About Joan Benedict Steiger
Joan Benedict Steiger was born in Brooklyn, New York and became a performer at an early age studying ballet & tap dancing at seven. Her first recital was at the famous Brooklyn Academy of Music. Her mother sent her abroad to Rome, where she became a young student at the Rome Opera Ballet School, and, subsequently, lived in Paris. Living in these two countries gave Joan a wonderful cultural opportunity and she became fluent in Italian and French.At the age of fifteen, Joan started honing her acting craft. She studied with renowned acting coaches Stella Adler and Robert Lewis, founders of The Group Theatre, and went on to major in drama and speech at Hofstra University.Joan has made more than a dozen feature films including starring in two films with her late husband, Academy Award® winning actor, Rod Steiger.Joan is passionate about the stage and has starred off-Broadway in addition to regional theater. She played the title character in "Leona", about the notorious "Queen of Mean", Leona Helmsley. The one-woman show received rave reviews, and she went on to star on-stage in Las Vegas in "Promises, Promises". Other theater credits include playing "Ruth Steiner" in "Collected Stories", "Magda" in "The World is Made of Glass", "Margie McDougal" in "Promises, Promises", "Martha" in "Octette Bridge Club", the "Duchess of York" in "Richard III", "Frade" in "The Dybbuk", and "Helen of Troy" in "Dr. Faustus", to name a few.Joan's versatility as an actress is evident in the dramatic and comedic roles she has played in film, television and on stage.::Rita J. Runyon, TRC Entertainment
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 (1953) 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". As the only grandchild in a large family - she had seven uncles Joan grew up in her grandfather's house off Prospect Park, where shedescribes herself as "Eloise at the Plaza - every one of those rooms was my magic room". Encouraged by her mother, young Joan studied at the Rome Opera Ballet School, and spent time in Paris, soaking up her craft and European culture and learning French and Italian. Back in America, Joan continued her theatrical education by studying with legendary acting coaches Robert Lewis and Stella Adler, founders of the Actor's Studio in New York. That pursuit of her craft continues today, as she continues to get a charge out of the challenge that each new acting job brings. "The theatre for me is like being in church", she says with sincerity. "When you feel the audience, and feel that communication with other souls, it's like music. As a performer, I'm always pursuing that wonderful experience where you are completely alert and clear, and yet transported through your imagination". Her list of stage credits inc...