The Dallas spinoff series Knots Landing, but most notably Valene Ewing, is where Joan Van Ark first gained notoriety. The actress, who briefly reprised her role in 2012, is now happily married to the man she first fell in love with in high school, and they have a daughter together.
Van Ark is 78 years old, but he’s still going strong. This tells you everything you need to know about Joan Van Ark’s life and her assertion that she is solely to blame for Knots Landing’s demise.
The first of Dorothy Jean Van Ark and Carroll Van Ark’s four children, Joan Van Ark was born on June 16, 1943, in New York City, New York. When she was 7 years old, she and her family moved to Boulder, Colorado, and the change of scenery was very beneficial to her later in life.
Early life and professional life of Joan Van Ark.
Van Ark always knew she wanted to be an actress, despite the fact that her parents, a writer and a public relations professional, never worked in the film industry.
The quarterback of her high school football team not inviting her to prom, according to Joan, was the catalyst for her decision to pursue a career in show business, she told We Love Soaps.
“In Boulder, that really took off. I went to the Community Playhouse to try out for a play. Joan Van Ark recalled, “I said, ‘Screw boys,’ and went and auditioned for a play after the quarterback on the football team didn’t ask me to the prom.
“I was given the flower girl and the bug bit instead of the part for which I had an audition. You could have heard a pin drop when I performed my monologue during the audition. My response to their compliments was, “Who needs guys?”.
Julie Harris, an actress, convinced Van Ark to enroll in the Yale Drama School when they met while performing together in Denver and conducting an interview with her for a neighborhood newspaper.
Van Ark was the second woman to enroll in the prestigious school and the youngest student to ever receive a scholarship as a result. Julie Harris was the first female, assisting Van Ark with entrance into the school.
She requested a meeting with me in a letter to the dean. The long and the short of it is that my parents drove me to New Haven, Connecticut, to meet the dean, who gave me a scholarship. It was destined to happen. “.
Valene Ewing appeared in the television shows Dallas and Knots Landing.
Van Ark made her stage debut at the Minneapolis Guthrie Theater, where she played the title role in Molière’s The Miser. After working for about a year at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC, she relocated to work with the national touring company Barefoot in the Park in 1963, which resulted in her Broadway debut. She starred in The School for Wives and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 1971.
Joan Van Ark had started working in front of a screen instead of on stage at that point. She made guest appearances on a number of TV shows, including Temperature’s Rising, Spider-Woman, Days of Our Lives, and even one episode of Bonanza.
Even though Joan Van Ark had plenty of work, as the 1980s drew near, she was still looking for her significant breakthrough role. She made several appearances on Dallas as Valene Ewing in 1978, which helped her land the part of a lifetime.
In 1979, Joan Van Ark returned to play Valene Ewing in the Dallas spinoff Knots Landing. She played alongside Ted Schakleford as Gary and Michele Lee as Karen in 327 episodes and rose to fame.
It was brought to CBS years prior to becoming a Dallas spinoff, despite being about the corrupt but affluent Ewing Clan.
Dallas was selected as the “big rich family” show the network wanted, though. But after the studio realized how big of a show Dallas had become, Knots Landing shot to fame and, after just one season, entered the top 20 of TV ratings.
How Joan Van Ark nearly lost her biggest role.
The story of Gary Ewing and his wife Valene, who were portrayed by Van Ark, and how they chose to begin a new life in Knots Landing, became the focus of Knots Landing.
Van Ark, however, almost missed the opportunity to cast Valene Ewing. She explained that she had a “three-way clash” where she shot The Love Boat and a commercial in New York at the same time.
In the end, it was her husband John Marshall—on whom we will return in a moment—who convinced her to pick Dallas. And it was a significant and important choice.
She explained to her husband, “John, why should I even read this script? I can’t be in three places at once,” when she received the call asking her to make a guest appearance in the highly publicized show Dallas. “After reading it, he responded, “No, you must do it. It appears fantastic. ‘”.
“In essence, he persuaded me to agree to a schedule that had me in LA for one day, then flying to Dallas for two days, then spending two days in New York before returning to Texas. But looking at this old cast photo from Knots Landing, the Dallas spinoff, I’m so glad I listened to him,” she continued.
For Van Ark, who came to identify with her role, Dallas and Knots Landing became a 15-year commitment. She and Julie Harris, who were previously mentioned, had a long friendship; in 1980, they crossed paths once more.
“I could stay on the show in safety for all time.”.
For the actress, having Harris play the mother of Van Arks’ character in Knots Landing was almost too good to be true.
