# Joan Benedict Steiger

Joan Benedict Steiger (July 21, 1927 – June 24, 2024) was an American actress best known for her role as Edith Fairchild on General Hospital.

## Early life and education

Benedict Steiger was born in Brooklyn, New York, and first performed at the age of seven at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She continued her training at Rome Opera Ballet School, before studying with acting coaches Robert Lewis and Stella Adler, founders of the Actors Studio in New York.

## Career
### Theatre

Her list of stage credits include acclaimed productions of contemporary offerings such as Promises, Promises, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Collected Stories by Donald Margulies, P.J. Barry's The Octette Bridge Club, Horton Foote's The Traveling Lady, and Morris West's The World is Made of Glass, opposite Don Knotts in the comedy The Mind with the Dirty Man, and others.

### Film

Benedict Steiger is known for a classic bit from the original version of Candid Camera, where she played a lost tourist looking for directions from passersby. She was also part of the ensemble of the original Steve Allen Show, where she did double duty as the spokesperson for Hazel Bishop cosmetics. On daytime drama, she had regular and recurring roles on General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, and Capitol. She has a starring role the 2011 feature Dead Border.

## Personal life

Joan Benedict Steiger's personal relationships are the basis for her one-woman show, The Loves of my Life. Her first marriage was to actor John Myhers, best known for his work in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and they were married from 1962 until Myhers' death in 1992. Benedict Steiger is also the widow of the Academy Award-winning actor Rod Steiger, whom she married October 10, 2000. They appeared in two films together, A Month of Sundays and the telefilm The Flying Dutchman. Following Rod Steiger's death in 2002, Benedict Steiger's partner was actor Jeremy Slate, a veteran of over 80 films and television shows dating back to 1959, until his death in 2006.
Steiger lived in Malibu, California. She died from complications of a stroke at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, on June 24, 2024. She was 96.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1965 | Saturday Night in Apple Valley | Poopsie Patata |
| 1977 | The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington | Sally |
| 1979 | The Prize Fighter | Dori |
| 1988 | Perfect Victims | Receptionist |
| 2001 | A Month of Sundays | Dr. Stanz |
| 2004 | Sweet Underground | Martha |
| 2006 | The Theory of Everything | Judge |
| 2013 | Dead Border | Dr. Charlotte Barnes |
| 2017 | Opus of an Angel | Bird Lady |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1971 | The Smith Family | Marge | Episode: "Greener Pastures" |
| 1974 | Apple's Way | Mr. Knowles | Episode: "The Pen Pal" |
| 1980 | The Incredible Hulk | Society Woman | Episode: "Falling Angels" |
| 1981, 1982 | Fantasy Island | Announcer / Matron | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | T. J. Hooker | Mary | Episode: "Model for Murder" |
| 1985 | Berrenger's | Rue McDaniels | Episode: "For Gloria's Benefit" |
| 1985 | Crazy Like a Fox | M. C. | Episode: "Fox in 3/4 Time" |
| 1985 | Hunter | Jewelry Customer | Episode: "Waiting for Mr. Wrong" |
| 1986 | Hotel | Mrs. Adams | Episode: "Changes of Heart" |
| 1986 | Days of Our Lives | Real Estate Agent | Episode #1.5318 |
| 1986 | The New Gidget | Matron | Episode: "Super Gidget" |
| 1992 | The Trials of Rosie O'Neill | Wife | Episode: "Heartbreak Hotel" |
| 2001 | The Flying Dutchman | Moira | Television film |
| 2009 | Dollhouse | Old Lady | Episode: "A Spy in the House of Love" |