Joyce DeWitt | |
|---|---|
 DeWitt at theNew York Comic Con in Manhattan, October 10, 2010 | |
| Born | (1949-04-23)April 23, 1949 (age 76) Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Education | Speedway Senior High School |
| Alma mater | Ball State University (BA) University of California, Los Angeles (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1962–1984, 1991–present |
| Known for | Three's Company |
Joyce DeWitt (born April 23, 1949) is an American actress best known for playing Janet Wood on theABC sitcomThree's Company from 1977 to 1984.
Joyce DeWitt was born on April 23, 1949, inWheeling, West Virginia, and grew up inSpeedway, Indiana, a suburb ofIndianapolis. She is the second of four children born to Norma (née Branch) DeWitt (1926–2013) and Paul DeWitt (1925–2016).[1] She is of Italian descent from her mother, while her father was of Swedish and Dutch descent.[2][3] DeWitt began appearing on stage at the age of 13. She competed in speech and debate through the Indiana High School Forensic Association. She graduated fromSpeedway Senior High School, and once worked at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ticket office.[4]
She earned herbachelor's degree in theater fromBall State University. Subsequently, while she was performing insummer stock, the director convinced her to enroll inUCLA's Department of TheaterMFA program,[5] where she was awarded the Master of Fine Arts Fellowship as well as theClifton Webb Scholarship.[6] She graduated in 1974.[1][7]
While attending UCLA, she worked as a secretary until her television debut on an episode ofBaretta.[1] Contrary to rumors that she was mentored by actorAbe Vigoda, Dewitt has said that the two never met.[8]
DeWitt is best known for her role asJanet Wood during the 1977–1984 run of thesitcomThree's Company, a job she obtained after being cast in the show's second pilot.[5] She also played Janet in a 1979 episode of the spinoff seriesThe Ropers. DeWitt would also make several appearances on TV game shows, includingTattletales, which also featured her then-boyfriend, actor Ray Buktenica, as well asPyramid. In 1978, she also appeared with her Three's Company co-stars (Ritter, Norman Fell, Audra Lindley, and Richard Kline) on a special celebrity edition ofFamily Feud (hosted byRichard Dawson) where they competed against the cast of the TV showsSoap andThe Love Boat. In 2004, she appeared as a celebrity panelist on one of the last episodes of the syndicated version ofHollywood Squares (hosted by Tom Bergeron).
AfterThree's Company ended in 1984, DeWitt appeared in an episode ofFinder of Lost Loves in 1984, after which she quit acting for several years. She resumed acting with a part in a production ofNoises Off at Michigan's Cherry County Playhouse in June 1991.[1] She later appeared in the 1995 TV comedy filmSpring Fling! A character based on her, voiced by another actress, appeared in a 1997 episode ofPinky and the Brain. She made an appearance in an episode ofCybill, and had a cameo on the penultimate episode ofLiving Single.[5] Her 2000s works includes TV shows such asHope Island,The Nick at Nite Holiday Special andCall of the Wild.
DeWitt co-produced and hosted the 2003NBC-TV television filmBehind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company. In the film, DeWitt is portrayed byMelanie Paxson.
In 2008, she appeared in theindie filmFailing Better Now. In 2009, DeWitt starred in a stage production ofMarried Alive inCalgary, Alberta, Canada.[9]
In June 2011, DeWitt succeededEve Plumb in the title role of the playMiss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage at the Downstairs Cabaret Theatre in New York City'sTimes Square.[5][6] That same year, she appeared in a Canadian stage production ofDinner with Friends at Theatre Aquarius inHamilton, Ontario.[10]
In 2012, DeWitt appeared in two separate stage productions ofLove Letters starring oppositeTab Hunter andTony Dow, respectively.[11][12] In August 2012, she starred with her niece, Katharine DeWitt, in a production ofRemember Me at theAlhambra Dinner Theatre inJacksonville, Florida.[13]
Also in 2012, DeWitt appeared onSuzanne Somers' talk show,Suzanne Somers: Breaking Through, during which she and Somers reminisced about their time onThree's Company together. Somers apologized for the conflict that arose between them, and they exchanged anecdotes about the last time they each spoke to their late co-starJohn Ritter.[14] DeWitt's appearance on Somers' program marked the first time the two actresses had seen or spoken to each other since having a major falling out 31 years earlier, involving a salary dispute.[15]
In 2014, DeWitt became a panelist on a local version of the classic game showHollywood Squares (in turn she was also a panelist on the actual show itself back in the day) calledThe West Virginia Squares[16][17][18][19]hosted by "The Master of The Hollywood Squares" himselfPeter Marshall as part of an event called FestivALL at The Clay Center at the WV Music Hall of Fame. The other local celebrities were: Autumn Blair, Billy Edd Wheeler, Bil Lepp, Charlie McCoy, Charlisse Hailsop, Danny Jones, Donnie Davidson, Larry Groce, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., Michael Cerveris and Steve Bishop. It aired on WVPB on April 11 and April 25 and on The West Virginia Channel on April 12 and April 15 for two episodes. Additionally, Marshall, like DeWitt, was also a native of West Virginia.
