The Tragic Death Of Actor Joan Copeland
Actor Joan Maxine Miller, also known as Joan Copeland, died on January 4 in her sleep at her Manhattan home on Central Park West, her son Eric Kupchik informed The Hollywood Reporter. Copeland was 99 years old when she died, and she lived a full and robust life that exuded opulence and was extravagantly old Hollywood. Copeland started her career in 1945 and became the first female lead in a production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Copeland also worked on several daytime soap operas, including "Search for Tomorrow," "The Edge of Night," "How to Survive a Marriage," "As the World Turns," and "One Life to Live," per IMDB.
"From the time I was a little girl I had the stage bug," Copeland told The New York Times in 1981. "It was like a big dream, like kids who want to fly to the moon today. Perhaps I was unconsciously influenced by my brother. He had made it. I was desperate to get out of the dreariness I was living in."
Aside from a glamorous acting career that stretched across decades, Copeland's personal life was very glam as well. Copeland was the younger sister of the famous playwright, Arthur Miller, according to People. Copeland also was Marilyn Monroe's sister-in-law for five years and ironically, Copeland's first film was "The Goddess," which was reportedly based on Monroe, per The Mirror.
Many are mourning Joan Copelands' death
After World War II, Joan Copeland was almost blacklisted from Hollywood due to her being associated with her brother, Arthur Miller. Miller was blacklisted for refusing to testify against the former members of the American Communist Party in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee, per Spartacus Educational. "Because I was related to [Miller] I was associated with the blacklist," Copeland said to HuffPost in 2011. "My career suffered a lot because of it. At the time, I didn't know that's why I wasn't getting work in television and radio. It was a disastrous happening to culture. Theater was different; it was not affected as drastically."
The period didn't dim Copeland's shine, and fans are sharing their memories on Twitter. "I met Joan Copeland, who has died at 99, five or six years ago when I was working on a radio show about her brother, Arthur Miller. I said I was sorry never to have seen her do "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" in "Pal Joey." So she performed it for me," one Twitter user said. Theatre artist Ryan G. Hinds also tweeted a fond memory: "[Copeland said] You know that story you told about John and Fred writing that song at the dinner party? THAT WAS MY DINNER PARTY. Now how did you know that?" A real NYC dame...not to mention sharp as a tack." May she rest in peace.