Joanna Gleason

Joanna Gleason
Gleason in Sons of the Prophet, 2011
Born	Joanne Hall (1950-06-02) June 2, 1950 (age 66) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Actress, singer
Spouse(s)	Paul G. Gleason (m. 1975; div. 1982) Michael Bennahum (m. 1984; div. 1990) Chris Sarandon (m. 1994)
Children	1

Joanna Gleason (born June 2, 1950) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is a Tony Award-winning musical theatre actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles.

Joanne Hall was born in Toronto, Ontario, the eldest of three siblings born to television producer and game show personality Monty Hall, and his wife, Marilyn (née Plottel). At the time of her birth, her father was working at the Canadian Wheat Board and had changed his name from Halparin to Hall. He later started his TV career and went on to fame as host of Let's Make a Deal. In May 1956, the Hall family moved to New York and, in the early 1960s, they again moved to Los Angeles, California. Gleason graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1968.

While attending BHHS she was in the school's productions of The Music Man, The Mikado, The Grass Harp, and The Madwoman of Chaillot. In high school Gleason received acting instruction from John Ingle, the soap opera star, who taught at BHHS from 1955-85. She continued her education at UCLA, then Occidental College, from which she graduated. Gleason has been a teacher herself, holding classes and workshops all over the country.

Although Gleason started her acting career in television, she is best known for her stage and musical theatre work. She made her Broadway debut in 1977 in I Love My Wife, for which she was honored with a Theatre World Award. Additional Broadway credits include Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Nick & Nora, Into the Woods (for which she won several awards including a Tony Award in the lead role of the Baker's Wife, which she also played in the PBS Great Performances production of the musical), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and The Cartells.