The famous Joan Hotchkis was an American stage, screen, and television actress, writer, and performance artist. A lifetime member of the Actors Studio and the Dramatists Guild, Hotchkis is best known for playing Dr. Nancy Cunningham for several seasons on The Odd Couple.
From the 1950s through the 1990s, Hotchkis played many roles in television, film, and theater (summer stock and Broadway). She was featured in Broadway productions of It’s a Bird It’s a Plane It’s Superman (Philadelphia previews), Advise and Consent and Write Me A Murder before playing Myra on the soap opera The Secret Storm for several years in the early 1960s.
In 1967, she moved back to Los Angeles and worked steadily in television through the 1970s. Most notably, Hotchkis played Dr. Nancy Cunningham, sometime girlfriend of Oscar Madison on the television version of The Odd Couple; Ellen in the Emmy-winning series My World and Welcome to It, and co-starred on L.A.T.E.R. (1980).
Scene from The Odd Couple with (from left): Hotchkis and fellow actors Fred Beir, Jack Klugman, and Janis Hansen. Hotchkis also made many guest appearances on TV shows such as Bewitched, St. Elsewhere, Lou Grant, Charlie’s Angels, Mannix, Marcus Welby, Barnaby Jones, and more. On the big screen, she co-starred as Mama Hartley in the feature film Ode to Billy Joe (1976).
Hotchkis began writing original material in the 70s, beginning with a one-woman play, Legacy depicting an upper-class housewife having a mental and emotional breakdown. Eric Morris directed the play on stage; director Karen Arthur saw the play and approached Hotchkis proposing to make a film version, with Arthur as director and Hotchkis as writer, producer, and star. The resulting film, Legacy (1975), won Best Newcomer at the Tehran Film Festival.
In the early 1980s, Hotchkis returned to the stage, performing for several years in regional theaters such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Milwaukee Repertory Theater before returning home to star in The Glass Menagerie at Los Angeles Theater Center and do occasional television roles.
Joan Hotchkis’s cause of death
Joan Hotchkis’s death was caused by Congestive heart failure. It occurs when the heart muscle doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. When this happens, blood often backs up and fluid can build up in the lungs, causing shortness of breath. Hotchkis died in Los Angeles on September 27, 2022, at the age of 95, due to congestive heart failure.
Joan Hotchkis husband
Joan Hotchkis’s husband was called Robert Forster, no one knows how they started their relationship but they got along and got married and later divorced in the year of 1967.
Joan Hotchkis children
Joan Hotchkis has only one child and her name is Paula Chambers.
Joan Hotchkis parents
Joan Hotchkis’s parents were Katherine Hotchkis and, Preston Hotchkis.
Joan Hotchkis’s net worth
Joan Hotchkis’s net worth was approximately around $8 million.
Joan Hotchkis funeral
Joan Hotchkis’s funeral will be private, donations can be made to support the rights of women, artists, and elders.
