Joan Davis was a very popular radio star in the 40s. She also was just as popular in the 50's with her "Lucy" like sitcom I Married Joan which also starred a young Jim Backus, years before Gilligan's Island.
I know she died of a heart attack in 1961 at a young age ( still in her 50s ) but not really a whole lot is out there about her. Over the years I heard she was involved in some sort of a bizzarre story involving a beauty shop in Hawaii ( Bleach in her eyes? ) and how she and Backus HATED each other.
Also there was her daugher..Beverely Wells. A few years after Joan's death, she, her kids and Joan's mother all died in a house fire . Hardly anything is said about that other than smoking was the cause.