Joan Van Ark
Encyclopedia
Joan Van Ark is an American actress, most notable for her role as Valene Ewing
, which she originated on the CBS series Dallas
and continued for thirteen seasons on its spin-off
, Knots Landing
. Van Ark has also received a Theatre World Award
and been nominated for a Tony Award
for her stage work.
, the daughter of Dorothy Jean (née
Hemenway), a writer, and Carroll Van Ark, who was born in Holland, Michigan
, and worked in advertising
and public relations
. Her father named her after Joan of Arc
because he was certain that she would become famous. Van Ark's paternal great-grandfather, Gradus, was an immigrant from the Netherlands
. Both of Van Ark's parents and her sister, Carol, were writers. She grew up in Boulder, Colorado
, and also has two brothers and a sister: Mark, Dexter and Carol.
At the age of 15, as a student reporter, Van Ark met and interviewed actress Julie Harris
, who later recommended Van Ark apply to the Yale School of Drama
. Harris had been the youngest student to attend the school on scholarship. Van Ark was one of the few students to attend the graduate program without first having earned an undergraduate degree. She attended for only one year. Years later, Harris appeared on Knots Landing
, playing the mother of Van Ark's character.
in Molière
'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.
, she was then 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 Theatre World Award
and received a Tony
nomination in 1971 for her performance in The School for Wives
.
After receiving a contract with Universal Studios
, Van Ark co-starred with Bette Davis
in The Judge and Jake Wyler
, a 1972 television pilot
that failed to be picked up by NBC
. Van Ark was also a regular castmember of the shotlived television sitcoms Temperatures Rising
(1972-73) and We've Got Each Other (1977-78).
After working for several years in a variety of guest roles on television, she gained her best-known role as Valene Ewing (originally as a one-time guest appearance on Dallas) in 1978. However, writers later worked the character into a couple of additional episodes; she then carried the character over into the long-running spin-off Knots Landing in 1979. She remained with Knots Landing for thirteen of the show's fourteen seasons, leaving in 1992 (although she did return for the series' final episode in May 1993). In the storyline, Valene was married three times to husband Gary Ewing
(played in the series by Ted Shackelford
), and had two other marriages during the show's run. During her thirteen seasons on Knots Landing, Van Ark earned two Soap Opera Digest Awards
for Best Actress and was nominated a further six times. She also directed two episodes of the series. Van Ark and co-star Michele Lee
became good friends while working on the series, mirroring their characters' on-screen friendship. In May 1997, she reprised her role of Valene Ewing in the CBS
mini-series, Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac
, while in December 2005, she appeared in the non-fiction reunion Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again
in which she reminisced with the other cast members of the long running CBS television show.
After leaving Knots Landing, she starred in an ill-fated pilot called Spin Doctors, a sitcom for NBC that was not picked up. In addition, she originated the role of Gloria Fisher/Abbott
on CBS television's The Young and the Restless
from 2004–2005, then decided to leave the role and was replaced by Judith Chapman
.
Van Ark also appeared Off-Broadway
opposite John Rubenstein 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 The Night of the Iguana
, The Legend of Oedipus, and the festival's 40th anniversary production of Stephen Sondheim
's A Little Night Music
.
Van Ark has played a variety of guest roles in her career, including episodes of Bonanza
, M*A*S*H, The Six Million Dollar Man
, Petrocelli
, Quincy
, Kojak
, Barnaby Jones
, and Rhoda
(in which she played the ex-wife of Rhoda's husband). She appeared in three separate episodes of Medical Center
, Cannon
and The Rockford Files
, and four separate episodes of The Love Boat
. In 1978, she also appeared in an episode of Wonder Woman
with Ted Shackleford who would later become her onscreen husband Gary Ewing on both Dallas and Knots Landing. Van Ark also performed the voice of Spider-Woman
in the short-lived 1979 animated series of the same name
.
In April 2001, Van Ark was featured in an episode of the Howard Stern
-produced show Son of the Beach
as Ima Cummings, the mother of show regular BJ Cummings (played by Jaime Bergman
).
In 2008, Van Ark was reunited with her Knots Landing co-star Donna Mills
in an episode of the FX drama series Nip/Tuck
. The same year, she also played a network executive in the film Channels
.
