Joan Benedict Steiger(1927-2024)

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.