Acclaimed Actress Joyce Van Patten is Still Going Strong at 90 Years Old

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Chances are, if you're a classic TV and movie fan, you have have somewhere seen actress Joyce Van Patten, who this year turned a remarkable 90 years old. This is her story.

Well Connected

Not only is Joyce Van Patten alive and well, with a long list of credits, she's always been well-connected in Hollywood.

For starters, she is daughter of Richard Byron Van Patten and wife Josephine Rose Acerno; the sister of actor Dick Van Patten (they performed as in Reg'lar Fellers (1941) and forty years later in Making It (1971).

Joyce is also the half sister of actor Timothy Van Patten; the sister-in-law of Pat Poole, and an aunt to Vincent Van Patten, Nels Van Patten and James Van Patten.

Morever, Joyce is mother of actress Talia Balsam; the mother-in-law of actor John Slattery, and the former mother-in-law of George Clooney. In 1985, she portrayed big-screen wife of her former husband Martin Balsam in the movie St. Elmo's Fire.

The actress has an actor son from her first marrage. His name Thomas Casey King, who was born in New York City on November 12, 1951. With his stage name as Casey King, he made his film debut at age 19 with his mom and uncle in 1971's Making It.

Beginning with Broadway

After making her debut somewhat theatrical debut at at five months old modeling a baby blanket in a Sears catalog, Joyce Van Patten went on to become of the most celebrated actresses of the modern world.

A maters of her craft, Joyce Van Patten has excelled in all forms of acting. Whether playing comedy or drama, as tough ladies, sweet compassionate mothers, or nerotic, anxiety-ridden roles, Van Patten rises to the theatrical occasion.

Her older sibling Dick Van Patten was already a professional thespain when their mother entered two-year old Joyce in a Shirley Temple look-alike contest, which she won. Within four years, Joyce was performing on Broadway in Love's Old Sweet Song.

In the following decades, Van Patten appeared on stage in everything from Desk Set (in 1952, with Shirley Booth), and numerous Neil Simon productions (I Ought to Be in Pictures, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Same Time, Next Year), and more.

And Then There's TV

In 1955, Joyce Van Patten appeared on an episode of Gunsmoke. One year later, she continued her long television history as Janice Turner, one of the original cast members in the CBS daytime drama As the World Turns.

One year after that, she exited that series and joined her brother at NBC in Young Doctor Malone, another daytime soap.

In 1963, Van Patten appeared in an unsold pilot for a comedy skit show co-starring Paul Mazursky. She found semi-regular employment as a member of the company of The Danny Kaye Show (CBS, 1964-67).

That was followed by her portrayal of Herb Edelman's frustrated on-screen wife on The Good Guys (CBS, 1968-1970), which was followed by her appearance on The Don Rickles Show (CBS, 1972) and later, The Mary Tyler Moore Comedy Hour (CBS, 1979). From 1995 to 1996, she was a regular in The WB sitcom Unhappily Ever After.

Before, after, and during it all, she made countless guest appaerances on everything from Medical Center to L.A. Law.

On Film

In addition to the small screen, Joyce Van Patten has made several motion pictures for theatrical release.

Beyond her screen debut in Reg'lar Fellers (with her brother Dick Van Patten), and her appearance in St. Elmo's Fire (with her ex-husband Martin Balsam), Joyce has appeared in movies like The Goddess (1958), I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968), Mame (1974), The Bad News Bears (1976). The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), Blind Date (1987), and many more.

Not bad for a terrifically talented actress who, as a small child, auditioned for the role of Bonnie Blue Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939). Not bad in the least.