| Joyce DeWitt | |
|---|---|
at the New York Comic Convention (October 10, 2010) |
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| Born | Joyce Anne DeWitt April 23, 1949 [1] Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Joycey |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Website | |
| JoyceDeWitt.com | |
Joyce Anne DeWitt (born April 23, 1949) is an American actress most famous for playing Janet Wood on the ABC sitcom Three's Company.
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Joyce Dewitt, who is of no relation to actress Fay DeWitt,[2] was born April 23, 1949 in Wheeling, West Virginia, and grew up in Speedway, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis, where she competed in speech and debate through the Indiana High School Forensic Association. After she received a bachelor's degree in theater from Ball State University, she moved to California to earn her master's degree from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).[1]
DeWitt began appearing on stage at the age of 13.[3] While attending university, she worked as a secretary until her debut on Baretta.[1] Contrary to reports, she has never painted actor Abe Vigoda's garage doors, and has never met the man.[2] While performing in summer stock in the year following her graduation, a director and UCLA Theater professor convinced her to go to California for the school's MFA program.[3]
DeWitt is best known for her role as Janet Wood during the 1977–1984 run of the sitcom Three's Company, a job she obtained after being cast in the show's second pilot.[3]
After Three's Company ended in 1984, DeWitt appeared in an episode of Finder of Lost Loves in 1984, after which she quit acting for several years. She resumed acting with a part in a production of Noises Off at Michigan's Cherry County Playhouse in June 1991.[1] She later appeared in the 1995 TV comedy film Spring Fling!, and made appearances in "The Pinky Protocol", a 1997 episode of Pinky and the Brain, an episode of Cybill, and a cameo on the penultimate episode of Living Single.[3] Her 2000s works includes TV shows such as Hope Island, 18, The Nick at Nite Holiday Special, and Call of the Wild.
DeWitt would go on to co-produce and host the 2003 NBC-TV television film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company, with actress Melanie Deanne Moore portraying her during her time on Three's Company. In late 2008, she also earned a part in an independent film called Failing Better Now.
As of 2011, DeWitt was starring in the play Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage on in New York.[3][4]
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 the Kennedy Center.[3]
On July 4, 2009, DeWitt was arrested in El Segundo, California, and cited for drunken driving. According to press reports, police pulled her over after she drove past a barricade near a park. An officer arrested the actress after he observed signs she had been drinking and administered a field sobriety test. She was booked at the police station, cited, and released on her own recognizance.[5] 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.[6]