Joan Benedict obit

Joan Benedict Dies: ‘Candid Camera’, ‘General Hospital’ Actor, Widow Of Rod Steiger Was 96

 

She was not  on the list.

Joan Benedict Steiger, who was part of the original stock company for Candid Camera and later became the wife of actor Rod Steiger, died June 24 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from a stroke. She was 96.

Her death was announced by a family spokesperson.

As Joan Benedict, she got her start on TV during the medium’s early days, appearing in the 1950s on Candid Camera and The Steve Allen Show. She would go on to score dozens of TV credits with guest appearances in the 1970s on such series as The Smith Family, Apple’s Way, The Incredible Hulk and Fantasy Island, among others.

Later TV and film credits include The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington, Hotel, The Trials of Rosie O’Neill and Dollhouse. She recurred on soap General Hospital as the character Edith Fairchild, and also appeared in Days of Our Lives and Capitol.

Born July 21, 1927, in Brooklyn, Benedict began taking dance lessons as a child at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, later studying at the Rome Opera Ballet School. Returning to New York, she pivoted to acting classes at The Actors Studio, studying under Robert Lewis and Stella Adler.

Alongside her TV roles, Benedict appeared frequently on stage in regional theaters and Off Broadway productions of Promises, Promises, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Donald Margulies’ Collected Stories, Horton Foote’s The Traveling Lady, and solo shows Leona (about hotel magnate Leona Helmsley) and the autobiographical The Loves of My Life.

In an interview, she once said, “The theatre for me is like being in church. 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.”

Benedict met Steiger when she was just 19, and although they had a brief romance at the time, the two soon went their separate ways. Benedict then married actor John Myhers, and the two lived in Los Angeles for three decades until his death in 1992. In the late ’90s, she reconnected with Steiger through mutual friends.

“I got a call from him out of the blue,” she recalled years later in an interview. “He’d been at a party where someone had mentioned me, and we got together again after all those years.”

Benedict and Steiger were married from 2000 until his death in 2002. She subsequently was in a relationship with Once Life To Live actor Jeremy Slate until he died in 2006.

“Strangely, I met all three of these men when I was in New York, just beginning my career while I was still a teenager,” she said in a 2016 interview. “Both of my husbands, and my lifetime partner Jeremy, were wonderful men who respected me as an actress. They all died from different forms of cancer, so my memories are sometimes bittersweet, but with no regrets.”

Benedict is survived by daughter Claudia Myhers Tschudin and granddaughters Hanna Tschudin and Ashley Tschudin.

Actress

William McNamara and Kaylynn Kubeldis in Opus of an Angel (2017)

Opus of an Angel

7.9

Bird Lady

2017

 

Dead Border (2013)

Dead Border

5.3

Dr. Charlotte Barnes (as Joan Benedict)

2013

 

Eliza Dushku in Dollhouse (2009)

Dollhouse

7.7

TV Series

Old Lady

2009

1 episode

 

The Theory of Everything (2006)

The Theory of Everything

4.3

Video

Judge (as Joan Benedict)

2006

 

Sweet Underground (2004)

Sweet Underground

8.4

Martha (as Joan Benedict)

2004

 

A Month of Sundays (2001)

A Month of Sundays

6.2

Dr. Stanz (as Joan Benedict)

2001

 

Eric Roberts and Catherine Oxenberg in The Flying Dutchman (2001)

The Flying Dutchman

3.9

TV Movie

Moira (as Joan Benedict)

2001

 

The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1990)

The Trials of Rosie O'Neill

7.3

TV Series

Wife (as Joan Benedict)

1992

1 episode

 

Perfect Victims (1988)

Perfect Victims

4.2

Receptionist (as Joan Benedict)

1988

 

The New Gidget (1986)

The New Gidget

6.4

TV Series

Matron (as Joan Benedict)

1986

1 episode

 

Days of Our Lives (1965)

Days of Our Lives

5.2

TV Series

Real Estate Agent (as Joan Benedict)

1986

1 episode

 

Anne Baxter, James Brolin, and Connie Sellecca in Hotel (1983)

Hotel

6.4

TV Series

Mrs. Adams (as Joan Benedict)

1986

1 episode

 

Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer in Hunter (1984)

Hunter

6.9

TV Series

Jewelry Customer (as Joan Benedict)

1985

1 episode

 

John Rubinstein and Jack Warden in Crazy Like a Fox (1984)

Crazy Like a Fox

7.0

TV Series

M. C.

1985

1 episode

 

Jeff Conaway, Jonelle Allen, Laura Ashton, Claudia Christian, Art Hindle, Leslie Hope, Yvette Mimieux, Anita Morris, Ben Murphy, Robin Strand, Eddie Velez, and Sam Wanamaker in Berrenger's (1985)

Berrenger's

7.1

TV Series

Rue McDaniels (as Joan Benedict)

1985

1 episode

 

T.J. Hooker (1982)

T.J. Hooker

6.1

TV Series

Mary (as Joan Benedict)

1984

1 episode

 

Ricardo Montalban and Hervé Villechaize in Fantasy Island (1977)

Fantasy Island

6.6

TV Series

Announcer

Matron (as Joan Benedict)

1981–1982

2 episodes

 

Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby in The Incredible Hulk (1978)

The Incredible Hulk

7.0

TV Series

Society Woman (as Joan Benedict)

1980

1 episode

 

The Prize Fighter (1979)

The Prize Fighter

5.6

Dori (as Joan Benedict)

1979

 

The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977)

The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington

3.5

Sally (as Joan Benedict)

1977

 

Tom Bosley in Let's Call It Quits (1974)

Let's Call It Quits

6.7

Short

Janet (as Joan Benedict)

1974

 

Apple's Way (1974)

Apple's Way

6.6

TV Series

Mrs. Knowles (as Joan Benedict)

1974

1 episode

 

"The Smith Family" Janet Blair, Henry Fonda, Darleen Carr, Ron Howard, Michael-James Wixted

The Smith Family

6.6

TV Series

Marge Weaver (as Joan Benedict)

1971

1 episode

 

Saturday Night in Apple Valley (1965)

Saturday Night in Apple Valley

4.6

Poopsie Patata (as Joan Benedict)

1965