Joan Van Ark appeared at the Historic Elitch Theatre in 1960, when she was just 17, and was about to start her senior year at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado. She played Reese Flood in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Anna Roosevelt Sunrise at Campobello.
Van Ark’s biography from 1960 Program:
JOAN VAN ARK got her start in dramatics when she played opposite Maxwell Anderson’s grandson in a kindergarten play in West Nyack, N. Y. Now a Boulder, Colorado resident, she played the dancing lead in the Boulder Civic Opera’s “Brigadoon,” with the Nomad Players as Anne in “The Diary of Anne Frank,” Laura in “The Glass Menagerie.” This April she won first in Dramatic Interpretation in National Forensic League contests in Wyoming and Colorado, has appeared on both television and radio, made a movie short for Alexander Films.
Just six years after her appearance at Elitch Theatre, in 1966, Van Ark made her Broadway debut in Barefoot in the Park. In 1971, Van Ark opened on Broadway in The School for Wives, a role for which she would receive a Tony nomination.
Season at the Theatre
- 1960
Elitch Theatre Productions/Roles:
- 1960 – Reese Flood in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
- 1960 – Anna Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
- She is best known for her role as Valene Ewing on Knots Landing.
- Van Ark made her Broadway debut in Barefoot in the Park.
- Van Ark was one of 125 actors who won the first Actors Studio Awards in 1980.
Elitch Theatre Connections:
- Van Ark appeared in Dallas with Elitch Theatre alum, Barbara Bel Geddes.
- Van Ark appeared as Corie in the original tour of Barefoot in the Park with Elitch alum, Myrna Loy as Mrs. Banks.
- Van Ark then played in Barefoot in the Park on Broadway, and for a few months, her run overlapped with Elitch alum, Sylvia Sidney.
- When she was 15-year-old, Van Ark interviewed Julie Harris, and later Harris also appeared at the Theatre in 1978.
- James Whitmore, who appeared at Elitch Theatre in 1969, starred with Van Ark in Temperatures Rising.
- Tom Poston (your co-star in We’ve Got Each Other) was at the Theatre in 1969.
- Richard Kiley (you co-star from My First Love) was at the Theatre in 1976.
- Patty Duke (your co-star from Always Remember I Love You) was at the theatre in 1973 and 1974.
Wikipedia Link:
