05 January 2023 , 13:17
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Neighbours icon Joan Sydney has died at the age of 83.
The much-love TV veteran died peacefully on December 28 in Sydney, according to her long-time friend, Sally-Anne Upton.
Joan quickly became a household name when she first shot to fame in Australia, and she proved that she was a true star thanks to her seven-decade long career in the showbiz industry.
While she is best known for her role in Neighbours, Joan also enjoyed other parts across the entertainment industry, including radio, television, mini-series and movies.
Joan's sad death was brought to light be her close friend Sally-Anne Upton, who spoke beautifully about the late actress during an appearance on TV Tonight.
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Joan enjoyed a seven-decade long career (Fremantle Media/REX/Shutterstock)
Actress Joan Sydney is best known for playing Valda Sheergold in Neighbours (Fremantle Media/REX/Shutterstock)Sally-Anne opened up about Joan's pure heart as she spoke about a charity benefit that her friend had organised.
"I asked Joan if she would appear as Matron Sloane and at first she was very reluctant," Sally-Anne said.
"She thought it wouldn’t work as Wandin Valley had been a long time off our screen.
"And I said, 'Are you kidding me? Everyone will know who you are. And it will be the highlight of the show'.
Joan has died at the age of 83 (Fremantle Media/REX/Shutterstock)"And sure enough, as I’m MC-ing the second half she appeared through the curtain in her white nurses uniform and 70s nurses cap, no words spoken, and brought the house down.
"Later in the green room she was still in shock of the response. 'Well, I never," she recalled.
Joan's first appeared on Neighbours as Valda Sheergold - a role which was initially supposed to be a casual stint for the actress.
However, after soap fans fell in love with the character, Joan was given a full-time role in 2007 and 2008.
Joan also notably playing Matron Sloane in over 450 episodes of A Country Practice between 1983 and 1990 (Fremantle Media/REX/Shutterstock)Valda played Lyn Scully's mother, but it was revealed that she had given Lyn to her sister Connie O'Rourke and her husband Henry O'Rourke when she was a baby.
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She was also the grandmother to Stephanie, Felicity, Michelle, Jack and Oscar.
During her stint on Neighbours, Joan's character tried to form romances with both Harold Bishop and Lou Carpenter, but she married Charlie Cassidy instead.
Joan also notably playing Matron Sloane in over 450 episodes of A Country Practice between 1983 and 1990.