When she starred in the cult television show Three’s Company, Joyce DeWitt, 74, became a household name. The actress worked about a decade in the business, but after the show was canceled, she decided to take a long break from Hollywood.
DeWitt is back working in the business after having starred in several television shows and films. And still, to this day, the 74-year-old looks just as amazing as decades ago!
So what made Joyce DeWitt leave Hollywood? And why did she and co-star Suzanne Somers not speak for 30 years? This is all you need to know about her – and her last meeting with Three’s Company co-star John Ritter before his passing.
On April 23, 1949, Joyce DeWitt was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. She was the second oldest of four to her parents, Paul and Norma DeWitt, and her childhood was split between West Virginia and Indiana.
Joyce DeWitt – early life
Performing was always something that was on Joyce’s mind. In fact, she knew before she started school that she wanted to perform.
“Growing up, I was a total movie-holic, but I always wanted to play the role that Clark Gable was playing or Spencer Tracy was playing. I was really never interested in the parts that women were playing,” she told Playbill. “I found the parts that guys were playing were so much more interesting.”
“[Performing] was never a hobby. I wasn’t even in school yet, and I knew what I was going to do. Of course, everyone just laughed at me. I knew very early on.”
Joyce DeWitt made her debut on stage when she was 13. It became her second home, and by that time, she had an enormous passion and love for performing. Joyce began taking acting lessons when she was attending Speedway Senior High School and later enrolled at Ball State University, from where she graduated in 1972. However, the up-and-coming actress was very intent on life in New York, where she wanted to work in theater.
Like many actors and actresses before her, “The Big Apple” was full of competition and could be a very rough place for some. That became clear for Joyce DeWitt, as she struggled once arriving in New York. She always wanted to work on Broadway, but she realized that it had to wait.
When she starred in the cult television show Three’s Company, Joyce DeWitt, 74, became a household name. The actress worked about a decade in the business, but after the show was canceled, she decided to take a long break from Hollywood.
DeWitt is back working in the business after having starred in several television shows and films. And still, to this day, the 74-year-old looks just as amazing as decades ago!
So what made Joyce DeWitt leave Hollywood? And why did she and co-star Suzanne Somers not speak for 30 years? This is all you need to know about her – and her last meeting with Three’s Company co-star John Ritter before his passing.
On April 23, 1949, Joyce DeWitt was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. She was the second oldest of four to her parents, Paul and Norma DeWitt, and her childhood was split between West Virginia and Indiana.
Joyce DeWitt – early life
Performing was always something that was on Joyce’s mind. In fact, she knew before she started school that she wanted to perform.
“Growing up, I was a total movie-holic, but I always wanted to play the role that Clark Gable was playing or Spencer Tracy was playing. I was really never interested in the parts that women were playing,” she told Playbill. “I found the parts that guys were playing were so much more interesting.”
“[Performing] was never a hobby. I wasn’t even in school yet, and I knew what I was going to do. Of course, everyone just laughed at me. I knew very early on.”
Joyce DeWitt made her debut on stage when she was 13. It became her second home, and by that time, she had an enormous passion and love for performing. Joyce began taking acting lessons when she was attending Speedway Senior High School and later enrolled at Ball State University, from where she graduated in 1972. However, the up-and-coming actress was very intent on life in New York, where she wanted to work in theater.
Like many actors and actresses before her, “The Big Apple” was full of competition and could be a very rough place for some. That became clear for Joyce DeWitt, as she struggled once arriving in New York. She always wanted to work on Broadway, but she realized that it had to wait.
Joyce DeWitt
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Instead, she did a summer-stock season in Chicago after finishing her undergraduate work and later moved to the west coast to enroll at UCLA for grad school.
Starred as Janet Woods in ‘Three’s Company’
DeWitt kept her focus on returning to New York City to pursue her dream of working on Broadway. However, life had other plans for her.
She finished her Master of Fine Arts at UCLA and was cast in Stop the World,I Want To Get Off. Finally, DeWitt was off, and it didn’t take long before her big breakthrough landed in front of her.