Van Ark appeared at the TV Land
awards in April 2009 where Knots Landing was being honoured on its 30 year anniversary. Other Knots Landing actors that appeared with her include Kevin Dobson, Lisa Hartman Black, Michele Lee, Constance McCashin, Donna Mills, Don Murray, Michelle Phillips, and Ted Shackelford, along with Dallas and Knots Landing creator David Jacobs.
In 2011, Van Ark performed voice work in an episode of the animated comedy series Archer
.
(born October 19, 1969).
Valene Ewing
Valene "Val" Ewing is a fictional character in the American television series Dallas and, more prominently, its spin-off series Knots Landing. She was played by Joan Van Ark....
, which she originated on the CBS series Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
and continued for thirteen seasons on its spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
, Knots Landing
Knots Landing
Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...
. Van Ark has also received a Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
and been nominated for a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for her stage work.
Early life
Van Ark was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the daughter of Dorothy Jean (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Hemenway), a writer, and Carroll Van Ark, who was born in Holland, Michigan
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
, and worked in advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
and public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
. Her father named her after Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
because he was certain that she would become famous. Van Ark's paternal great-grandfather, Gradus, was an immigrant from the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Both of Van Ark's parents and her sister, Carol, were writers. She grew up in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, and also has two brothers and a sister: Mark, Dexter and Carol.
At the age of 15, as a student reporter, Van Ark met and interviewed actress Julie Harris
Julie Harris
Julia Ann "Julie" Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1994, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...
, who later recommended Van Ark apply to the Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
. Harris had been the youngest student to attend the school on scholarship. Van Ark was one of the few students to attend the graduate program without first having earned an undergraduate degree. She attended for only one year. Years later, Harris appeared on Knots Landing
Knots Landing
Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...
, playing the mother of Van Ark's character.
Career
Van Ark began her professional career at the Guthrie TheaterGuthrie Theater
The Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the result of the desire of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler to create a resident acting company that would produce and perform the classics in...
in Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's The Miser
The Miser
L'Avare is a 1668 five-act satirical comedy by French playwright Molière. Its title is usually translated as The Miser when the play is performed in English....
, opposite Hume Cronyn
Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn, OC was a Canadian actor of stage and screen, who enjoyed a long career, often appearing professionally alongside his second wife, Jessica Tandy.-Early life:...
and Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell, OBE is an Australian-born actress.-Early life:She was born as Ada Caldwell in Melbourne, Australia and was raised in the suburb of Balwyn in Yongala Street. Her father, Edgar, was a plumber and her mother, Zoe, was a taxi dancer. Caldwell's mother, Zoe, had a Peugeot of 1950 vintage...
. That was followed by Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949, the original production ran for a total of 742 performances.-Plot :Willy Loman...
at the Guthrie with both Cronyn and Jessica Tandy
Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice "Jessica" Tandy was an English-American stage and film actress.She first appeared on the London stage in 1926 at the age of 16, playing, among others, Katherine opposite Laurence Olivier's Henry V, and Cordelia opposite John Gielgud's King Lear. She also worked in British films...
. After a season at the Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, she was then cast in the national touring company of Barefoot in the Park
Barefoot in the Park
This article is about the Broadway production. For the film adaptation see Barefoot in the Park .Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened October 23, 1963, with the four lead roles taken by actors Elizabeth Ashley ,...
, directed by Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
. She recreated the role in the critically acclaimed London Company and later on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. She earned a Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
and received a Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination in 1971 for her performance in The School for Wives
The School for Wives
The School for Wives is a theatrical comedy written by the seventeenth century French playwright Molière and considered by some critics to be one of his finest achievements. It was first staged at the Palais Royal theatre on 26 December 1662 for the brother of the King...
.
After receiving a contract with Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, Van Ark co-starred with Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
in The Judge and Jake Wyler
The Judge and Jake Wyler
The Judge and Jake Wyler is an American television movie directed by David Lowell Rich. The teleplay was written by Richard Levinson, William Link, and David Shaw. It was produced by Universal Television and broadcast by NBC on December 2, 1972....
, a 1972 television pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
that failed to be picked up by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. Van Ark was also a regular castmember of the shotlived television sitcoms Temperatures Rising
Temperatures Rising
Temperatures Rising is an American television situation comedy that ran from September 12, 1972 to August 29, 1974 on the ABC network.The network had a good deal of faith in the low-rated series, which went through three cast changes, two different formats, and two time slots during its...
(1972-73) and We've Got Each Other (1977-78).
