Joanna Kerns

Children1Relatives

Joanna Kerns is an American actress and director best known for her role as Maggie Seaver on the family situation comedy Growing Pains from 1985 to 1992.

Early life

Kerns was born Joanna Crussie DeVarona in San Francisco, California.^{[1][better source needed]} Her older sister is Olympic swimmer Donna de Varona and her aunt was silent film actress Miriam Cooper.^[2]

Kerns competed in the Olympic trials in 1968 and ranked 14th out of 28.^[3][4]

Career

Early roles

Kerns got her start in show business as a dancer before turning to acting. She attended UCLA and majored in dance. There, she saw an advertisement for a Gene Kelly production called Clown Around and applied for an audition. To take the part, however, she would have to drop out of college and move to New York, which she did. After Clown Around, Joanna also got parts in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Two Gentlemen of Verona and Ulysses in Nighttown, where she was directed by Burgess Meredith.^[3]

Meredith also introduced Kerns to Peggy Feury, under whom Kerns studied acting. In 1972, she moved back to California and landed a job as a backup dancer at Disneyland, and started auditioning for TV commercials and steady acting jobs.

On May 4, 1977, she made an appearance on Charlie's Angels as Natalie, a worker at a massage parlor in the episode "The Blue Angels".^{[citation needed]}

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kerns started making a name for herself in guest spots on many televisions shows that included: Emergency!, CHiPs, The A-Team, Starsky & Hutch, Street Hawk, Laverne and Shirley, Three's Company, Hill Street Blues, The Love Boat, Hunter, Quincy, M.E., Magnum, P.I., and V, as well as many commercials. During an interview, Kerns said, "I kind of was always looking for the next thing; I auditioned for anything, hoping to get a big break" (Lifetime's Intimate Portrait). Then, Kerns got her first steady acting job in 1983, starring as Pat Devon in a new CBS series called The Four Seasons, which lasted only one season.^[5] The sitcom, which was based on a 1981 movie of the same name, was about three couples who all lived under the same roof in California. Although the show was not well received by television critics, her part proved to producers that she was capable of acting as a leading lady.

Growing Pains

Soon after the cancellation of The Four Seasons, Kerns auditioned for a new series in late 1984, called Growing Pains. She auditioned with Alan Thicke, who was just coming off the failure of his TV talk show Thicke of the Night. Kerns joked in many interviews that Alan and she had immediate chemistry, especially when she kissed him on his nose by accident during their audition together. Kerns and Thicke's chemistry won them both the parts, and the two became great friends off the show.

During the success of Growing Pains, Kerns began to star in television movies, where she played controversial parts very different from the beloved all-American mom, Maggie Seaver. One such performance that shocked audiences was her 1992 movie, The Nightman, in which Kerns played a highly sexual business woman who was a motel owner. Her many TV movies include: Those She Left Behind, Blind Faith, The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake, Shameful Secrets, and No One Could Protect Her.

After Growing Pains roles and directing career

After Growing Pains ended, Kerns turned to directing. She directed one episode of Growing Pains while starring on the show and got hooked. In an interview, Kerns stated, "Directing is where I've always wanted to go". She loved directing and decided to change the focus of her career from acting to directing, while continuing to make rare appearances in front of the camera when the right parts come along. She has also directed episodes of television shows including Dawson's Creek, Titans, Scrubs, Private Practice, Psych, Felicity, Grey's Anatomy, Privileged, ER, Ghost Whisperer, Army Wives, Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, The Goldbergs, This Is Us, and Fuller House.^{[citation needed]} Kerns also directed Annie Potts in an original made-for-television movie for Lifetime TV entitled: Defending Our Kids: The Julie Posey Story. She has since made a number of shorts,^[6] and directed the sixth episode of Pitch, a sports drama on Fox.

Kerns has also made notable appearances in feature films, including A*P*E, Girl, Interrupted, and the 2007 comedy Knocked Up.

She has also co-founded the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards given to women in acting.

