Joanne Woodward Biography

Joanne Woodward is an American actress best known for her Academy Award-winning role in the movie ‘The Three Faces of Eve.’ She is also a producer, activist and philanthropist. Over the course of her long and productive career she has portrayed a variety of roles, displaying her versatility as a character actress. She played all her roles with the same sincerity, whether it was of a shy schoolteacher or a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder. Born to a movie buff, she was named after her mother’s favorite actress, Joan Crawford, with a slight variation. Her mother took her to the movies when she was a little girl and soon Joanne too became fascinated with the silver screen. Beautiful and talented, the girl won many beauty contests as a teenager and soon started appearing in theatrical productions. Her father did not approve of her choice of a profession while her mother supported her with much delight. With time she established herself as a successful actress on the Broadway and also in Hollywood. In her film career she appeared in a number of movies with her husband, the superstar Paul Newman. Along with Newman she also established the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a nonprofit residential summer camp which provides free services to children coping with serious illnesses.