Joan Freeman
| Joan Freeman | |
|---|---|
|
Freeman in 2008 | |
| Born |
January 8, 1942 Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA |
| Occupation | Film and television actress |
| Years active | 1949–1994 |
| Spouse(s) | Bruce Kessler |
Joan Freeman (born January 8, 1942) is an American actress.
Biography
Freeman started as a child actor, having appeared at the age of 7 in the 1949 television series Sandy Dreams, along with Richard Beymer and Jill St. John. At fourteen, she played the character Jeannie Harlow in the 1956 episode "The Frontier Theatre" of the ABC western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, with Hugh O'Brian in the title role.
In 1961–1962, Freeman was cast in six episodes as the young waitress Elma Gahrigner, in the ABC drama series Bus Stop. After Bus Stop, she appeared in guest-starring roles on the NBC modern western series, Empire, with Richard Egan and on the ABC/Warner Brothers western, The Dakotas.
In 1962, Freeman was cast as Marilyn Hayes in the doom and gloom classic film Panic in Year Zero! alongside veteran film stars Ray Milland, Jean Hagen. In 1963, Freeman was cast as American tourist Amelia Carter in The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze.
Freeman co-starred in The Rounders, a 1965 comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Max Evans.
Freeman is perhaps best known for her roles in two musical films. In 1964, she was the love interest of Elvis Presley in Roustabout and in 1967 with Roy Orbison in The Fastest Guitar Alive. In 1967, she appeared as the love interest opposite Don Knotts in the Cold War space-race comedy The Reluctant Astronaut.
In 1977, Freeman costarred as Barbara Robinson in the 13-episode CBS series Code R about the emergency fire, police, and ocean rescue services in the California Channel Islands. Tom Simcox played her police chief husband. The program was seen as an imitation of NBC's long-running Emergency!.
Freeman also made a number of guest appearances on different television shows from the 1950s through the 1980s including NBC's National Velvet, Family Affair,Gunsmoke, and Bonanza. She made a guest appearance on Perry Mason in 1962 as defendant Jennifer Wakely in "The Case of the Fickle Filly".
In 1966, Freeman guest starred on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in "The Bat Cave Affair". She appeared four times on the NBC western series The Virginian. Her last motion picture performance came as "Mrs. Jarvis" in the 1984 horror film, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter.
In 1994, Freeman appeared as an actress for the last time in an episode of the TV series "Renegade".
Filmography
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) - Mrs. Jarvis