Recognize her? Better sit before you learn her true identity…

Joan van Ark was born on June 16, 1943, in New York City, New York. Her parents were not connected to the film industry.

When Joan was a teenager acting in Denver, she met actress Julie Harris, and their lives would never be the same.

Julie pushed her to go to the highly regarded Yale Drama School and gain admission using a scholarship she had also set up.

This made Joan Van Ark the second-ever woman to enroll at the Drama School

She [Harris] wrote to the dean and asked him to meet me. “Long story short, my parents drove me to New Haven, Connecticut, to meet the dean, who gave me a scholarship,” Joan recalled.” It was meant to be.” Joan went on to perform in the theatre for a few years, but her real passion was in Television.

Temperature’s Rising, Spider-Woman, and Days of Our Lives

Joan achieved enormous renown as a result of her roles in Temperature’s Rising, Spider-Woman, Days of Our Lives, and even one Bonanza episode. But her role as Valene Ewing on Dallas in 1978 was where she first achieved great popularity. She ended up playing the most important role she has ever had.

Because of how popular the show was, Joan appeared on its spin-off, Knots Landing. a program that was actually written prior to Dallas. Dallas was initially chosen by the producers because it was the best option for portraying affluent households at the time. Joan was then forced to play the same part in Dallas instead of joining the Knots Landing cast.

13 Seasons of Knots Landing ensued for Joan Van Ark

The person who actually convinced Joan to accept the part while already working on two other projects was her husband, renowned newscaster John Marshall. There was a moment when Val Ewing’s mother was scheduled to make her television debut. Surprise, surprise—Julie Harris was chosen for the position. The person who mattered the most to her in all the world was this.

“When the producers told me they had finally last someone to play my mother, I held my breath,” she recalled in a 1984 interview with Florida Today. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, are they going to say Phyllis Diller or Zsa Zsa Gabor, or who?’ Then they said it was Julie Harris, and I went right through the roof. I couldn’t believe they had picked her to be my mother. They didn’t even know we were friends.”

327 Episodes later, Joan Van Ark was ready for new ventures

13 Seasons and 327 episodes later, Joan left a season before the show saw its final season air. She knew many blamed her leaving on the cancellation of the show, but she was ready for new adventures. “I have loved more than life the 13 years I’ve had on that show,” she said. “[Knots Landing creator] David Jacobs is a great influence on my life, has taught me so much about so many things.”

Ted [Shackelford] is the other half of every breath I take on the show, and personally, he’s a large part of my heart. The people are my family–we have shared marriages, deaths, and divorces. It’s far more difficult to leave than I thought.” Joan thereafter appeared on The Young and The Restless as Gloria Fisher.

In high school, John Marshall first met Joan, and the two quickly got married. They have a lovely daughter named Vanessa Marshall who works in the entertainment industry at the moment. After 56 years of marriage, the pair is still very much in love and leads extremely private lives away from the spotlight.

78 years old with a net worth of $10 million

At 78 years old, Joan has amassed a $10 million net worth and is still as gorgeous as ever when seen out and about in Los Angeles. She was last seen three years ago and was just seen paying for parking at a meter while wearing workout clothes and a ponytail.

She co-starred in the 2017 television film Psycho Wedding Crasher, which was her most recent and final appearance on screen.

Joan Van Ark, who has worked in the film industry for the past 50 years, has joined The Actor’s Studio as a life member. What an icon!

I Yelled ‘I Don’t!’ at My Own Wedding after Conversation with Groom’s Mother Whose Plan Almost Worked Out

After a chance encounter and years of dating, Ryan and Hanna are about to walk down the aisle and commit to each other. But when Ryan’s mother reveals an incriminating video of Ryan with another woman, Hanna feels her heartbreak. But later, the truth of the video is revealed, along with more deceit than Hanna ever expected.

Do parents just enjoy dropping bombshells before weddings? When I say before—I mean 30 minutes before?

