Joanna Kerns American film and television actress Country: USA

1. Biography of Joanna Kerns
2. From Gymnast to Actress
3. Television and Film Career

Biography of Joanna Kerns

Joanna Kerns is an American film and television actress. This tall blonde has come a long way from playing the role of a journalist mother in the ABC comedy series "Growing Pains" to becoming one of the queens of telefilms in the 1990s.

From Gymnast to Actress

Kerns started her career as a gymnast and dancer. However, she soon realized that a career as a chorus girl was not sustainable and decided to pursue acting. At that time, she was known as Joanna DeVarona and performed in the show "Clown Around," which was later closed. She then received an invitation to join John Guare's concert program, a musical version of Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona." Kerns moved to New York to study acting under Lee Strasberg and played several minor roles in the Broadway production of "Ulysses in Nighttown." She also had a successful career in commercials, appearing in eighteen television commercials at one point.

Television and Film Career

Although Kerns had some experience in directing the Los Angeles production of "What Every Woman Knows," her career in New York was just the beginning of her television and, to a lesser extent, film career. Her roles in feature films were rare, starting with a small role in the 1978 film "Coma." She then appeared in Martin Short's project "Cross My Heart," played the role of Michael Ontkean's confused wife in "Street Justice," and portrayed an artist's aunt in "An American Summer." However, Kerns was primarily a television actress. She appeared in episodes of several series, including "Laverne & Shirley" and "Magnum P.I." Her first appearance in a feature film was in 1976 on NBC in the film "The Million Dollar Rip-Off." She then appeared in "Mother's Day on Waltons Mount" and "A Wedding on Walton's Mountain," and in the miniseries "V." Only after these roles did she land the recurring role of Pat Devon, a daredevil girl and real estate agent played by Tony Roberts, in the short-lived series "Four Seasons." The following year, she was invited to play the role of Maggie Seaver, a mother who returns to journalism and leaves her husband to deal with psychiatric practice and raising children, in the series "Growing Pains."