Matinee Classics - Joan Van Ark Biography & Filmography

Joan Van Ark ACTOR

JOAN VAN ARK BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Joan Van Ark was born on June 16th, 1943 in New York City, New York, born to Dorothy Jean Hemenway and Carroll Van Ark. Ark was raised in Colorado and it was during an interview working as a student reporter at the age of fifteen for school that she met actress Julie Harris who suggested Van Ark try to study Drama at Yale. After graduating from high school she became the 2nd youngest student to attend Yale School of Drama on a scholarship.

She began her career as a stage actress performing in a production of, "The Miser" followed by roles in, "Death of a Salesman", "Barefoot in the Park" and "The School for Wives" for which she earned a Theatre World Award and a Tony nomination for her performance.

Soon she was offered a contract with Universal Studios and began appearing in such television series as, "The Judge and Jake Wyler" (1972), "Temperatures Rising" (1972-1973) and "We've Got Each Other" (1977-1978).

It didn't take long before other television guest appearances followed ion such series as, "M.A.S.H.", "The Love Boat" and "Quincy, M.E". She was then cast in the show, "Dallas" (1978) as a character that later was made into it's own series on, "Knotts Landing" (1979) for which she worked thirteen out of the fourteen seasons. For her role on this series, Van Ark earned two Soap Opera Digest Awards for Best Actress and was nominated six other times. She was also given the opportunity to direct two of the episodes for the series.

When the series came to an end she continued working appearing in other television programs such as, "Spin Doctors", "The Young and the Restless", "The Six Million Dollar Man", "Kojak", "Barnaby Jones", "Bonanza", "Medical Center", "Cannon", "The Rockford Files", "Wonder Woman" and "Son of the Beach".

Along with her television roles she also returned to theater numerous times appearing in productions of, "Love Letters", "Three Tall Women", "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Heartbreak House", "As You Like It", "Macbeth", "The Night of the Iguana" and "A Little Night Music".

As her career progressed some of her more recent roles have been in, "Nip/Tuck" and such television movies as, "In the Shadows, Someone's Watching" (1993), "Boys Will Be Boys" (1999), "Terror on Track 9" (1992) and "Pretty the Series" (2011-2012).

Van Ark has also done voice over work for such projects as, "Archer" (2011), "Santo Bugito" (1995) and the voice of "Spider Woman" (1979). She has also added such film credits to her resume for roles in, "Held for Ransom" (2001), "Up, Michigan!" (2001), "Net Games" (2003), "Diamond Zero" (2005) and "Channels" (2008).

Joan has married only one time to John Marshall whom she wed in 1966 and they have one child and remain married today. Her most recent role is set to release in 2012 in the film, "Water Color Postcards".