Joyce DeWitt — Bellazon

Joyce Anne DeWitt (born April 23, 1949) is an American actress most famous for playing Janet Wood on the ABC sitcom Three's Company.

Early life

Joyce Dewitt, who is of no relation to actress Fay DeWitt, was born April 23, 1949 in Wheeling, West Virginia, and grew up in Speedway, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis, where she competed in speech and debate through the Indiana High School Forensic Association. After she received a bachelor's degree in theater from Ball State University, she moved to California to earn her master's degree from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

Career

While attending university, she worked as a secretary until her debut on Baretta. Contrary to reports, she has never painted actor Abe Vigoda's garage doors, and has never met the man.

DeWitt is best known for her role as Janet Wood during the 1977–1984 run of the sitcom Three's Company. After the series ended in 1984, DeWitt appeared in an episode of Finder of Lost Loves in 1984, after which she made little or no TV appearances until the 1995 comedy film Spring Fling! Aside from a humorous reference to her in "The Pinky Protocol", a 1997 episode of Pinky and the Brain and a cameo on the penultimate episode of Living Single in 1998, she made no appearances until the 2000s, on TV shows such as Hope Island, 18, The Nick at Nite Holiday Special, and Call of the Wild.

DeWitt would go on to co-produce and host the 2003 NBC-TV television film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company, with actress Melanie Deanne Moore portraying her during her time on Three's Company. In late 2008, she also earned a part in an independent film called Failing Better Now.

Legal issues

On July 4, 2009, DeWitt was arrested in El Segundo, California, and cited for drunken driving. According to press reports, police pulled her over after she drove past a barricade near a park. An officer arrested the actress after he observed signs she had been drinking and administered a field sobriety test. She was booked at the police station, cited, and released on her own recognizance. On May 27, 2010, she pleaded no contest to one count misdemeanor and was placed on three years' probation and ordered to undergo a nine-month alcohol program. She was also ordered to pay a $510 fine, plus penalty assessments. In exchange for her plea, a second misdemeanor count was dismissed.

Filmography

Film

Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) - Juror

Television

Baretta (1975) - Jill

Most Wanted (1976)

Three's Company (1977–1984) - Janet Wood/Dawson

With This Ring (1978) - Jilly Weston

Supertrain (1979) - Natalie Smithburne

The Ropers (1979) - Janet Wood

The Love Boat (1979) - Jackie Landers

The B.B. Beegle Show (1980) - Herself

Steve Martin: Comedy Is Not Pretty (1980) - Love God's Date

Finder of Lost Loves (1984) - Lynn Powell

The Berenstain Bears (1985–1987) - voices

Spring Fling! (1995) - Linda Hayden

Living Single (1998) - Herself

Hope Island (2000) - Laetitia Barton, Laverne Cranston

The Nick at Nite Holiday Special (2003) - Miss DeWitt, The Housekeeper

The 3rd Annual TV Land Awards (2005) - Susan Mayer

As producer

Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company (2003)