Joan Hackett(1934-1983)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Joan Hackett was never one of your conventional leading ladies.
Directors sometimes found her difficult to work with. Yet this
strong-minded perfectionist had an unquenchable individuality that came
through in her performances, and she never hesitated to appear unglamorous
whenever the role demanded. Born of an Italian mother and an
Irish-American father in East Harlem on March 1, 1934, teenage Joan left
school during twelfth grade to become a model. On the cover of Harper's
Junior Bazaar in 1952, the attractive brunette turned down the
resulting offer of a contract with 20th Century-Fox and opted instead
for acting classes at Lee Strasberg's
Actors Studio.
Joan made her Broadway debut in the
John Gielgud production of "Much Ado About
Nothing" in 1959 and also appeared in her first television episode that
year. In 1961, she had her first success in an off-Broadway play, "Call
Me By My Rightful Name", winning three awards, including an Obie. A
later stage performance, "Night Watch" (1972), based on a play by
Lucille Fletcher, saw her playing an
emotionally disturbed woman with such intensity that
Clive Barnes of The New York Times
described her performance as "beautifully judged". From 1961 to 1962,
Joan had regular work in the CBS courtroom drama series
The Defenders (1961) (starring
E.G. Marshall), playing social worker
"Joan Miller", fiance of one of the partners in the law firm. During
the remainder of the decade, she guest-starred in many top-rated TV
shows, from
The Twilight Zone (1959) to
Bonanza (1959) and
Ben Casey (1961) (an Emmy-nominated
performance). She also played the second "Mrs. de Winter" in a
television version of
Daphne Du Maurier's classic "Rebecca".
Joan's off-beat personality likely limited her career in films. She was
first featured as one of eight Vassar graduates making up
The Group (1966), a 150-minute
Sidney Lumet-directed part-satire,
part-soap-opera film examining the lives and loves of the protagonists over
the years. Her next motion pictures allowed Joan considerably more
screen time: She co-starred with
Charlton Heston in the moody,
idiosyncratic western
Will Penny (1967). She gave a
decidedly understated, subtle performance as the down-to-earth frontier
woman who befriends the hero, shares in his ordeals, and then is left by
him when he realizes that there is no future in their relationship. In
stark contrast was her role in the western comedy
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969).
She was very much in her element as feisty, accident-prone mayor's
daughter "Prudy Perkins". In this film, she displayed a talent for
visual comedy reminiscent of
Lucille Ball, but otherwise rarely
seen since silent films. There was also great chemistry and clever
verbal interaction between her and co-star
James Garner, as the newly appointed
sheriff who catches her character in various embarrassing situations.
She was also featured in the spy film
Assignment to Kill (1968),
followed by the predictable "Baby Jane" look-alike TV thriller
How Awful About Allan (1970).
Joan then gave assured performances in two subsequent thrillers, the
stylish
The Last of Sheila (1973) and
the made-for-TV disguised remake of
Diabolique (1955),
Reflections of Murder (1974)
with Sam Waterston. Joan gave a spectacular performance in the Michael Crichton book adaption of The Terminal Man (1974) where she plays a compassionate psychiatrist who is tormented by her patient. There were to be few
roles of interest until
Only When I Laugh (1981). The
film, based on Neil Simon's play "The
Gingerbread Lady", won Joan a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award
nomination as Best Supporting Actress. By that time, she was already so
ill with cancer that she had to travel to the award ceremony in a
wheelchair.
Joan Hackett was well known as a social activist, embracing solar
energy and losing causes such as the preservation of the old Morosco
Theatre in Times Square with equal fervor. According to personal
friends, she accepted her fate with equanimity and dignity, dying at
the age of just 49 in a hospital in Encino, California, in October
1983.
Directors sometimes found her difficult to work with. Yet this
strong-minded perfectionist had an unquenchable individuality that came
through in her performances, and she never hesitated to appear unglamorous
whenever the role demanded. Born of an Italian mother and an
Irish-American father in East Harlem on March 1, 1934, teenage Joan left
school during twelfth grade to become a model. On the cover of Harper's
Junior Bazaar in 1952, the attractive brunette turned down the
resulting offer of a contract with 20th Century-Fox and opted instead
for acting classes at Lee Strasberg's
Actors Studio.
Joan made her Broadway debut in the
John Gielgud production of "Much Ado About
Nothing" in 1959 and also appeared in her first television episode that
year. In 1961, she had her first success in an off-Broadway play, "Call
Me By My Rightful Name", winning three awards, including an Obie. A
later stage performance, "Night Watch" (1972), based on a play by
Lucille Fletcher, saw her playing an
emotionally disturbed woman with such intensity that
Clive Barnes of The New York Times
described her performance as "beautifully judged". From 1961 to 1962,
Joan had regular work in the CBS courtroom drama series
The Defenders (1961) (starring
E.G. Marshall), playing social worker
"Joan Miller", fiance of one of the partners in the law firm. During
the remainder of the decade, she guest-starred in many top-rated TV
shows, from
The Twilight Zone (1959) to
Bonanza (1959) and
Ben Casey (1961) (an Emmy-nominated
performance). She also played the second "Mrs. de Winter" in a
television version of
Daphne Du Maurier's classic "Rebecca".
Joan's off-beat personality likely limited her career in films. She was
first featured as one of eight Vassar graduates making up
The Group (1966), a 150-minute
Sidney Lumet-directed part-satire,
part-soap-opera film examining the lives and loves of the protagonists over
the years. Her next motion pictures allowed Joan considerably more
screen time: She co-starred with
Charlton Heston in the moody,
idiosyncratic western
Will Penny (1967). She gave a
decidedly understated, subtle performance as the down-to-earth frontier
woman who befriends the hero, shares in his ordeals, and then is left by
him when he realizes that there is no future in their relationship. In
stark contrast was her role in the western comedy
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969).
She was very much in her element as feisty, accident-prone mayor's
daughter "Prudy Perkins". In this film, she displayed a talent for
visual comedy reminiscent of
Lucille Ball, but otherwise rarely
seen since silent films. There was also great chemistry and clever
verbal interaction between her and co-star
James Garner, as the newly appointed
sheriff who catches her character in various embarrassing situations.
She was also featured in the spy film
Assignment to Kill (1968),
followed by the predictable "Baby Jane" look-alike TV thriller
How Awful About Allan (1970).
Joan then gave assured performances in two subsequent thrillers, the
stylish
The Last of Sheila (1973) and
the made-for-TV disguised remake of
Diabolique (1955),
Reflections of Murder (1974)
with Sam Waterston. Joan gave a spectacular performance in the Michael Crichton book adaption of The Terminal Man (1974) where she plays a compassionate psychiatrist who is tormented by her patient. There were to be few
roles of interest until
Only When I Laugh (1981). The
film, based on Neil Simon's play "The
Gingerbread Lady", won Joan a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award
nomination as Best Supporting Actress. By that time, she was already so
ill with cancer that she had to travel to the award ceremony in a
wheelchair.
Joan Hackett was well known as a social activist, embracing solar
energy and losing causes such as the preservation of the old Morosco
Theatre in Times Square with equal fervor. According to personal
friends, she accepted her fate with equanimity and dignity, dying at
the age of just 49 in a hospital in Encino, California, in October
1983.