Joan Geraldine Bennett was born on February 27, 1910 in Palisades, New Jersey. Her parents were both involved in the theater as actors. The parents, especially her father, Richard, were very successful in their craft, often touring the country for weeks at a time. In fact, Joan came from a long lineage of actors, dating back to the eighteenth century. Often, when her parents were on tour, Joan and her two older sisters, Constance, who later became an actress herself, and Barbara, were left in the care of close friends.
At the age of four, Joan made her first stage appearance. Joan's first film was one year later in a production called THE VALLEY OF DECISION, in which her father was the star and the entire Bennett participated. In 1923, Joan, again, appeared in a film which starred her father. She played a page boy in THE ETERNAL CITY. It would be five more years before Joan appeared on the silver screen.
In between, she married Jack Marion Fox, who was 26 compared to her young age of 16. The union was anything but happy with Fox drinking heavily. In February, 1928, Joan and Jack had a baby girl which they named Adrienne. The new arrival did little to help the marriage. In the summer of 1928, they divorced.
Now with a baby to support, Joan did something she had no intention of doing--she turned to acting. She appeared in POWER (1928) with Alan Hale and Carole Lombard. Although it was a very small role, it was a start. In 1929, she starred in BULLDOG DRUMMOND, sharing top billing with Ronald Colman. Before the year was out, she was in three more films, DISRAELI, MISSISSIPPI GAMBLER, and THREE LIVE GHOSTS. Not only did the theater patrons like her, so did the critics.
Between 1930 and 1931, Joan appeared in nine more movies. In 1932, Joan starred opposite Spencer Tracy in SHE WANTED A MILLIONAIRE. The film wasn't one that Joan liked to remember and, also, was one in which Tracy couldn't stand the fact that everyone was paying more attention to her and not to him.
Joan was to remain busy and popular throughout the remainder of the 1930's and into the 1940's.
By the 1950's, Joan was well into her forties and began to slow down her filming. She made only eight motion pictures plus was in two television series.
After DESIRE IN THE DUST in 1960, Joan would be absent from the movie scene for the next ten years, resurfacing in HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, reprising her role from the Dark Shadows TV series, as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. Joan's final screen appearance was in 1977's SUSPIRIA. Her final public performance was in television's, Divorce Wars: A Love Story in 1982.
On December 7, 1990, Joan died of a heart
attack in Scarsdale, New York. She was 80 years old.
You'll find some nice Joan Bennett images here!
Joan Pic 1
Joan Pic 2
Joan Pic 3
Joan Pic 4
Joan Pic 5
Joan Pic 6
Click here to go to Doris Day
Check out the webrings at the end of the main page.
© 1999 Denny C. Jackson dejackso@iglou.com
Get your own Free Home Page
