Joan Van Ark, 77 Years Old

Joan Van Ark rose to prominence as Valene Ewing on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing. She is a member of The Actors Studio, debuting in Barefoot in the Park in 1966. After five years, she already received the Theatre World Award, getting a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The School for Wives’ revival. She reprised her role of Valene in an episode of the new Dallas series in 2013.

Her most remarkable role came when she played as Ewing, earning her a Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Actress. She then became a host and a part of The Young and the Restless. Ark earned an undergraduate degree from the Yale School of Drama, thanks to the recommendation of Julie Harris, whom she met and interviewed when she became a student reporter at the age of 15.