Joan Van Ark

About Joan Van Ark

Joan Van Ark (born June 16, 1943) is an American actress, most notable for her role as Valene Ewing on the hit TV series Dallas and, most prominently, its long-running spin-off series Knots Landing.

Van Ark was born in New York City, 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 Van Ark's parents and her sister, Carol, were all writers. She grew up in Boulder, Colorado and also has a brother, Mark. Van Ark, just out of high school (1961), was the second youngest student to attend the Yale School of Drama on a scholarship[citation needed]. The youngest was Julie Harris[citation needed]. Years later, they would co-star as mother and daughter on the CBS television series Knots Landing.

Van Ark began her professional career at the Guthrie Theater 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., Joan was 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 Tony nomination for her performance in The School for Wives, and won the Theater World Award for The Rules of the Game.