After making her first stage appearance at the age of 13, Joyce Dewitt was enthralled by the world of theatre. The actress who starred in Three’s Company became so enamored with the acting profession that she defied her father’s wishes and moved to Hollywood.
The veteran actor’s true calling was in the theatre, but destiny had other plans for her, and she ended up on the Hollywood lot as a cast member of the hit sitcom Three’s Company. Dewitt, a strong female character, has frequently defied societal norms and negotiated her life path.
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Joyce Dewitt Was a Lady Ahead of Her time!
Actor and fierce woman, ahead of her time and the norm, were the ABC sitcom’s stars in her heyday.
Joyce was born in a time when women were not allowed to pursue their dreams. So when she finally broke the news to her father that she’d always wanted to be an actress, he wasn’t pleased.
Her parents, Paul and Norma Dewitt raised her and her six siblings in Indiana. While little is known about Joyce’s upbringing or her parents’ alleged strictness, it is known that her father was opposed to her pursuing a film career.
Despite her father’s disapproval, the aspiring actress pursued her dream anyway. In 1974, she moved to California to pursue a master’s degree in theatre at UCLA, which she completed in 1977.
However, deciding to pursue a career as an actress was not an easy one. The veteran actress once described in an interview with The Spec how difficult it can be to land a role on screen after audition after audition.
This is how she began her journey across the country, renting an apartment in LA, escaping her family for the first time in her life, and finally embracing the independence she had always craved.
Even though she had some disagreements with her parents in the beginning about her career path, the actress developed a close relationship with them later on. A conversation between the actress and Jim Longworth revealed how much time she spends daily talking to her father.
With how her career has progressed, it’s clear that the former stage actress’s parents have nothing to gripe about. For a while, Joyce was forced to work as a legal secretary to make ends meet as an actor.
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As a result of moving to Los Angeles, she was cast in a production of Stop the World, I Want to Get Off, before discovering a pilot for the show Three’s Company.’ She was cast as Janet Wood, a smart and easygoing roommate, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Dewitt Never Wanted to Wait on Any Man. And She Didn’t
Given Dewitt’s low-key image, her past or current love life isn’t as well-known as it could be. Ray Bektenica, the star of My Girl, had a tumultuous relationship with the actress.
When the sitcom actress and her ex-boyfriend disagreed, they broke up. DeWitt was unable to accept the role of merely a housewife. But even though she gave it everything she had, her inner rebel wouldn’t let her accept the expected.
She commented during an interview with People in 1980 when she was asked about her relationship with Ray Buktenica:
After all, she hadn’t rebelled to be an actress against her parents’ wishes by doing housework instead. Misogyny was the norm at the time, so Dewitt rebelled in the best way she knew how.
Before she finally called it quits, they had been in a committed relationship for seven long years. After a long relationship with Buktenica, it’s not clear if the actress ever got married.
Net Worth
DeWitt is thought to be worth $5 million as of August 2021. Since she’s been on the big screen for so long, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Her acting in films, television shows, and guest appearances accounts for the bulk of her wealth.
In 2012, Suzzane’s Somers talk show was the 72-year-last old’s on-screen appearance.