After working for several years in a variety of guest roles on television, she gained her best-known role as Valene Ewing (originally as a one-time guest appearance on Dallas) in 1978. However, writers later worked the character into a couple of additional episodes; she then carried the character over into the long-running spin-off Knots Landing in 1979. She remained with Knots Landing for thirteen of the show's fourteen seasons, leaving in 1992 (although she did return for the series' final episode in May 1993). In the storyline, Valene was married three times to husband Gary Ewing
Gary Ewing
Garrison Arthur Ewing was a character in the CBS television series Knots Landing and Dallas. The character of Gary Ewing was played most notably by Ted Shackelford and briefly played by David Ackroyd .-Dallas:...
(played in the series by Ted Shackelford
Ted Shackelford
Ted Shackelford is an American actor best known for his role as Gary Ewing on the CBS television series Knots Landing, in which he starred from 1979–93...
), and had two other marriages during the show's run. During her thirteen seasons on Knots Landing, Van Ark earned two Soap Opera Digest Awards
Soap Opera Digest Awards
The Soap Opera Digest Awards were an awards show held by the daytime television magazine Soap Opera Digest. The awards were founded in 1984 to replace the less-lavish Soapy Award; those awards shows had run since 1977. The Soap Opera Digest Awards are meant to promote excellence in the soap opera...
for Best Actress and was nominated a further six times. She also directed two episodes of the series. Van Ark and co-star Michele Lee
Michele Lee
Michele Lee is an American singer, dancer, actress, producer, director and frequent game show panelist of the 1970s. She is best-known for her role as Karen Cooper Fairgate MacKenzie on the 1980s prime-time soap opera, Knots Landing...
became good friends while working on the series, mirroring their characters' on-screen friendship. In May 1997, she reprised her role of Valene Ewing in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
mini-series, Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac
Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac
Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac was a miniseries that served as a reunion show for the primetime soap opera Knots Landing. It aired in two two-hour parts on May 7 and May 9, 1997....
, while in December 2005, she appeared in the non-fiction reunion Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again
Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again
Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again was a TV show Documentary directed by Michael Dempsey and released in 2005.-External Links:*...
in which she reminisced with the other cast members of the long running CBS television show.
After leaving Knots Landing, she starred in an ill-fated pilot called Spin Doctors, a sitcom for NBC that was not picked up. In addition, she originated the role of Gloria Fisher/Abbott
Gloria Bardwell
Gloria Bardwell is a fictional character, a resident of Genoa City on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless. The role was originated by Joan Van Ark who played the role from April 6, 2004 to January 7, 2005, and is currently portrayed by Judith Chapman, who assumed the role on January...
on CBS television's The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
from 2004–2005, then decided to leave the role and was replaced by Judith Chapman
Judith Chapman
Judith Chapman is an actress known to fans of American daytime television. She gave her screen debut at the age of 16 in the Spaghetti Western Sette donne per i MacGregor. She has appeared on half a dozen daytime dramas since the mid-1970s...
.
Van Ark also appeared Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
opposite John Rubenstein in Love Letters
Love Letters (play)
Love Letters is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominated play by A. R. Gurney. The play centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III...
. More recently, she co-starred in the New York production of Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
's Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning play Three Tall Women
Three Tall Women
Three Tall Women is a play by Edward Albee, which won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Albee's third.-Characters:* A: She is a very old woman in her 90s. She is thin, autocratic, proud, and wealthy. She also has a mild case of Alzheimer's disease. * B: B is A's 52 year-old version, to whom she...
. Her Los Angeles theater credits include Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
- playing Roxanne opposite Richard Chamberlain
Richard Chamberlain
George Richard Chamberlain is an American actor of stage and screen who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare .-Early life:...
's Cyrano - Ring Around the Moon with Michael York
Michael York (actor)
Michael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...
and Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
, Chemin de Fer
Chemin de Fer
Chemin de fer is the French term for railway. It may refer to:*Musée Français du Chemin de Fer, the French National Railway Museum* Baccarat Chemin de Fer, a variation of the card game, Baccarat.* one of several railway companies in Europe...
, Heartbreak House
Heartbreak House
Heartbreak House is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cultured, leisured Europe" was drifting toward destruction, and that "Those in a position to guide Europe to safety...
, and As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, 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
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
. Van Ark has also starred in the Williamstown Theater Festival productions of The Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana is a stageplay written by American author Tennessee Williams, based on his 1948 short story. The play premiered on Broadway in 1961. Two film adaptations have been made, including the Academy Award-winning 1964 film of the same name....
