Joanna Gleason
Encyclopedia
Joanna Gleason is a Canadian
actress and singer. She is a Tony Award
-winning musical theatre
actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles.
. At the time of her birth, her father was working at the Canadian Wheat Board and had changed his name from Halperin to Hall. He later started his TV career and went on to fame as host of Let's Make a Deal
. Monty Hall's brother, Robert Halperin, also changed his name to Hall.
In May 1956, the Hall family moved to New York and, in the early 1960s, they again moved to Los Angeles, California
. Gleason graduated from Beverly Hills High School
in 1968. While attending BHHS she was in the school's productions of The Music Man
, The Mikado
, The Grass Harp
, and The Madwoman of Chaillot
. In high school Gleason received acting instruction from John Ingle
, the soap-opera star, who taught at BHHS from 1955 to 1985. She continued her education at UCLA, then Occidental College
, from which she graduated. Gleason has been a teacher herself, holding classes and workshops all over the country.
debut in 1977 in I Love My Wife
, for which she was honored with a Theatre World Award
. Additional Broadway credits include Tom Stoppard
's The Real Thing
, Peter Nichols
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
, Nick & Nora
, Into the Woods
(for which she won several awards including a Tony Award
in the lead role of the Baker's Wife), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
, and The Cartells. In early 2002, she directed her first New York play.
Gleason's TV and film career also began in the late 1970s, first in the TV show Hello, Larry
. She next appeared as the host of a short lived cable talk show Personal Side in the early 1980s. This was followed by her first film roles in Hannah and Her Sisters
(a cameo) and Heartburn
(both 1986). Gleason would work again with Woody Allen
in Crimes and Misdemeanors
(1989) , this time playing the wife of Allen's character.
Gleason appeared in several films in the 1990s, including F/X2
, Mr. Holland's Opus
, Boogie Nights
, and Road Ends. More recently Gleason has appeared in The Pleasure of Your Company, Wild Blue Yonder, Fathers and Sons
, and The Wedding Planner
. On television, she played the role of Nadine Berkus on the show Love & War from 1992–95. In addition to acting, Gleason directed several episodes of this show. She also played the role of Joan Silver on the short lived series Temporarily Yours
in 1997. Gleason starred in the Lifetime series Oh Baby
as Charlotte from 1998–2000 also directing episodes of this show. Shortly following this show, she starred opposite Bette Midler
and Lindsay Lohan
on the show Bette as agent Connie Randolph. Gleason also appeared in several made-for-TV movies, including If These Walls Could Talk
, For the Love of Aaron, Born Too Soon, and For Richer, for Poorer. She also played the Baker's Wife in the PBS Great Performances broadcast of Into the Woods
. Gleason's numerous guest starring TV credits include episodes of The West Wing, The Practice
, King of the Hill
, Friends
, Tracey Takes On...
, Murphy Brown
, ER
, and Diff'rent Strokes
.
In 2007, Gleason was honored by the New England Theatre Conference with a Special Award for her Achievement in Theatre.
since 1994. The two met while performing in Broadway's 1991 short-lived musical Nick & Nora
. They returned to the stage together in 1998's Thorn and Bloom and have also collaborated on several films, including Road Ends, Edie and Pen, Let the Devil Wear Black
, and American Perfekt
.
Gleason was twice married previously. She was married to acting coach Paul G. Gleason, whose last name she kept as her professional surname. Later she married Michael Bennahum. Gleason and Chris Sarandon have four children between them: Aaron David Gleason, from her first marriage, and Stephanie, Alexis, and Michael Sarandon, from Sarandon's second marriage.
Gleason's siblings are television writer/director, Sharon Hall Kessler, and Emmy-award winning television writer/director, Richard Hall.
Nominations
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
actress and singer. She is 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...
-winning musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles.
Early life
Gleason was born in Toronto, Ontario as the daughter of Marilyn (née Plottel), a producer, writer, and actress; and television personality Monty HallMonty Hall
Monte Halperin, OC, OM , better known by the stage name Monty Hall, is a Canadian-born MC, producer, actor, singer and sportscaster, best known as host of the television game show Let's Make a Deal.-Early life:...
. At the time of her birth, her father was working at the Canadian Wheat Board and had changed his name from Halperin to Hall. He later started his TV career and went on to fame as host of Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being...
. Monty Hall's brother, Robert Halperin, also changed his name to Hall.
