Joan Benedict dies at 96: General Hospital and Candid Camera alum passed away amid stroke complications
- Actress died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on June 24
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Actress Joan Benedict, who worked in TV, film and on the stage over the course of decades, has died at the age of 96.
Benedict passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on June 24 due to complications she suffered after a stroke, a spokesperson for the family of the late actress confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on Monday.
Among the most high-profile projects Benedict worked on included Candid Camera, the original Steve Allen Show, soaps such as General Hospital and Days of Our Lives, and a stage show in which she played late hotelier Leona Helmsley.
Benedict played Helmsley, who died at 87 in 2007, in the play Leona, in which she performed solo within the confines of a jail cell. She also performed in the one-woman show The Loves of My Life, which was autobiographical.
Benedict had been in a number of high-profile Hollywood relationships. She was wed to How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying actor John Myhers from 1962 until he died of pneumonia in May of 1992.
Actress Joan Benedict, who worked in TV and on the stage over the course of decades, has died at the age of 96. Pictured in 2017 in LA
Benedict passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on June 24 due to complications she suffered after a stroke. Pictured in 2013 in Hollywood, California
Benedict was also wed to Academy Award winner Rod Steiger from 2000 through July of 2002, when he died at 77 as result of pneumonia and kidney failure following surgery on a gallbladder tumor.
Benedict and Steiger had also professionally collaborated on a pair of 2001 films: A Month of Sundays and the TV movie The Flying Dutchman.
She was also romantically involved with One Life to Live actor Jeremy Slate until his 2006 passing at the age of 80 from esophageal cancer.
Benedict told Women Fitness in September of 2016, 'Both of my husbands, and my lifetime partner, Jeremy, were wonderful men who respected me as an actress.
'They all died from different forms of cancer, so my memories are sometimes bittersweet, but with no regrets.'
Benedict had been affiliated with the stock company the late Allen Funt presided over for his Candid Camera franchise.
In recurring bits on the CBS comedy, she used a feather in her cap to tickle men who sat alongside her at the airport; making it difficult to passersby to light up her cigarette as she stood in a phone booth, according to THR.
She said that the key was to keep her composure amid the comedic bits, according to THR, saying, 'Essentially, it's acting; I can't laugh or the whole stunt is broken up.'
Benedict was also wed to Academy Award winner Rod Steiger from 2000 through July of 2002, when he died as result of pneumonia and kidney failure. Pictured in 1994
Benedict and Steiger had also professionally collaborated on a pair of 2001 films: A Month of Sundays and the TV movie The Flying Dutchman. Pictured in London in 2001
The twice-widowed actress was romantically involved with actor Jeremy Slate until his November 2006 passing at the age of 80 from esophageal cancer. Pictured in August of 2006 in Beverly Hills, California
Benedict said of her life loves in September of 2016, 'They all died from different forms of cancer, so my memories are sometimes bittersweet, but with no regrets'
Benedict also showed her comedic talents as a cast member on The Steve Allen Show on NBC. She acted in skits and also served as a Hazel Bishop cosmetics spokesperson during the timeframe.
Benedict was born on July 21, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York, and pursued a career in entertainment as a child, beginning at the age of seven tap dancing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, THR reported.
She furthered her education as an entertainer at the Rome Opera Ballet School and at The Actors Studio in New York City with the late Stella Adler.
She said of her work on the stage, according to Deadline: 'The theatre for me is like being in church. When you feel the audience, and feel that communication with other souls, it's like music.
'As a performer, I'm always pursuing that wonderful experience where you are completely alert and clear, and yet transported through your imagination.'
Early on in her career, she worked on the game show Masquerade Party, according to THR, and was an actress and Elizabeth Taylor's stand-in in the 1960 motion picture Butterfield 8.
She appeared in multiple movies in the 1970s, including 1979's The Prize Fighter, 1977's The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington and the 1974 short film Let's Call It Quits.
Benedict, pictured in August of 2014 in Hollywood, had a decades-long career across TV, film and the stage
Benedict released a memoir titled Brooklyn Baby: A Hollywood Star's Amazing Journey Through Love, Loss & Laughter in May of 2016. Pictured in 2013 in LA
(L-R) Ben Kingsley, Daniela Lavender, Pierce Brosnan, Olga Kurylenko and Benedict were pictured at the premiere of November Man in 2014
Benedict appeared in a number of TV shows during the 1980s, including Days of Our Lives, Hotel, Hunter, T.J. Hooker, Fantasy Island, The Incredible Hulk and The New Gidget.
Her final onscreen projects included a role on the series Dollhouse in 2009, and in films including 2017's Opus of an Angel and 2013's Dead Border.
She released a memoir titled Brooklyn Baby: A Hollywood Star's Amazing Journey Through Love, Loss & Laughter in May of 2016.
Benedict is survived by her daughter Claudia Myhers Tschudin and granddaughters Hanna Tschudin and Ashley Tschudin.
