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As a child of the 1960's, I was one of the generation of school kids who ran home every day to watch DARK SHADOWS (1966-1971), the most popular daytime TV program of it's time. I didn't know it then, but the shows star, Joan Bennett, had been a bonafide movie star during Hollywood's Golden Era of the 1930's and 1940's. My parents were from that generation, and my Mom, in particular, enjoyed watching the films of that era on UHF television, and I right along with her. I came to love those classic movies and stars, none more so then Joan Bennett. This is my tribute to my favorite classic star.

Joan Bennett, the youngest of three daughters, was born in Palisades Park, New Jersey, on February 27, 1910, the daughter of stage actors Richard Bennett and Adrienne Morrison, and the younger sister of actresses Constance and Barbara Bennett.

Joan Bennett made her first film appearance in 1918 in an uncredited part and appeared in a few silent films while a child. She married at the age of 16, and when this marriage ended two years later, resumed her acting career. Contracted to 20th Century Fox she appeared as a blonde (her natural color) ingenue in a several films including BULLDOG DRUMMOND (1929) with Ronald Colman, MOBY DICK (1930) with John Barrymore and ME AND MY GAL (1932) with Spencer Tracy, before leaving this studio to appear in LITTLE WOMEN (1933) with Katharine Hepburn. She was not taken seriously as an actress and struggled to establish herself. Her task was further complicated by the rapid rise to fame of her sister Constance, who at this time was one of Hollywood's most successful and popular actresses, and with whom she was unfavourably compared.

She signed a contract with producer Walter Wanger, whom she would later marry in 1940. He managed her career, and with director Tay Garnett convinced her to change her hair from blonde to brunette. With this change her screen persona evolved into that of a glamorous seductress and she began to attract attention. During the search to find an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND, Bennett was tested and impressed producer David O. Selznick. She was briefly considered to be a front runner for this part but Selznick eventually turned his attention to Paulette Goddard, who was then rejected in favour of Vivien Leigh.

In the early 1940s Bennett appeared in four films directed by Fritz Lang. Three of them (MAN HUNT 1941, THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW 1944, and SCARLET STREET 1945) established her as a film noir femme fatale. She also worked with noted directors Jean Renoir in THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH (1947) and Max Ophüls in THE RECKLESS MOMENT (1949). She also played the wife of Spencer Tracy and mother of Elizabeth Taylor in FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950) and its sequel, FATHER'S LITTLE DIVIDEND (1951). Midway through her career, Bennett had changed agents. In 1951 Wanger shot and injured Bennett's new agent, with whom she had begun an affair, and the resulting scandal damaged her career. Wanger spent two years in prison for the offense, but he and Bennett remained married until 1965.

She continued to work steadily in theatre and television and was a cast member of the television series DARK SHADOWS for its entire five year run, from 1966 until 1971, receiving an Emmy Award nomination for her performance therein. Bennett also appeared in a few more films, most notably Dario Argento's SUSPERIA (1977). In the last decades of her life, she was married to David Wilde, a wealthy businessman. Bennett died from a heart attack in Scarsdale, New York at the age of 80, and was buried in Pleasant View Cemetery, Lyme, Connecticut. Bennett has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for services to Motion Pictures, at 6310 Hollywood Boulevard.

Joan Geraldine Bennett, born February 27, 1910

The Bennett Sisters; Constance, Joan and Barbara

The Bennett family

Joan Bennett, Goerge Arliss, Florence Arliss in DISRAELI 1929

Mr. & Mrs. Gene Markey 1932

Joan Bennett, Katharine Hepburn in LITTLE WOMEN 1933

Joan Bennett, Joel McCrea publicity photo for PRIVATE WORLDS 1935

Joan Bennett, Bing Crosby publicity photo for MISSISSIPPI 1935

Ronald Colman, Joan Bennett publicity photo for THE MAN WHO BROKE THE BANK AT MONTE CARLO 1935

Joan Bennett, Fred MacMurray publicity photo for 13 HOURS BY AIR 1936

Joan Bennett, Cary Grant publicity photo for BIG BROWN EYES 1936

Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett in TWO'S A CROWD 1936

Joan and Constance Bennett in the 1930's

Henry Fonda, Joan Bennett publicity photo for I MET MY LOVE AGAIN 1938

Alan Marshal, Joan Bennett in I MET MY LOVE AGAIN 1938

Joan Bennett publicity photo for THE TEXANS 1938

Joan Bennett, Jack Benny publicity photo for ARTISTS AND MODELS ABROAD 1938

Joan Bennett turns brunette in TRADE WINDS 1938

Joan Bennett's screen test for Scarlet O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND

Joan Bennett, Louis Hayward in THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK 1939

Joan Bennett publicity photo for GREEN HELL 1940

Gladys George, Joan Bennett in THE HOUSE ACROSS THE BAY 1940

Mr. & Mrs. Walter Wanger 1940

George Sanders, Joan Bennett in THE SON OF MONTE CRISTO 1940

Joan Bennett publicity photo for MAN HUNT 1941

Joan Bennett, Walter Pidgeon in MAN HUNT 1941

Joan Bennett, Henry Fonda in WILD GEESE CALLING 1941

Don Ameche, Joan Bennett publicity photo for CONFIRM OR DENY 1941

George Brent, Mischa Auer, Joan Bennett publicity photo for TWIN BEDS 1942

Franchot Tone, Joan Bennett in THE WIFE TAKES A FLYER 1942

Don Ameche, Joan Bennett in GIRL TROUBLE 1942

Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett in THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW 1944

Joan Bennett, George Raft publicity photo for NOB HILL 1945

DIANA PRODUCTIONS: Fritz Lang, Joan Bennett, Walter Wanger 1945

Joan Bennett publicity photo for SCARLET STREET 1945

Joan Bennett, Edward G. Robinson in SCARLET STREET 1945

Joan Bennett, Gregory Peck publicity photo for THE MACOMBER AFFAIR 1947

Joan Bennett's Hollywood home

Michael Redgrave, Joan Bennett in SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR 1947

Charles Bickford, Joan Bennett, Robert Ryan in THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH 1947

James Mason, Joan Bennett in THE RECKLESS MOMENT 1949

Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett publicity photo for FATHER OF THE BRIDE 1950

Joan Bennett, Robert Cummings in FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE 1950

Paul Douglas, Joan Bennett in THE GUY WHO CAME BACK 1951

Humphrey Bogart, Joan Bennett, Leo G. Carroll in WE'RE NO ANGLES 1955.

Joan Bennett, Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck in THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW 1956

Joan Bennett on DARK SHADOWS, 1960's

Joan Bennett, Donald Briscoe, Roger Davis in HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS 1970

Joan Bennett in the 1970's

With husband David Wilde

Joan Bennett in the 1980's