Joyce DeWitt's Life Was Much Different Before Her Three's Company Fame
"Come and knock on our door, we've been waiting for you" — when those lyrics came blaring through the television screen, you knew it was time for another classic episode of "Three's Company." John Ritter, Suzanne Somers, and Joyce DeWitt became household names in the entertainment industry for playing the iconic roles of Jack, Chrissy, and Janet on the '70s sitcom show. While their life after the series was filled with all the glamor and fame that Hollywood had to offer, DeWitt's life before that was much different.
DeWitt grew up with a simple life. Her parents had four children, and DeWitt was the second oldest. Although she was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, the actor grew up in Indiana. Over the next couple of years, DeWitt went from a little girl to a Hollywood superstar thanks to "Three's Company."
The television show catapulted her into fame, and she wasn't naïve about how it changed her life. She told The Star in 2009, "I really felt that 'Three's Company' was a gift. When it ended, I had money in the bank and had the luxury to pursue a life that meant something, to learn and discover." DeWitt's role in "Three's Company" put her on the map, but there's so much more to her story than just playing Janet. Here's how DeWitt's life was different before her famous breakthrough.
Joyce DeWitt had no money and a concerned father
Joyce DeWitt's father was as old school as they come. Paul DeWitt, Joyce's father, was born in 1925. He and his wife, Norma DeWitt, welcomed the actor nearly 20 years later in 1946. Although 20 years doesn't seem that long, there were definitely some generational differences between Joyce and Paul, one being her career.
In an interview with The Hamilton Spectator in 2021, the "Three's Company" actor admitted her father was concerned with the career path she wanted to have. She shared, "My dad was very disturbed with this notion." Paul couldn't seem to wrap his head around the idea of his daughter taking on such a daunting career, especially with how he grew up. Joyce explained, "Remember this was a time when women either got married, or became a nun. The idea of an actress's independent lifestyle was terrifying to him."
Despite her father's concern, the former Indiana resident knew she needed to take the leap of faith to pursue acting. She traveled to Los Angeles in her $50 car with not much to her name, per The Hamilton Spectator. She shared, "I went to K-Mart and bought material to make a bedspread. There was a two-burner hot plate on top of the toilet. It was straight out of some American TV comedy. Here I was, this little girl from West Virginia in the land of freedom and love, and my daddy didn't own me anymore."
Joyce DeWitt was working on her acting career years before 'Three's Company'
Although Joyce DeWitt's seemed like an overnight success with "Three's Company," that wasn't necessarily true. For years, DeWitt had been working hard on honing her acting skills. The actor admitted to Sitcoms Online in 2011 that she started acting when she was 13. From that point on, DeWitt's love for the profession only grew. According to Beaver County Times, DeWitt did theater in high school and pursued her passion as she entered college. During her summer breaks, DeWitt would participate in various acting programs, and it was through one of these programs, that a professor convinced her to go to California.
DeWitt revealed to Sitcoms Online, "A guest director for that summer season was one of the senior professors at UCLA Department of Theater and he was just relentless the entire summer that I needed to go out to California and I should do the MFA program at UCLA." The professor recognized DeWitt's talent and couldn't let go of the idea of the actor moving to Hollywood. Finally, the "Three's Company" star agreed to make the move. From then on, it seemed like the stars aligned. She shared, "I finally relented and said 'I'll go for quarter (because UCLA is in the quarter system, not semester system), OK fine...,' you know and life unfolded and within a couple of years there was 'Three's Company' and I had this MFA and life just unfolded." Talk about some serious fate.