Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 â€" December 7, 1990) was an
American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a showbiz
family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the
stage, Bennett then appeared in more than 70 films from the era of
silent movies, well into the sound era. She is possibly
best-remembered for her film noir femme fatale roles in director Fritz
Lang's movies such as Man Hunt (1941), The Woman in the Window (1944),
and Scarlet Street (1945).Bennett's career had three distinct phases:
first as a winsome blonde ingenue, then as a sensuous brunette femme
fatale (with looks that movie magazines often compared to those of
Hedy Lamarr), and finally as a warmhearted wife-and-mother figure.In
1951, Bennett's screen career was marred by scandal after her third
husband, film producer Walter Wanger, shot and injured her agent
Jennings Lang. Wanger suspected that Lang and Bennett were having an
affair, a charge which she adamantly denied. Bennett married four
times.In the 1960s, she achieved success for her portrayal of
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard on TV's gothic fan favorite, Dark Shadows,
for which she received an Emmy nomination (1968). For her final movie
role, as Madame Blanc in Dario Argento's cult horror film Suspiria
(1977), she received a Saturn Award nomination. Her obituary in The
New York Times stated she was "one of the most underrated actresses of
her time."
American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a showbiz
family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the
stage, Bennett then appeared in more than 70 films from the era of
silent movies, well into the sound era. She is possibly
best-remembered for her film noir femme fatale roles in director Fritz
Lang's movies such as Man Hunt (1941), The Woman in the Window (1944),
and Scarlet Street (1945).Bennett's career had three distinct phases:
first as a winsome blonde ingenue, then as a sensuous brunette femme
fatale (with looks that movie magazines often compared to those of
Hedy Lamarr), and finally as a warmhearted wife-and-mother figure.In
1951, Bennett's screen career was marred by scandal after her third
husband, film producer Walter Wanger, shot and injured her agent
Jennings Lang. Wanger suspected that Lang and Bennett were having an
affair, a charge which she adamantly denied. Bennett married four
times.In the 1960s, she achieved success for her portrayal of
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard on TV's gothic fan favorite, Dark Shadows,
for which she received an Emmy nomination (1968). For her final movie
role, as Madame Blanc in Dario Argento's cult horror film Suspiria
(1977), she received a Saturn Award nomination. Her obituary in The
New York Times stated she was "one of the most underrated actresses of
her time."
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