Because that’s exactly what Ryan’s mother did.

Ryan and I met two years ago—it was one of those by-chance meetings. I was at the community theatre because one of my friends, Mila, was in the local musical with her directorial debut.

So, there I was, standing outside after the performance, holding a bouquet of flowers for Mila. Ryan walked out, and because of the crowd, walked directly into me, crushing the flowers.

“I am so sorry,” he said, picking up the bouquet.

“I hate crowds,” I said.

He chuckled and gestured for us to move away from the door.

“I’m not a fan either,” he said. “I’m Ryan.”

“Hanna,” I said, introducing myself.

Just three months into our romance, Ryan proposed in a pub while drinking Guinness and eating crispy potato skins.

Last week, we should have sealed that promise with our wedding vows. But our wedding went in the complete opposite direction it should have gone.

Initially, my family welcomed Ryan with open arms. As the only daughter, my parents were thrilled that I had met someone who genuinely made me happy.

“This is a different side to you, Hanna,” my mother said one evening when we had Ryan over for family dinner.

“He makes her happy,” my father said, smiling. “That’s all a father could want.”

Ryan felt welcome—he felt the warmth that they showered him, and through that, we grew stronger as a couple, too.

On his side, it was more or less the same thing. The Coles opened their home and hearts to me, and they wanted nothing more than to have us over as much as possible. Mrs. Cole, Audrey, had gotten into a coffee date and manicure routine with me, too.

Everything felt right—until the very moment it wasn’t.

Leading up to our wedding, I was the calmest I could have been. It was a small church wedding, and Ryan and I had planned the intimate affair right down to the little details. We knew exactly what we wanted and how to make it special for our day.

But on what was meant to be the happiest day of my life, just before the ceremony, my soon-to-be mother-in-law pulled me aside.

“Darling,” she said. “Can we chat for a moment?”

I nodded and told her to wait until my glam team was done with my hair and makeup.

Something about her demeanor made me feel anxious and nervous. I watched her movements from my reflection in the mirror.

Her eyes moved around the room quickly, often settling on my wedding dress hanging from its hook.

When I was ready, and my mother was buttoning up my dress, I turned to Audrey.

“I’m ready when you are,” I said, smiling at her.

Her eyes glazed over, seeing me in the dress. She had been at my fittings before, but this was the moment that Audrey and my mother would see the full effect of my bridal outfit.

“Hanna,” Audrey said. “There’s no easy way for me to say this.”

My heart thundered in my chest. While my hair was being done, and I sat watching her, I knew that nothing good was going to come from our conversation.

“Just say it,” I said. “Tell me.”

Audrey pulled her phone out of her clutch and held it out for me.

“There are videos on this phone that will explain everything. I am so sorry, Hanna, but Ryan needs to be caught out.”

My mind raced. I couldn’t fathom what I was about to see once her phone was unlocked.

“Here,” she said, handing me her phone as a woman’s voice echoed through the room.

The videos on Audrey’s phone revealed Ryan with another woman, in clandestine affection, undeniable betrayal.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “This is him?”

Audrey closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Well, look at the jacket on the bed,” she said. “Isn’t that the one you got him?”

I pressed play again, and looked at the jacket. The hotel room also looked familiar—I was so sure that we had been there before.

“But Ryan’s face isn’t in the frame,” I said.

I was struggling. I couldn’t believe that my almost mother-in-law was standing in front of me with a video showing her son’s affair.

“Hanna,” she said slowly. “It’s right in front of you. You can choose to overlook it, but think of the man that you would be marrying if you choose to ignore it. Could you live with yourself knowing that? Could you live with him?”

I shook my head. I wanted to cry because of how overwhelmed I was.

“Fine,” I said.

“You’re calling off the wedding?” Audrey asked, hope lining her voice.

“No,” I said. “I’m going to walk down that aisle. I’m going to walk to the man who has been unfaithful to me. And when the time comes for our vows, I’ll break it off then.”

