Joan Van Ark guest starred in season 10's "Sweet Annie Laurie" (1969). She played a young woman trying to escape from her abusive outlaw husband and his friend. Hoss tries to help her.
Joan is best known as Valene Ewing on the TV show "Dallas" and its spin-off "Knots Landing" (1978-1993). She played the wife of Ewing middle son Gary. She won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Actress for her role in 1986 and 1989. Joan reprised her role in the 1997 miniseries "Knots Landing: Back To The Cul-de-Sac" and the new series "Dallas" in 2013.
Joan was born in 1943 in New York City and grew up in Boulder, Colorado. Her parents were both writers.
Joan met actress Julie Harris who encouraged her to attend the Yale School Of Drama. Joan attended for one year in 1964 and was the next to youngest student to ever attend. Julie, who attended back in 1944-1945, was the youngest. The two women have been good friends over the years. Julie later appeared on "Knots Landing" as Valene's mother Lilimae Clements.
Joan started her acting career in theater performing in various productions. She made her Broadway debut in "Barefoot In The Park" in 1966. In 1971 Joan received the World Theater Award and a Tony nomination for her work in "The School For Wives".
"Barefoot In The Park"
Joan also started appearing in various television shows like "Bonanza", "Gunsmoke", "Hawaii Five-O", "Mannix", "The F.B.I.", "Barnaby Jones", "Rhoda", "The Rockford Files", "Qunincy M.E.", "M*A*S*H", among many others. In 1970 she played Janene Whitney #3 on the daytime soap "Days Of Our Lives". During the 1970s Joan starred in two short-lived sitcoms "Temperatures Rising" (1972-1973) and "We've Got Each Other" (1977-1978). Then came "Dallas" and "Knots Landing".
"Temperatures Rising"
Since "Knots Landing" Joan has continued appearing in various TV series and performing in theater. She has appeared in TV shows like "Touched By An Angel", "The Nanny", "Twice In A Lifetime", "Pretty The Series", etc. Joan also played Gloria Fisher Abbott on the TV soap "The Young And The Restless" (2004-2005). She has also starred in various film and TV movies over the years: "Captain Newman M.D." (1972), "Always Remember I Love You" (1990), "Held For Ransome" (2000), "Tornado Warning" (2002), etc. In addition to all of that Joan has also done some voice work a few times over the years. In 1979 she provided the voice of the main character in the Saturday morning cartoon series "Spider Woman". In 2011 she did the voice of Ruth in the animated TV series "Archer".
"The Young And The Restless"
Back in 1966 Joan married her high school sweetheart John Marshall. He became an award winning TV news reporter. John and Joan have been married ever since. They have one child - a daughter named Vanessa. She is a voice actress, model, and singer.
2010