In May 1956, the Hall family moved to New York and, in the early 1960s, they again moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Gleason graduated from Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. Beverly is part of the Beverly Hills Unified School District and located on on the west side of Beverly Hills, at the...
in 1968. While attending BHHS she was in the school's productions of The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
, The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
, The Grass Harp
The Grass Harp
The Grass Harp is a novel by Truman Capote published on October 1, 1951 It tells the story of an orphaned boy and two elderly ladies who observe life from a tree...
, and The Madwoman of Chaillot
The Madwoman of Chaillot
The Madwoman of Chaillot is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play has two acts and follows the convention of the classical unities...
. In high school Gleason received acting instruction from John Ingle
John Ingle
John Ingle is an American actor known for his role as scheming patriarch Edward Quartermaine on the ABC daytime drama, General Hospital.-Career:...
, the soap-opera star, who taught at BHHS from 1955 to 1985. She continued her education at UCLA, then Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
, from which she graduated. Gleason has been a teacher herself, holding classes and workshops all over the country.
Career
Although Gleason has had an active film and TV career, she is probably best known for her stage work. Gleason made her BroadwayBroadway 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...
debut in 1977 in I Love My Wife
I Love My Wife
I Love My Wife is a musical with a book and lyrics by Michael Stewart and music by Cy Coleman, based on a play by Luis Rego.A satire of the sexual revolution of the 1970s, the musical takes place on Christmas Eve in suburban Trenton, New Jersey, where two married couples who have been close friends...
, for which she was honored with 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:...
. Additional Broadway credits include Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's The Real Thing
The Real Thing (play)
The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard, first performed in 1982. It examines the nature of honesty, and its use of a play within a play is one of many levels on which the author teases the audience with the difference between semblance and reality....
, Peter Nichols
Peter Nichols
Peter Nichols FRSL is an English writer of stage plays, film and television.Born in Bristol, England, he was educated at Bristol Grammar School, and served his compulsory National Service as a clerk in Calcutta and later in the Combined Services Entertainments Unit in Singapore where he...
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg is a 1967 play by English playwright Peter Nichols, first staged at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland before transferring to London's West End theatres in 1968.-Plot summary:Characters* Bri* Grace* Joe* Freddie...
, Nick & Nora
Nick & Nora
Nick & Nora is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., and music by Charles Strouse.The plot involves witty and urbane high society couple Nick and Nora Charles, characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel The Thin Man, which inspired six films, a radio...
, Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
(for which she won several awards including a Tony Award
Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical is the Tony Awards award given to the actress who was voted as the best leading actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival...
in the lead role of the Baker's Wife), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (musical)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane; it is based on the film of the same name...
, and The Cartells. In early 2002, she directed her first New York play.
Gleason's TV and film career also began in the late 1970s, first in the TV show Hello, Larry
Hello, Larry
Hello, Larry is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from January 26, 1979, to April 30, 1980.-First season:Larry Alder is a radio talk show host who left Los Angeles after being divorced and moved to Portland, Oregon, with his two teenage daughters, Diane and...
. She next appeared as the host of a short lived cable talk show Personal Side in the early 1980s. This was followed by her first film roles in Hannah and Her Sisters
Hannah and Her Sisters
Hannah and Her Sisters is a 1986 American comedy-drama film which tells the intertwined stories of an extended family over two years that begin and end with a family Thanksgiving dinner...
(a cameo) and Heartburn
Heartburn (film)
Heartburn is a 1986 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron is based on her semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, which was inspired by her tempestuous second marriage to Carl Bernstein and his affair with Margaret Jay. Rachel is a food writer at a New...
(both 1986). Gleason would work again with Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
in Crimes and Misdemeanors
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Crimes and Misdemeanors is a 1989 black comedy written, directed by and co-starring Woody Allen, alongside Martin Landau, Mia Farrow, Anjelica Huston, Jerry Orbach, Alan Alda, Sam Waterston and Joanna Gleason....
(1989) , this time playing the wife of Allen's character.
Gleason appeared in several films in the 1990s, including F/X2
F/X2
F/X2 is a 1991 American action thriller film directed by Richard Franklin and starring Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy. It is a sequel to the 1986 film F/X.-Plot:...
, Mr. Holland's Opus
Mr. Holland's Opus
Mr. Holland's Opus is a 1995 American drama film directed by Stephen Herek, produced by Ted Field, Robert W. Cort, and Michael Nolin, and Executive Produced by Patrick Sheane Duncan. It stars Richard Dreyfuss in the title role, and the cast includes Glenne Headly, Olympia Dukakis, William H. Macy...
, Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
, and Road Ends. More recently Gleason has appeared in The Pleasure of Your Company, Wild Blue Yonder, Fathers and Sons
Fathers and Sons
Fathers and Sons is an 1862 novel by Ivan Turgenev, his best known work. The title of this work in Russian is Отцы и дети , which literally means "Fathers and Children"; the work is often translated to Fathers and Sons in English for reasons of euphony.- Historical context and notes :The fathers...
, and The Wedding Planner
The Wedding Planner
The Wedding Planner is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Adam Shankman, written by Michael Ellis and Pamela Falk, and starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.-Plot:...
. On television, she played the role of Nadine Berkus on the show Love & War from 1992–95. In addition to acting, Gleason directed several episodes of this show. She also played the role of Joan Silver on the short lived series Temporarily Yours
Temporarily Yours
Temporarily Yours was an American sitcom that ran for six episodes in 1997.-Plot:Deb DeAngelo , a young woman is desperate for a luxurious, cheaply priced New York City apartment. She lies to the landlady about having a job with a temp agency and then hurries to the agency to beg for work before...
in 1997. Gleason starred in the Lifetime series Oh Baby
Oh Baby
Oh Baby is an American situation comedy series that ran on Lifetime from August 26, 1998 to March 4, 2000. It also ran from 1999 to 2003 on Canada's W Network...
as Charlotte from 1998–2000 also directing episodes of this show. Shortly following this show, she starred opposite Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
and Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
on the show Bette as agent Connie Randolph. Gleason also appeared in several made-for-TV movies, including If These Walls Could Talk
If These Walls Could Talk
If These Walls Could Talk is a 1996 made for television movie, broadcast on HBO. It follows the plights of three different women and their experiences with abortion. Each of the three stories takes place in the same house, 22 years each: 1952, 1974, and 1996. All three segments were co-written by...
, For the Love of Aaron, Born Too Soon, and For Richer, for Poorer. She also played the Baker's Wife in the PBS Great Performances broadcast of Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
. Gleason's numerous guest starring TV credits include episodes of The West Wing, The Practice
The Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
, King of the Hill
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
, Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Tracey Takes On...
Tracey Takes On...
Tracey Takes On... is an HBO sketch comedy series created by British-American comedienne Tracey Ullman.In 1993, Ullman returned to television after her hit Fox comedy series, The Tracey Ullman Show, was canceled, with two comedy specials for HBO. Tracey Ullman Takes On New York, and Tracey Ullman:...
, Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...
, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, and Diff'rent Strokes
Diff'rent Strokes
Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...
.
In 2007, Gleason was honored by the New England Theatre Conference with a Special Award for her Achievement in Theatre.
Personal life
Gleason has been married to actor Chris SarandonChris Sarandon
Chris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...
since 1994. The two met while performing in Broadway's 1991 short-lived musical Nick & Nora
Nick & Nora
Nick & Nora is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., and music by Charles Strouse.The plot involves witty and urbane high society couple Nick and Nora Charles, characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel The Thin Man, which inspired six films, a radio...
. They returned to the stage together in 1998's Thorn and Bloom and have also collaborated on several films, including Road Ends, Edie and Pen, Let the Devil Wear Black
Let the Devil Wear Black
Let the Devil Wear Black is a 1999 film directed by Stacy Title, co-written by Title and her husband, actor Jonathan Penner. The film is a modern retelling of the classic play Hamlet.-Background:...
, and American Perfekt
American Perfekt
American Perfekt is a 1997 road movie/thriller/drama film written and directed by Paul Chart, produced by Irvin Kershner. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
.
Gleason was twice married previously. She was married to acting coach Paul G. Gleason, whose last name she kept as her professional surname. Later she married Michael Bennahum. Gleason and Chris Sarandon have four children between them: Aaron David Gleason, from her first marriage, and Stephanie, Alexis, and Michael Sarandon, from Sarandon's second marriage.
Gleason's siblings are television writer/director, Sharon Hall Kessler, and Emmy-award winning television writer/director, Richard Hall.
Awards and nominations
Awards- 1977 Theatre World Award – I Love My Wife
- 1986 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play – It's Only a Play
- 1986 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play – Social Security
- 1988 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – Into the Woods
- 1988 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical – Into the Woods
Nominations
- 1985 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play – Joe Egg
- 1985 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – Joe Egg
- 2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
- 2005 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
External links
- Joanna Gleason – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.orgAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
- TonyAwards.com Interview with Joanna Gleason
- BroadwayWorld: Holtzman's 'Something You Did' Premieres Off-Bway with Gleason
- Fan website