Joan Hackett

Joan Hackett

Joan Ann Hackett (March 1, 1934 – October 8, 1983) was an American actress. She acted in film, television, and theatre. She played roles in The Group (1966), Will Penny (1968), Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), The Last of Sheila (1973), and The Terminal Man (1974). In 1982, Hackett was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; she was also the recipient of a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, for her performance as Toby Landau in the 1981 film Only When I Laugh. Hackett was also nominated during the course of her career for a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Laurel Award; she was also the recipient of an Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award, and a Theatre World Award. In 1978, she starred as Christine Mannon in the PBS miniseries version of Mourning Becomes Electra.

Early life

Joan Hackett

Hackett was born in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the daughter of John and Mary (née Esposito) Hackett, and grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, where she became a model and dropped out during her final year of high school. She had a sister, Theresa, and a brother, John. Hackett's mother was from Naples, Italy, and her father had Irish ancestry, and they raised her Catholic and sent her to Catholic schools.

Acting career

Joan Hackett

Hackett debuted in 1959 with the role of Gail Prentiss in the television series, Young Doctor Malone. In 1961, she won a Theatre World Award, an Obie Award for Best Actress, and a Drama Desk Award for her Off-Broadway portrayal of Chris in Michael Shurtleff's play Call Me By My Rightful Name.

She had a recurring role in the CBS legal drama The Defenders (1961–1965) as the fiancée of Kenneth Preston (played by Robert Reed). She appeared regularly in scenes with both lead actors. She had a leading role in The Twilight Zone episode "A Piano in the House". In the 1963–1964 season, she guest-starred on Channing, an ABC drama about college life starring Jason Evers and Henry Jones.

Hackett had one of the starring roles in the 1966 Sidney Lumet film The Group, along with Candice Bergen, Larry Hagman, Richard Mulligan, Joanna Pettet, and others. She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress for this role.

She also played the role of Catherine Allen in the 1968 Western Will Penny, with Charlton Heston in the title role. Hackett also had notable parts in the classic Western comedy Support Your Local Sheriff!, with James Garner, and the 1973 murder mystery The Last of Sheila. After this, she primarily had parts in TV movies and on episodes of TV series.

She starred in the 1974 adaption of Michael Crichton's novel The Terminal Man, along with actors George Segal, Donald Moffat, and Richard Dysart.

In 1976, she played the female lead in the Disney adventure film Treasure of Matecumbe. In 1978, she appeared in a PBS adaptation of Mourning Becomes Electra as Christine Mannon. Her performance in that production earned her some of the best reviews of her career. The same year, she was a regular in the cast of the short-lived CBS situation comedy Another Day, portraying Ginny Gardner.

She appeared in the September 22, 1979, episode "Grass Is Always Greener" of The Love Boat as Julie McCoy's former classmate from the line's cruise director course.

Hackett won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1981 film Only When I Laugh, the last film she made before her death. She could also be seen in Paul Simon's 1980 film One Trick Pony.

Personal life and death

Joan Hackett

From 1966 to 1973 she was married to actor Richard Mulligan, who was also cast in The Group.

Crypt of Joan Hackett at Hollywood Forever

Hackett was diagnosed with cancer in 1981. She died of ovarian cancer on October 8, 1983, at Encino Hospital in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles. A funeral mass was held on Wednesday, October 12, 1983, at St. Victor Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California. Her remains are entombed in The Abbey of The Psalms Mausoleum at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where her epitaph reads: "Go Away — I'm Asleep".

Selected theatre credits

Joan Hackett

• Night Watch, playing "Elaine Wheeler", Morosco Theatre, New York City, NY – 1972 • The Rothschilds, playing "Gutele Rothschilds", Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, NY – 1970 • Park, playing "Young Woman", Center Stage, Baltimore, MD; John Golden Theatre, New York City, NY – 1970 • A Place for Polly, playing "Angela", Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT; also, productions in Fairfield, CT and Ivortyton, CT – 1969 • Peterpat, playing "Pat", Longacre Theatre, New York City, NY – 1964-1965 • She Didn't Say Yes, Pocono Playhouse, Mountainhome, PA – 1963 • Dear Me, the Sky is Falling: A Comedy in Three Acts, playing "Debbie Hirsch", Music Box Theatre, New York City, NY – 1963 • Journey to the Day, Westport County Playhouse, Westport, CT – 1961 • Two Queens of Love and Beauty, Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope, PA – 1961 • Call Me By My Rightful Name, playing "Chris", One Sheridan Square, New York City, NY – 1961 • Laurette, playing "Marguerite", Shubert Theatre, New Haven, CT – 1960 • Much Ado About Nothing, playing "Lady", Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, NY – 1959 • The Play's the Thing, Princeton University Playhouse, Princeton, NJ – 1959 • A Clearing in the Woods, One Sheridan Square, New York City, NY – 1959

Selected radio credits

Joan Hackett

• 1974, 1975: CBS Radio Mystery Theater (Season 1, Episode 25: "# 25 – Mother Love"), playing "Paula Richards" (aired January 30, 1974); (Season 2, Episode 42: "#235 – The Eye of Death"), playing "Sandy" (aired March 7, 1975)