloured feathered costumes and feather boas, and her signature sign-off line, "...and keep smiling". After Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull cancelled community television, she launched her own website and YouTube channel.^[2]

Her contribution to the arts and entertainment was recognised with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the 2007 Queen's New Years Honours List.^[3] Published in 2003, she wrote a wartime memoir, Dubbo Dazzlers, which was also the name of a dance troupe she formed in Dubbo during WWII. Hruby had previously written notes for a biography titled The Spectacular Life of Joy Hruby.^[3] She won a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Half in Ernest.

Hruby was later married to Denny, a pianist.^[2] She died, aged 89^[4] on 21 February 2017.^[5] Her service was held at Wilde Street Anglican Church at Maroubra, New South Wales on 2 March 2017.