Joanna Gleason

Joanna Gleason (née Hall; born June 2, 1950) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is a Tony Award-winning musical theatre actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles. --- Gleason was born in Toronto, Ontario, as the daughter of Marilyn (née Plottel), a producer, writer, and actress; and television personality Monty Hall. At the time of her birth, her father was working at the Canadian Wheat Board and had changed his name from Halperin to Hall. He later started his TV career and went on to fame as host of Let's Make a Deal. Monty Hall's brother, Robert Halperin, also changed his name to Hall. In May 1956, the Hall family moved to New York and, in the early 1960s, they again moved to Los Angeles, California. Gleason graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1968. While attending BHHS she was in the school's productions of The Music Man, The Mikado, The Grass Harp, and The Madwoman of Chaillot. In high school Gleason received acting instruction from John Ingle, the soap-opera star, who taught at BHHS from 1955 to 1985. She continued her education at UCLA, then Occidental College, from which she graduated. Gleason has been a teacher herself, holding classes and workshops all over the country. Although Gleason has had an active film and TV career, she is probably best known for her stage work. Gleason made her Broadway debut in 1977 in I Love My Wife, for which she was honored with a Theatre World Award. Gleason's TV and film career also began in 1977, her first appearance was on Let's Make A Deal starring Monty Hall at the Hilton Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2007, Gleason was honored by the New England Theatre Conference with a Special Award for her Achievement in Theatre. --- Gleason has been married to actor Chris Sarandon since 1994. The two met while performing in Broadway's 1991 short-lived musical Nick & Nora. They returned to the stage together in 1998's Thorn and Bloom and have also collaborated on several films, including Road Ends, Edie and Pen, Let the Devil Wear Black, and American Perfekt. Gleason was twice married previously. She was married to acting coach Paul G. Gleason, whose last name she kept as her professional surname. Later she married Michael Bennahum. Gleason and Chris Sarandon have four children between them: Aaron David Gleason, from her first marriage, and Stephanie, Alexis, and Michael Sarandon, from Sarandon's second marriage.