Joan Van Ark, just out of high school, was the second youngest student
to attend the Yale School of Drama on a scholarship. The youngest was
Julie Harris. It was the beginning
of a lifelong friendship. Years later, they would co-star on the CBS
Television series,
Unter der Sonne Kaliforniens (1979). Van Ark
began her professional career at the Minneapolis Guthrie Theater in
Moliere's "The Miser", opposite Hume Cronyn
and Zoe Caldwell. That was followed
by "Death of a Salesman" at the Guthrie with both Cronyn and
Jessica Tandy. After a season at the Arena
Stage in Washington, D.C., Joan was cast in the national touring
company of "Barefoot in the Park", directed by
Mike Nichols. She recreated the
role in the critically acclaimed London Company and later on Broadway.
She earned a Tony nomination for her performance in "The School for
Wives" and she won the Theater World Award for "The Rules of the Game".
Van Ark also appeared off-Broadway opposite
John Rubinstein in "Love Letters". More
recently, she co-starred in the New York production of
Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize winning play
"Three Tall Women". Her Los Angeles theater credits include "Cyrano de
Bergerac", playing "Roxanne" opposite
Richard Chamberlain's
"Cyrano", "Ring Around the Moon" with
Michael York and
Glynis Johns, "Chemin de Fer", "Heartbreak
House" and "As You Like It", for which she won a Los Angeles Drama
Critics Award. She also appeared as "Lady Macbeth" in the Grove
Shakespeare Festival's production of "Macbeth". Van Ark has also
starred in the Williamstown Theater Festival productions of "Night of
the Iguana", "The Legend of Oedipus" and the festival's 40th
anniversary production of
Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night
Music".
She is perhaps best known for her role as "Valene Ewing" beginning on
Dallas (1978) and then on the spin-off
series, Unter der Sonne Kaliforniens (1979).
During the 13 seasons as "Val", she earned six nominations and two Soap
Opera Digest Awards for Best Actress. Joan also starred in the TV
comedies,
Temperatures Rising (1972)
and
We've Got Each Other (1977).
In May 1997, she reprieved her role of "Valene" in the CBS mini-series,
Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac (1997).
Most recently, she guest-starred in an episode of
Die Nanny (1993), which was
specially written for her. Van Ark's television movie credits include
Wenn der schwarze Mann dich holt (1995),
Willenlos: Eine Frau unter Hypnose (1994),
Der Kindermörder - Eine Familie in Angst (1993)
(actor/producer),
Robbie und Matt - Außer Rand und Band (1998)
(actor/director),
Der Todesengel vom Grand Central (1992),
Böses Blut (1993),
Mit dem Essen kam der Tod (1990),
Babynapping - Roberts Entfhrung (1990),
My First Love (1988) and
Shakedown on the Sunset Strip (1988).
She was also one of the voices for CBS-TV's Saturday morning cartoon
series Santo Bugito (1995) and
she provided the voice of
Spiderwoman (1979), another
Saturday morning series. In 1997, Joan directed a short documentary on
homelessness and domestic violence for the Directors Guild of America,
which was nominated for an Emmy.
She appeared in the feature film,
Kidnapped - Tödlicher Sumpf (2000), with
Dennis Hopper and
Debi Mazar. Joan is currently featured in the
film, UP, Michigan! (2001), which
was entered in the New York Independent Film Festival. According to
Film Festival representatives, the screening of
UP, Michigan! (2001) elicited more
favorable audience response than any other film throughout the one-week
event. Joan also starred as the "Vice President of the United States"
in the FOX Family telefilm,
Terror im Weißen Haus (1998). Last
summer, she played "Camille" in
Tennessee Williams' "Camino Real" at
the Folger Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C. She appeared in
Zweimal im Leben (1999),
filmed in Toronto. She recently completed filming in Los Angeles of
Son of the Beach (2000).
Joan's career was featured on the biographical program,
Joan Van Ark (2002),
on the Lifetime Channel for Women. She also played two cameo roles in
the independent feature films,
Net Games - Tödliches Spiel (2003) and the
soon-to-be-released
Diamond Zero (2005) with
Tippi Hedren. Joan was featured in "The
Vagina Monologues" at the Canon Theater in Beverly Hills. She also
opened the national tour of "The Vagina Monologues" in Denver's Center
for the Performing Arts.
In May, 2003, she was a celebrity guest actor in the Los Angeles
production of "Blackout" at the McCadden Theater in Hollywood. She also
appeared in the off-Broadway production of "The Exonerated" at the
Bleeker Street Theater in New York. Last spring, Joan appeared in "Five
by Tenn" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with
Kathleen Chalfant,
Patricia Clarkson and
Sally Field. It was a world premiere of
newly-found Tennessee Williams
one-act plays. In addition, she played a regular role for much of last
year on CBS Television's
Schatten der Leidenschaft (1973).
Joan will soon appear in the world premier of
Mark O'Donnell's new adaptation
of "Private Fittings" by Georges Feydeau
at the La Jolla Playhouse near San Diego. The production, opening
February 22nd, will be directed by
Des McAnuff, winner of two Tony Awards. Joan
is still married to her high school sweetheart,
John Marshall, a former
award-winning TV newsman, who now heads an on-line news service,
eNewswires.com. Their daughter,
Vanessa Marshall, is also an
accomplished actress, director and comedian.
