Joan Van Ark Net Worth

What Is Joan Van Ark's Net Worth?

Joan Van Ark is an American actress who has a net worth of $10 million. Joan Van Ark is best known for playing Valene Ewing on "Dallas" (1978–1981; 1991) and "Knots Landing" (1979–1993) and Gloria Abbott on "The Young and the Restless" (2004–2005). She also directed two episodes of "Knots Landing." Van Ark has more than 100 acting credits to her name, including the films "Frogs" (1972), "Held for Ransom" (2000), and "Diamond Zero" (2005), the TV movies "Shell Game" (1975), "The Last Dinosaur" (1977), "Always Remember I Love You" (1990), and "Tornado Warning" (2002), and the television series "Days of Our Lives" (1970), "The New Temperatures Rising Show" (1972–1973), and "We've Got Each Other" (1977–1978). Joan also voiced Spider-Woman / Jessica Drew on the animated series "Spider-Woman" from 1979 to 1980. She has appeared in Broadway productions of "Barefoot in the Park" (1966–1967), "The School for Wives" (1971), and "The Rules of the Game" (1974), earning a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play and a Theatre World Award for "The School for Wives."

Early Life

Joan Van Ark was born Joan Martha Van Ark on June 16, 1943, in New York City. She is the daughter of Carroll Clement and Dorothy Jean Van Ark, who passed away in 1972 and 1983, respectively. Carroll was a public relations consultant, advertiser, and photographer, and he contributed to publications such as The New Yorker and Collier's. Carroll's paternal grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from the Netherlands, settling in Holland, Michigan. Joan grew up with three siblings, Mark, Carol, and Dexter, and in the early '50s, the family moved to Boulder, Colorado. As a student reporter in high school, Joan interviewed actress Julie Harris after Carroll arranged the interview. Harris encouraged Van Ark to apply to the Yale School of Drama and even called the school's dean on her behalf. Joan earned a scholarship to the Yale School of Drama was only the second woman after Julie to attend the school. In 1964, Van Ark was one of a few students to attend the graduate program at Yale without earning an undergraduate degree, and she spent a year there. Harris later played the mother of Van Ark's character on "Knots Landing," and after Julie's death in 2013, Joan created the Julie Harris Scholarship for actors studying at the Yale Drama School.

(Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

Career

Joan's professional acting career began in a Guthrie Theater production of Molière's "The Miser," and she made her Broadway debut in Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" in 1966. In the early years of her career, she guest-starred on "Run for Your Life" (1967), "The Felony Squad" (1968), "Peyton Place" (1968), "Mod Squad" (1968), "Bonanza" (1969), "Gunsmoke" (1969), and "The F.B.I." (1969–1974). In 1970, Van Ark played Janene Whitney in 17 episodes of the NBC soap opera "Days of Our Lives," and in 1972, she appeared in her first feature film, "Frogs." In the '70s, she guest-starred on "Hawaii Five-O" (1970), "Love, American Style" (1970; 1972), "Night Gallery" (1972), "M*A*S*H" (1973), "Mannix" (1973), "Barnaby Jones" (1974), "The Rockford Files" (1974), "Rhoda" (1975), "Kojak" (1977), "Quincy M.E." (1978), "Wonder Woman" (1978), and "The Love Boat" (1979–1984) and appeared in the TV movies "Big Rose: Double Trouble" (1974) and "The Last Dinosaur" (1977). Joan played Annie Carlisle on ABC's "Temperatures Rising" from 1972 to 1973 and Dee Dee Baldwin on the CBS sitcom "We've Got Each Other" from 1977 to 1978. She landed her most well-known role, Valene Ewing, in the late '70s. She played the character in eight episodes of the CBS series "Dallas" from 1978 to 1981 and returned for the series finale in 1991. From 1979 to 1993, Van Ark played Valene on "Knots Landing," appearing in more than 300 episodes of the show and winning two Soap Opera Digest Awards for her performance. In 1997, she reprised her role in the miniseries "Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac."

In the '80s, Joan starred in the TV movies "Red Flag: The Ultimate Game" (1981), "Shakedown on the Sunset Strip" (1988), and "My First Love" (1988), followed by "Always Remember I Love You" (1990), "Menu for Murder" (1990), "In the Shadows, Someone's Watching" (1993), "Moment of Truth: A Mother's Deception" (1994), "When the Dark Man Calls" (1995), and "Loyal Opposition: Terror in the White House" (1998). She guest-starred on "Touched by an Angel" (1996), "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1996), "The Nanny" (1998), "Twice in a Lifetime" (2001), "Son of the Beach" (2001), "Nip/Tuck" (2008; 2010), "My Name Is Earl" (2009), and "Pretty the Series" (2011–2012), and she lent her voice to "It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown" (2000), "Heavy Gear: The Animated Series" (2001), "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" (2004), "Archer" (2011), and "Doom Patrol" (2019). Van Ark appeared in the films "Held for Ransom" (2000), "UP, Michigan!" (2001), "Net Games" (2003), "Diamond Zero" (2005), "Channels" (2008),  and "Watercolor Postcards" (2013) and the TV movies "Tornado Warning" (2002) and "Psycho Wedding Crasher" (2017), and from 2004 to 2005, she played Gloria Abbott on the CBS soap opera "The Young and the Restless." In 2013, she guest-starred on the TNT revival of "Dallas," reprising the role of Valene Ewing in one episode.

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Personal Life

Joan married her high school sweetheart, news reporter John Marshall, on February 1, 1966, in Germany. Marshall later worked at KNBC-TV as a correspondent and won an Emmy as well as a Golden Mike Award. On their honeymoon, the couple toured places in Europe that were made famous by Joan of Arc. Van Ark and Marshall welcomed a daughter, Vanessa, on October 19, 1969, and she grew up to become a singer, voice actress, and model. Joan and Vanessa co-starred in a 1997 Tiffany Theater production of the play "Star Dust." Joan enjoys long-distance running, and she has run in more than a dozen marathons and graced the cover of Runner's World.

Real Estate

In 1980, Joan paid $410,000 for a home in Studio City, California. This remains her primary home, and today it is worth around $3 million.

Awards and Nominations

In 1985, Van Ark earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Special Class Program for the "CBS Tournament of Roses Parade" (shared with Bob Barker, Vern Diamond, and Mike Gargiulo). She received four Soap Opera Digest Award nominations for "Knots Landing," winning for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial in 1986 and Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role: Prime Time in 1989. In 2009, "Knots Landing" was honored with the Anniversary Award at the TV Land Awards. In 2004, Joan received a Gold Derby Award nomination for Supporting Actress – Daytime Drama for "The Young and the Restless," and in 2012, she won an Indie Series Award for Best Guest Appearance (Comedy) for "Pretty the Series."

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