Kerns was a member of the Motion Picture and Television Fund Board of Trustees from 2004 through 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

In 1974, Kerns met a commercial producer, Richard Kerns, on the set of a commercial, and they married two years later. Their marriage lasted nine years and the couple had a daughter, Ashley Cooper. In 1994 Kerns married Marc Appleton, a prominent Los Angeles architect. In August 2019, Kerns filed for divorce from Appleton.^[7][8]

Kerns dated comedian and actor Freddie Prinze a short time before he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The two had worked together on the 1976 TV movie, The Million Dollar Rip-Off.^[9]

In 2004, Kerns wrote a letter of support for convicted sex offender Brian Peck before his sentencing in the case. Peck had been found guilty of sexual offences against a minor. Kerns stated in her letter of support for Peck that there must have been "temptation exerted upon him".^[10] In March 2024, following the release of the documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which discussed Kerns' letter of support for Peck, Kerns stated, "Knowing what I know now, I never would have written [the letter]."^[11]

In 2016, Kerns underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer, specifically a ductal carcinoma in situ.^[12]

She has raised funds for Planned Parenthood.^[13]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	A.P.E.	Marilyn Baker	as Joanna DeVarona
	Starsky & Hutch	Joy	Episode: "Gillian", as Joanna De Varona
	The Million Dollar Rip-Off	Jessie	TV film
1977	Charlie's Angels	Natalie Sands	Episode: "The Blue Angels"
	Quincy, M.E.	Lily	Episode: "Touch of Death"
	Emergency!	Gymnast	Episode: “Firehouse Quintet” (Listed as Joanna DeVarona)
1978	Coma	Diane
1980	Three's Company	Bobby Trilling	Episode: "The Love Lesson"
	Marriage is Alive and Well	Meg	TV film
1981	CHiPs	Dr. Colleen Jacobs	Episode: "Dead Man's Riddle"
1982	A Wedding on Walton's Mountain	Doris Marshall	TV film
	Mother's Day on Waltons Mountain	Doris Marshall	TV film
	Magnum, P.I.	Mary Kanfer	Episode: "The Last Page"
1983	V	Marjorie Donovan	TV miniseries
	The A-Team	Trish Brenner	Episode: "A Nice Place to Visit"
	Three's Company	Cheryl	Episode: "Jack Be Quick"
	Magnum, P.I.	Jenny 'Jen' Hunter	Episode: "Two Birds of a Feather"
1984	The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D.	Pamela Saletta	TV film
1985–1992	Growing Pains	Maggie Seaver	TV series. Main role.
1985	A Bunny's Tale	Andrea	TV film
	Stormin' Home	Lana Singer	TV film
	The Rape of Richard Beck	Anita Parrish	TV film
1987	Mistress	Stephanie	TV film
1987	Cross My Heart	Nancy
1989	Street Justice	Catherine Watson	TV film
	Those She Left Behind	Diane Pappas	TV film
	The Preppie Murder	Linda Fairstein	TV film
1990	Blind Faith	Maria Marshall	TV film
1990	The Great Los Angeles Earthquake	Dr. Clare Winslow	TV film
1991	An American Summer	Aunt Sunny
	Deadly Intentions... Again?	Sally	TV film
	Captive	Kathy Plunk	TV film
1992	The Nightman	Eve	TV film
	Desperate Choices: To Save My Child	Mel Robbins	TV film
1993	Not in My Family	Veronica Ricci	TV film
	The Man with Three Wives	Katy	TV film
	Shameful Secrets	Maryanne Walker-Tate	TV film
1994	No Dessert, Dad, till You Mow the Lawn	Carol Cochran
	Mortal Fear	Dr. Jennifer Kessler	TV film
1995	See Jane Run	Jane Ravenson	TV film
	Whose Daughter Is She?	Laura Eagerton	TV film
1996	No One Could Protect Her	Jessica Rayner	TV film
	Terror in the Family	Cynthia Martin	TV film
1997	Mother Knows Best	Celeste Cooper	TV film
	Sisters and Other Strangers	Gail Connelly Metzger	TV film
1998	Emma's Wish	Emma	TV film
1999	At the Mercy of a Stranger	Elizabeth Cooper	TV film
	Girl, Interrupted	Annette Kaysen
2000	The Growing Pains Movie	Maggie Malone Seaver	TV film
2001	All Over the Guy	Lydia
	Someone to Love	Matt's mother	TV film
2004	Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers	Maggie Seaver	TV film
2007	Knocked Up	Mrs. Scott
	Manic	Dr. Kerns	Short film
2009	Eastwick	Edie	Episode: "Tears and Mind Erasers"
2010	Love & Other Unstable States of Matter	Joan	Short film
2017	Danny Brown: Ain't It Funny	Mom