, The Legend of Oedipus, and the festival's 40th anniversary production of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
.
Van Ark has played a variety of guest roles in her career, including episodes of Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, M*A*S*H, The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
, Petrocelli
Petrocelli
Petrocelli is an American legal drama which ran for two seasons on NBC from September 11, 1974 to March 31, 1976.-Plot:Tony Petrocelli was an Italian-American Harvard-educated lawyer who grew up in South Boston and gave up the big money and frenetic pace of major-metropolitan life to practice in a...
, Quincy
Quincy, M.E.
Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC...
, Kojak
Kojak
Kojak is an American television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, bald New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak. It aired from October 24, 1973, to March 18, 1978, on CBS. It took the time slot of the popular Cannon series, which was moved one hour earlier...
, Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...
, and Rhoda
Rhoda
Rhoda is an American television sitcom, starring Valerie Harper, which ran for five seasons, from 1974 to 1978 airing in 109 episodes. The show was a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which Harper between the years 1970 and 1974 had played the role of Rhoda Morgenstern, a spunky,...
(in which she played the ex-wife of Rhoda's husband). She appeared in three separate episodes of Medical Center
Medical Center (TV series)
Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976.-Synopsis:The show starred James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Chad Everett as Dr. Joe Gannon, surgeons working in an otherwise unnamed university hospital in Los Angeles. The show focused both on the lives of the doctors...
, Cannon
Cannon (TV series)
Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976.The primary protagonist was the title character, Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad....
and The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
, and four separate episodes of The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
. In 1978, she also appeared in an episode of Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman (TV series)
Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....
with Ted Shackleford who would later become her onscreen husband Gary Ewing on both Dallas and Knots Landing. Van Ark also performed the voice of Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman is the codename of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:Marvel Comics' then-publisher Stan Lee, said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's debut in Marvel Spotlight #32 Spider-Woman is the codename of several fictional characters...
in the short-lived 1979 animated series of the same name
Spider-Woman (TV series)
Spider-Woman is an animated television series, based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Woman. The series was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Marvel Comics Animation, and aired on September 22, 1979 to January 3, 1980, one season of sixteen episodes, on the ABC-TV network...
.
In April 2001, Van Ark was featured in an episode of the Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
-produced show Son of the Beach
Son of the Beach
Son of the Beach is an American sitcom that aired from 2000 to 2002 on the FX network. The series was a spoof of Baywatch, with much of the comedy based on sexual jokes, innuendo and the like. The studly David Hasselhoff character is instead an average, pot-bellied, out-of-shape bald man but...
as Ima Cummings, the mother of show regular BJ Cummings (played by Jaime Bergman
Jaime Bergman
Jaime Bergman is an American model and actress who was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in January 1999, its 45th Anniversary issue. In addition to her magazine appearance she has appeared in several Playboy videos. Her centerfold was photographed by Stephen Wayda.-Career:Bergman was the St...
).
In 2008, Van Ark was reunited with her Knots Landing co-star Donna Mills
Donna Mills
Donna Mills is an American actress, most well known for her role as Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing Sumner on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing.-Early years:...
in an episode of the FX drama series Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
. The same year, she also played a network executive in the film Channels
Channels (2008 film)
Channels, released in 2008, is love story sometimes described as delving into thoughts of existentialism. The film was written, directed, produced and acted in by Nat Christian. The film stars Kim Oja, Nat Christian, Ed Asner, John Kassir, Joan Van Ark and Taylor Negron. Ann Marcus executive...
.
Van Ark appeared at the TV Land
TV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
awards in April 2009 where Knots Landing was being honoured on its 30 year anniversary. Other Knots Landing actors that appeared with her include Kevin Dobson, Lisa Hartman Black, Michele Lee, Constance McCashin, Donna Mills, Don Murray, Michelle Phillips, and Ted Shackelford, along with Dallas and Knots Landing creator David Jacobs.
In 2011, Van Ark performed voice work in an episode of the animated comedy series Archer
Archer (TV series)
Archer is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating....
.
Personal
Joan Van Ark has been married to husband John Marshall, a former reporter with KNBC-TV, since February 1, 1966. They have one child, voice actress/performer Vanessa MarshallVanessa Marshall
Vanessa Marshall is an American actress, voice actress and model. She is the daughter of actress Joan Van Ark. She got into voice-over work after being discovered at a one woman show.-Films:* Bagboy! - Mrs...
(born October 19, 1969).