During a 1984 interview with Florida Today, she recalled, “I held my breath when the producers told me they had finally last someone to play my mother.
“I wondered, ‘Oh my God, are they going to say Phyllis Diller or Zsa Zsa Gabor or who?’ When they announced Julie Harris, I nearly fell out of my chair with joy. I was astonished that they chose her to be my mother. We were friends, but they had no idea. “.
327 episodes and 13 seasons later, Joan Van Ark was still a regular. One season later, in 1993, Knots Landing was abruptly canceled. Joan didn’t leave, however, because she didn’t enjoy it. Her taking on new challenges was the main focus instead.
Van Ark told the Los Angeles Times in 1992, “I could stay forever on the show and be safe.
But I performed Night of the Iguana in Williamstown, Massachusetts, three years ago. ), and I had a passage from a success essay by Tennessee Williams taped to my mirror. It said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Security is in the shape of a kidney-shaped pool in Los Angeles, where you sit waiting for your residual checks.”. I was sitting comfortably on Knots, and an artist shouldn’t be at ease. “.
At the same time, Van Ark’s life started to revolve heavily around the television show. She felt at ease leaving, but it still came as a shock because she had anticipated it being simpler.
blamed herself for the cancellation of “Knots Landing”.
The 13 years she spent working on that show, she said, “I have loved more than life.”. “[Knots Landing creator] David Jacobs has had a significant impact on my life and taught me a great deal about a variety of topics. For me personally, Ted [Shackelford] occupies a significant portion of my heart and is the other half of every breath I take on the show. The people there are members of my family; we have experienced the same marriages, deaths, and divorces. I didn’t realize how much harder it would be to leave. “.
Without the fantastic chemistry between characters Valen and Gary, the show didn’t quite work. In fact, Joan accepted responsibility for the cancellation of the show.
Obviously, I’m to blame. I ran over to NBC to work on a pilot that didn’t sell,” she claimed. “After spending fourteen years with the same woman, I was so ready to move on. I went to the pilot audition, and I got the part. It wasn’t negotiated as clearly as it ought to have been. I was asked back after the pilot didn’t do well, and I agreed to do the show’s four-hour finale. “.
Joan Van Ark left the soap opera industry but continued to appear in numerous television shows. She appeared in a few television movies and had small roles in several television series, such as Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The Young and the Restless, a hugely popular television drama, featured Joan as Gloria Fisher in 55 episodes between 2004 and 2005.
Joan Van Ark has a husband, a wife, and kids.
Hollywood celebrities frequently wed other Hollywood celebrities, and show business unions don’t always last for very long.
Joan Van Ark, who met her life partner in high school, was an exception to this rule. While they were both students in Boulder, she met her husband, John Marshall. On a German military installation in 1966, the couple got hitched.
Trust me when I say it wasn’t anything like the marriages [Valene Ewing] has experienced, she told UPI.
Vanessa Marshall, who also made entertainment her career choice, was born to them in 1969. She actually gave up her career as an on-camera actor after becoming a successful voice-over performer. Instead, Vanessa Marshall has contributed her voice to a number of video games, television shows, and animated films.
As a result of his work for NBC and KNBC-TV, John Marshall went on to win an Emmy. Along with his wife Joan, he has enjoyed a successful career. Vanessa was growing up as the couple worked hard to succeed in their respective fields.
Being a new mother and attempting to run her business was challenging for Van Ark. She also acknowledges that her husband John did a good job of maintaining the family unit throughout those trying times.
Van Ark told The Leader-Post in 1988, “He is the reason we have the most wonderful daughter in the world and that the marriage has stayed strong.”. “I consider myself to be the committed person who can’t sacrifice time for this or that. “.
She continued, “He didn’t want to miss me and he didn’t want to miss watching Venessa grow up.”.
“He is aware that journalists frequently travel light.
Since I would have packed my bags and been waiting at the airport if it had been me, John made career decisions I disagreed with. “.
Net worth of Joan Van Ark.
Joan Van Ark is an actor who also enjoys running. The 78-year-old, who has completed several marathons, explained that she runs instead of seeing a psychologist. She asserted, however, that she would never go for a run with her husband.
Because “it’s the quickest way to a divorce that I know of,”. You constantly criticize how other people dress, Joan said.
Joan Van Ark has continued to work on stage in numerous theater productions over the past ten years in addition to starring in films and television shows like Psycho Wedding Crasher and Watercolor Postcards. But her magnificent influence over Dallas and Knots Landing will always be remembered as her greatest achievement.
Joan Van Ark’s net worth is reportedly $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Comment below with your thoughts on Joan Van Ark’s performances in Dallas and Knots Landing.
