# Joyce DeWitt

Joyce DeWitt (born April 23, 1949) is an American actress best known for playing Janet Wood on the ABC sitcom Three's Company from 1977 to 1984. Following costar John Ritter's death in 2003, DeWitt became the sole surviving cast member to have a starring role in all eight seasons of Three's Company. As of costar Suzanne Somers' death in 2023, DeWitt subsequently became the sole surviving cast member in a starring role to be present at the sitcom's onset.

## Early life

Joyce DeWitt was born on April 23, 1949, in Wheeling, West Virginia, and grew up in Speedway, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. She is of Italian descent from her mother. DeWitt began appearing on stage at the age of 13. She competed in speech and debate through the Indiana High School Forensic Association. She graduated from Speedway Senior High School, and once worked at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ticket office.
She earned her bachelor's degree in theater from Ball State University. Subsequently, while she was performing in summer stock, the director convinced her to enroll in UCLA's Department of Theater MFA program, where she was awarded the Master of Fine Arts Fellowship as well as the Clifton Webb Scholarship. She graduated in 1974.

## Career

While attending UCLA, she worked as a secretary until her television debut on an episode of Baretta. Contrary to rumors that she was mentored by actor Abe Vigoda, Dewitt has said that the two never met.
DeWitt is best known for her role as Janet Wood during the 1977–1984 run of the sitcom Three's Company, a job she obtained after being cast in the show's second pilot. She also played Janet in a 1979 episode of the spinoff series The Ropers.
After Three's Company ended in 1984, DeWitt appeared in an episode of Finder of Lost Loves in 1984, after which she quit acting for several years. She resumed acting with a part in a production of Noises Off at Michigan's Cherry County Playhouse in June 1991. She later appeared in the 1995 TV comedy film Spring Fling! A character based on her, voiced by another actress, appeared in a 1997 episode of Pinky and the Brain. She made an appearance in an episode of Cybill, and had a cameo on the penultimate episode of Living Single. Her 2000s works includes TV shows such as Hope Island, The Nick at Nite Holiday Special and Call of the Wild.
DeWitt co-produced and hosted the 2003 NBC-TV television film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Three's Company. In the film, DeWitt is portrayed by Melanie Paxson.
In 2008, she appeared in the indie film Failing Better Now. In 2009, DeWitt starred in a stage production of Married Alive in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
In June 2011, DeWitt succeeded Eve Plumb in the title role of the play Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage at the Downstairs Cabaret Theatre in New York City's Times Square. That same year, she appeared in a Canadian stage production of Dinner with Friends at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, Ontario.
In 2012, DeWitt appeared in two separate stage productions of Love Letters starring opposite Tab Hunter and Tony Dow, respectively. In August 2012, she starred with her niece, Katharine DeWitt, in a production of Remember Me at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida.
Also in 2012, DeWitt appeared on Suzanne Somers' talk show, Suzanne Somers: Breaking Through, during which she and Somers reminisced about their time on Three's Company together. Somers apologized for the conflict that arose between them, and they exchanged anecdotes about the last time they each spoke to their late co-star John Ritter. DeWitt's appearance on Somers' program marked the first time the two actresses had seen or spoken to each other since having a major falling out 31 years earlier, involving a salary dispute.
In 2018, DeWitt played Mother Superior in a stage production of Nunsense at the Hunterdon Hills Playhouse in New Jersey.

## Charity work

DeWitt participated with members of the House and Senate at the Capitol Hill Forum on Hunger and Homelessness, and has hosted presentations for the Family Assistance Program of Hollywood. She hosted the International Awards Ceremony at the White House for the Presidential End Hunger Awards, and co-hosted, with Jeff Bridges, the World Food Day Gala at the Kennedy Center.

## Personal life

DeWitt was in a romantic relationship with actor and director Ray Buktenica from 1973 to 1980.
On July 4, 2009, DeWitt was arrested in El Segundo, California, and cited for drunken driving. 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

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | Baretta | Mother Earth | Episode: "Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" |
| 1976 | Most Wanted | Cindy | TV movie |
| 1977–1984 | Three's Company | Janet Wood | Main cast (170 episodes) |
| 1978 | With This Ring | Jilly Weston | TV movie |
| 1979 | Supertrain | Natalie Smithburne | Episode: "Pirouette" |
| 1979 | The Ropers | Janet Wood | Episode: "The Party" |
| 1979 | The Love Boat | Jackie Landers | Episode: "The Audit Couple/The Scoop/My Boyfriend's Back" |
| 1980 | The B.B. Beegle Show | Herself (guest star) | TV pilot episode |
| 1984 | Finder of Lost Loves | Lynn Powell | Episode: "Portraits" |
| 1995 | Spring Fling! | Linda Hayden | TV movie |
| 1995 | Cybill | Psychic Pals Host | Episode: "The Odd Couples" |
| 1998 | Living Single | Herself (guest star) | Episode: "To Catch A Thief" |
| 1998 | Twitch City | Herself (guest star) | Episode: "I Look Like Joyce DeWitt" |
| 2000 | Hope Island | Laetitia Barton | Episode: "A Rising Tide Takes All Boats" |
| 2003 | The Nick at Nite Holiday Special | Miss DeWitt, The Housekeeper | TV special |
| 2009 | Call of the Wild | Jolene | Feature film |
| 2010 | Failing Better Now | Irene | Feature film |
| 2011 | The Great Fight | Randi Toney | Feature film |
| 2014 | Snapshot | First Lady | Feature film |
| 2014 | My Boyfriends' Dogs | Nikki | TV movie |
| 2015 | Rock Story | Judge Carol Anne Connelly | Feature film |
| 2018 | The Savant | Detective Randi Toney | Feature film |
| 2022 | Ask Me to Dance | Nana | Feature film |