Joan Van Ark, an actress famous for her part as Valene Ewing on the iconic 1980s TV show Dallas, became well-known. Her role in the spinoff Knots Landing really made her a household name. Now at 80 years old, Van Ark is still living and happily married to her high school sweetheart, with whom she has one daughter.
In a later interview, Van Ark took some blame for Knots Landing’s eventual end. She said that even though she appeared in just one episode during the show’s 2012 revival, her biggest successes happened during its original airing.
Van Ark’s family moved to Boulder, Colorado when she was young and this change had a big impact on her future career.
From early on, Van Ark wanted to be an actress. Her determination grew stronger after not being asked to the high school prom by the quarterback of the football team. Even though her parents didn’t know much about acting or movies themselves they supported her dreams and helped guide her along the way. Over more than 50 years in showbiz, Van Ark has had a successful acting career across both film and television.
Her acting journey started when she got cast as a flower girl in a play after missing out on another part. She loved it so much that she decided to take acting seriously! Soon enough it became super important in her life.
After performing in Denver, Van Ark met famous actress Julie Harris who pushed her to keep studying acting more seriously. She was only the second woman ever admitted into Yale Theatre School and also its youngest scholarship recipient!
Looking back at those early times, Van Ark recalled: “My parents took me to meet with the dean in New Haven after I wrote him a letter! He offered me a scholarship which felt like fate.”
Van Ark made her first appearance on stage back in 1963 playing The Miser at Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater. After spending time at Arena Stage in Washington D.C., she headed south with Barefoot in the Park’s national tour group! In 1971 she made it onto Broadway earning herself a Tony Award nomination for The School for Wives performance; plus she’s popped up on popular shows like Temperature’s Rising and Days of Our Lives too!
As we entered into the ’80s Joan was still looking for that big break! In ’78 many guest spots as Valene Ewing led directly into getting casted onto Knots Landing.
