Joan Van Ark

Joan Van Ark is an American actress who began on stage and became known for playing Valene Ewing on the primetime soap Knots Landing. Born in New York City and raised in Boulder, Colorado, she trained at Yale School of Drama. She appeared in touring and Broadway productions of Barefoot in the Park, and earned a Theatre World Award and a Tony nomination for The School for Wives in 1971. She introduced Valene on Dallas in 1978, then carried the role to Knots Landing for thirteen seasons, winning Soap Opera Digest Best Actress in 1986 and 1989 and directing two episodes. Her film work includes Frogs (1972) and The Last Dinosaur (1977), and she voiced Spider-Woman in a 1979 animated series. She was on The Young and the Restless from 2004 to 2005, and reprised Valene on the new Dallas in 2013, also appearing in Channels (2008) as a network executive.