In 2018, DeWitt played Mother Superior in a stage production ofNunsense at the Hunterdon Hills Playhouse in New Jersey.[20]
In 2023, DeWitt made her debut appearance in the country music video ballad called "Home"[21][22]by the Davisson Brothers Band where it captures the nostalgia and comfort of returning to where it all began. The song can be heard from the album "Home is Where the Heart is".
DeWitt participated with members of the House and Senate at the Capitol Hill Forum on Hunger and Homelessness, and has hosted presentations for the Family Assistance Program of Hollywood. She hosted the International Awards Ceremony at the White House for the Presidential End Hunger Awards, and co-hosted, with Jeff Bridges, the World Food Day Gala at theKennedy Center.[5]
DeWitt has never married or had any children. She was in a romantic relationship with actor and directorRay Buktenica from 1973 to 1980.[23]
On July 4, 2009, DeWitt wasarrested inEl Segundo, California, and cited forDUI. She was booked at the police station, cited, and released on her own recognizance.[24] On May 27, 2010, she pleaded no contest to one count misdemeanor and was placed on three years' probation and ordered to undergo a nine-month alcohol program. She was also ordered to pay a $510 fine, plus penalty assessments. In exchange for her plea, a second misdemeanor count was dismissed.[25]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Baretta | Mother Earth | Episode: "Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" |
| 1976 | Most Wanted | Cindy | TV movie |
| 1977–1984 | Three's Company | Janet Wood | Main cast (170 episodes) |
| 1978 | With This Ring | Jilly Weston | TV movie |
| 1979 | Supertrain | Natalie Smithburne | Episode: "Pirouette" |
| 1979 | The Ropers | Janet Wood | Episode: "The Party" |
| 1979 | The Love Boat | Jackie Landers | Episode: "The Audit Couple/The Scoop/My Boyfriend's Back" |
| 1980 | The B.B. Beegle Show | Herself (guest star) | TV pilot episode |
| 1984 | Finder of Lost Loves | Lynn Powell | Episode: "Portraits" |
| 1995 | Spring Fling! | Linda Hayden | TV movie |
| 1995 | Cybill | Psychic Pals Host | Episode: "The Odd Couples" |
| 1998 | Living Single | Herself (guest star) | Episode: "To Catch a Thief" |
| 1998 | Twitch City | Herself (guest star) | Episode: "I Look Like Joyce DeWitt" |
| 2000 | Hope Island | Laetitia Barton | Episode: "A Rising Tide Takes All Boats" |
| 2003 | The Nick at Nite Holiday Special | Miss DeWitt, The Housekeeper | TV special |
| 2009 | Call of the Wild | Jolene | Feature film |
| 2010 | Failing Better Now | Irene | Feature film |
| 2011 | The Great Fight | Randi Toney | Feature film |
| 2014 | Snapshot | First Lady | Feature film |
| 2014 | My Boyfriends' Dogs | Nikki | TV movie |
| 2015 | Rock Story | Judge Carol Anne Connelly | Feature film |
| 2018 | The Savant | Detective Randi Toney | Feature film |
| 2022 | Ask Me to Dance | Nana | Feature film |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