Director

Year	Title	Notes
1988-1992	Growing Pains	2 episodes
1995	The Mommies	2 episodes
	Hope & Gloria	Episode: "A Dupree Family Christmas"
1997-98	Remember WENN	2 episodes
1997-99	Clueless	3 episodes
1998	Suddenly Susan	Episode: "Poetry In Notion"
1998-99	Love Boat: The Next Wave	2 episodes
1999-2001	Ally McBeal
2000-02	Any Day Now	4 episodes
2000	Beggars and Choosers	2 episodes
	Titans	Episode: "Payback's A Bitch"
2001	Boston Public	Episode: "Chapter Fourteen"
	That's Life	Episode: "Something Battered, Something Blue"
	Judging Amy	Episode: "The Right Thing To Do"
2001-02	Felicity	2 episodes
2002	Leap of Faith
2002-03	Strong Medicine	3 episodes
2002	For the People	Episode: "Come Blow Your Whistle"
	Dawson's Creek	Episode: "The Importance Of Not Being Too Earnest"
2003	The O'Keefes	Episode: "Substitute Teacher"
	Defending Our Kids: The Julie Posey Story	TV movie
2004	The Division	Episode: "Rush To The Door"
	One Tree Hill	Episode: "You Can't Always Get You Want"
2004-06	Scrubs	2 episodes
2004	Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers	TV movie
	Clubhouse	Episode: "Trade Talks"
2005	Phil of the Future	Episode: "Double Trouble"
	Dr. Vegas	Episode: "Babe In The Woods"
	Joan of Arcadia	Episode: "Romancing The Joan"
	Related	2 episodes
	Ghost Whisperer
2006	ER
2006-08	Men in Trees	4 episodes
2007-08	Psych	2 episodes
2007	Medium	Episode: "Head Games"
2007-12	Army Wives	6 episodes
2008	Notes from the Underbelly	Episode: "Friends And Neighbors"
	The Gold Lunch	Short
	Privileged	Episode: "All About Friends And Family"
	Grey's Anatomy	Episode: "Rise Up"
	Private Practice	Episode: "Serving Two Masters"
2009	Samantha Who?	Episode: "The Dream Job"
2011	Gigantic	Episode: "Back To Normal"
	Friends with Benefits	Episode: "The Benefit Of The Right Track"
2012-13	The Lying Game	2 episodes
2012-16	Pretty Little Liars	4 episodes
2013-14	The Fosters	2 episodes
	Switched at Birth	3 episodes
2014-15	Chasing Life	2 episodes
2015-16	Jane the Virgin	3 episodes
2015	Awkward	Episode: "The Big Reveal"
	Nashville	Episode: "The Slender Threads That Bind Us Here"
2015-16	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	2 episodes
2016	Recovery Road	Episode: "Parties Without Borders"
2016-18	The Goldbergs	3 episodes
2016	Pitch	Episode: "Wear It"
	Fuller House	3 episodes
2018	This Is Us	Episode: "Vegas, Baby"
	Man with a Plan	Episode: "Everybody's a Winner"
	American Woman	Episode: "The Cost Of Living"
	The Good Doctor	Episode: "Empathy"
2019	Dynasty	Episode: "How Two-Faced Can You Get?"
	What/If	Episode: "What History"
	Light as a Feather	4 episodes
	Mad About You	Episode: "Happy Birthday, Bon Voyage, Goodbye For Now"
	High School Musical: The Musical: The Series	6 episodes
2020	The Baker and the Beauty	Episode: "Get Carried Away"
	Roswell, New Mexico	Episode: Crash Into Me"
	Tiny Pretty Things	2 episodes
2021	FBI	Episode: "Short Squeeze"
	Why Women Kill	Episode: "The Woman in Question"
2021-23	A Million Little Things	6 episodes
2023	Night Court	2 episodes

References

External links

• Joanna Kerns at IMDb
• Joanna Kerns at the TCM Movie Database