“Okay, dear,” Audrey said, putting her phone back into her bag. “It’s almost time now, anyway.”

I sat down on the chaise, and waited for my father to come and get me when it was time to marry Ryan. I wanted nothing more than to get into a car and drive away to some place where I could eat my feelings in a mountain of fries.

My heart violently pounded with fury as I approached the altar on my father’s arm. Ryan, aware of the storm brewing beneath my skin, smiled tenderly at me. He took my hand and squeezed it.

It would have been absolutely perfect, except for the fact that he had been with someone else.

Our priest went on to quote scripture about love and matrimony from the Bible. And when it was time for our vows, my heart quietened down—finally realizing what was about to come.

“I don’t,” I said softly, more to the ground than to Ryan.

“Speak louder, Hanna,” the priest said.

“I don’t!” I said more confidently, the words echoing like a resounding shockwave.

Ryan’s shock morphed into confusion as I repeated those two words again.

“Hanna? What?” he asked, hurt and betrayal deep in his voice.

“Ask your mom,” I said, pointing at Audrey. “Mrs. Cole, please tell everyone what you told me earlier.”

The church hushed immediately, as if everyone were holding their breath. With shaking hands, she opened her bag and took out her phone. Like earlier, she held it out to me.

“Look,” I said to Ryan.

Ryan took a step back, almost falling over the wedding arch.

“That is not me, Hanna!” he said loudly. “Hanna, you know it’s not me!”

I refused to look him in the eye.

Then he confronted his mother.

“Mom, what is all this? What is that? Where did you get that video?”

Audrey shook her head and walked down the aisle, leaving the church in silence.

I could not bear to hear Ryan’s excuses.

“Hanna, please,” he said. “I need you to believe me.”

And I wanted to. Of course, I wanted to believe the man I loved. But it was clear, the jacket that I bought him lay across the bed in the video. He had been with someone else.

And if there was the possibility that he wasn’t with another person—how would he explain the video? And the woman who was barely dressed? And the sound effects?

“I can’t do this,” I said. “I won’t.”

I ran out of the side door, my parents following closely behind.

Ryan continued to reach out to me for the rest of the day—and when night settled, I finally blocked his number.

Yet, two days later, when I was wrapped in a blanket wondering where everything had gone wrong—Ryan showed up at my parents’ house with takeout and flowers.

“You expect this to fix everything?” I asked.

“I need to talk,” he said simply.

Against my better judgment, I listened.

What Ryan revealed next sent me down another spiral.

He had confronted Audrey after the wedding.

“I went straight to her house,” he said. “She was sitting there, in her kitchen, eating toast and listening to old records as though she hadn’t just ruined our wedding.”

“I think you did that,” I blurted out.

“Hanna,” he warned. “My mother orchestrated that video. The people in it are her students. And it was all because she didn’t want us to get married.”

My jaw hit the ground.

Audrey was a high school teacher—but she also tutored first-year college kids in English. So, when it truly came down to the fact that Ryan and I were actually getting married, she panicked. She called two of her college students, who were too eager to make a bit of extra money, to play the part.

“I thought she liked me,” I said while digging into the food Ryan had brought over. “Clearly she doesn’t if she put an entire video together.”

“She did say that the sounds were edited,” Ryan chuckled nervously. “But I’ve got to hand it to her, adding my jacket was a good touch.”

I didn’t understand how I felt. For the past two days, since walking away from my own wedding—I convinced myself that Ryan had been the bad guy in my story. That he was the villain who broke my heart, while his mother exposed him for who he was.

And yet, the reality was so much worse.

Here was a woman who had claimed me as the daughter she never had, only to break my heart before marrying her son.

She believed I was unworthy of Ryan.

I forgave Ryan immediately, and he did the same in return—I did accuse him of cheating on me in front of all our guests.

We’re still together, but I don’t know what the future holds. For now, I feel hurt and betrayed by Audrey. And I know that forgiveness will be difficult to come by for her.

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