Joy Westmore from the hit TV series Prisoner Dies

Westmore’s daughter, Emily, said her mother only received fan mail on Thursday for her role as “screw officer” Joyce Barry in Prisoner.

The hit series was the inspiration for the hot TV series Wentworth, which appears on Foxtel’s Showcase channel.

She said her mother was sick and passed away on Thursday at an elderly care facility in Melbourne.

“She makes me very proud,” Emily told NCA NewsWire.

“She received fan mail from Ireland yesterday and signed her last autograph three weeks ago.”

One of Westmore’s first TV roles was on The Sullivans, while she also appeared on Bellbird, Blue Heelers and in Australian films such as Summerfield, The Odd Angry Shot and Les Patterson Saves The World, in which she played Lady Gwen Patterson.

However, she is best known for her role as Officer Barry in more than 240 episodes of Prisoner. Her character married the prison cook Merv Pringle, played by Ernie Bourne.

“She loved that role,” said Emily.

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford said Westmore’s credits came from the 1950s when she did a comedy with Barry Humphries, whose alter ego is Dame Edna.

“She was a lovable person at first and in between she was a wife and mother of four children. It has done some great credit to its name, ”he said.

He said she perfectly played the role of the overly nice officer Barry.

“Officer Joyce Barry was possibly the worst prison officer in the world, but she made the show an odd relief,” said Ford.

“Officer Barry was way too nice and trusted the prisoners and repeatedly paid the price.

One of her last TV roles was on Blue Heelers, and she was a spokesperson towards the end of her career, Emily said.