Joan Benedict Steiger on Swoop’s World Late NIght

Joan Benedict Steiger

On Wednesday June 10, 2015 at 8pm/PST (10pm/CST, 11pm/EST) we welcome veteran actress of television, film, and stage, Joan Benedict Steiger to Swoop’s World Late Night. Of course after our interview with Joan Benedict Steiger, we’ll be up to all of our usual fun with our usual fun with our Brewskis beer tasting segment, TBones Timeout, USC legendAnthony Davis, as well as our crazy thoughts about interesting news stories of the day. Swoop’s World Late Night is on Wednesday’s from 8pm/PST – 11pm/PST tune in at Swoopsworld.com.

Joan Benedict Steiger

Decades of work on stage, screen, and television and the love of three devoted men sounds like a full life; but in many ways, the story is just beginning for veteran performer Joan Benedict Steiger. With credits dating back to the original “Candid Camera” on television to her acclaimed solo performance as Leona Helmsley, she has lived the artistic life she first dreamed of as a child in Brooklyn, New York – and the dream shows no signs of ending.

“I always thought when I was little I would be a dancer,” Joan recalls today. “I was never really built for ballet, but I was tap dancing in public at age seven when I performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. I remember the first film I ever saw was with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and as I was leaving the theatre, I wanted to run back in, I knew I had to be a part of that world.”

Her list of stage credits include acclaimed productions of contemporary offerings such as “Promises, Promises,” “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” “Collected Stories” by Donald Margulies, P.J. Barry’s “The Octette Bridge Club,” Horton Foote’s “The Traveling Lady,” and Morris West’s “The World is Made of Glass;” opposite Don Knotts in the comedy “The Mind with the Dirty Man;” classics like “Richard III,” “The Dyubbuk,” and “Dr. Faustus;” and her two solo shows, “Leona” (about notorious “Queen of Mean” Leona Helmsley) and the recent “The Loves of My Life,” based on her own life. On screen, she also co-starred with Knotts and Tim Conway in the comedy “The Prizefighter.”

Indeed, perhaps Joan Benedict Steiger’s career is all the more remarkable for having endured through three long-term relationships, to what she describes as “three of the greatest guys in the world.” While marriages between professional actors are often fraught with jealousy and competition, Joan has found lightning in a bottle all three times. “Both of my husbands, and my lifetime partner Jeremy, were wonderful men who respected me as an actress,” she recalls. “They all died from different forms of cancer, so my memories are sometimes bittersweet, but with no regrets.”

Throughout her life, Joan Benedict Steiger has worked simultaneously on stage, in film, and on television. She’s still remembered for a classic bit from the original version of “Candid Camera,” where she played a lost tourist looking for directions from passersby, making sure that her fancy hat – beplumed with a particularly large feather – would distract them at every opportunity. She was also part of the ensemble of the original “Steve Allen Show,” where she did double duty as the spokesperson for Hazel Bishop cosmetics. On daytime drama, she had regular and recurring roles on “General Hospital,” “Days of our Lives,” and “Capitol.” Her dozens of series guest appearances include classic series like “Fantasy Island,” “T.J. Hooker,” “The Incredible Hulk” and, most recently, Fox’s “Dollhouse.”

Joan was awarded the “Eternity Award” for “lifetime achievements that have made a lasting contribution to the world of theatre” recently at the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival. She is also preparing to write her memoirs.