Joan Copeland

Joan Maxine Kupchik ( Miller; June 1, 1922 – January 4, 2022), known professionally as Joan Copeland, was an American actress. She was the younger sister of playwright Arthur Miller. She began her career during the mid-1940s, appearing in theatre in New York City, where, shortly thereafter, she would become one of the first members admitted to the newly formed Actors Studio. She moved into television and film during the 1950s while still maintaining an active stage career. She is best known for her performances in the 1977 Broadway revival of Pal Joey and her award-winning performance in the 1981 play The American Clock. She also played a number of prominent roles on various soap operas throughout her career, including Andrea Whiting on Search for Tomorrow and Gwendolyn Lord Abbott on One Life to Live. She voiced Tanana in Brother Bear.

Personal life and death Miller was born to a middle-class Jewish family in New York City. Her father, Isidore, was a woman's clothes manufacturer, and her mother, Augusta (née Barnett), was a schoolteacher and a housewife. Her family was of Polish-Jewish origins. She was the younger sister of Kermit Miller and playwright Arthur Miller and was briefly sister-in-law to Marilyn Monroe, with whom she shared a birthday. She was married to George J. Kupchik, an engineer, from 1946 until his death in 1989. She had a son named Eric with him.

Copeland died at her home in Manhattan on January 4, 2022, at the age of 99.

Career

Copeland began her career in the theatre, making her professional debut as Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1945. She made her Broadway debut as Nadine in the original 1948 production of Bessie Breuer's Sundown Beach. Thereafter she maintained an active career in the theatre. Her other Broadway credits include Detective Story (1949), Not for Children (1951), The Diary of Anne Frank (1955), Handful of Fire (1958), standby for Vivien Leigh in Tovarich (1963), Something More! (1964), standby for Kate Reid in The Price (1968), standby for Katharine Hepburn in Coco (1969), Two By Two (1970), Pal Joey (1976), Checking Out (1976), and The American Clock (1980), the latter of which was written by her brother Arthur Miller; Copeland won the 1981 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play. In 2001, Copeland was set to play the role of Zelda in the Broadway mounting of Neil Simon's 45 Seconds from Broadway, however she left the production during rehearsals (replace by Rebecca Schull) and never actually performed in the production.

She worked extensively Off-Broadway in New York City. Her notable credits therein include Desdemona in Othello at the Equity Library Theatre (1946), Betty Shapiro in The Grass is Greener at the Downtown National Theatre (1955), Melanie in Conversation Piece at the Barbizon-Plaza Theatre (1957), Mrs. Erlynne in Delightful Season at the Gramercy Arts Theatre (1960), Leonie Frothingham in End of Summer at the Manhattan Theatre Club (1974), Lillian Hellman in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been at the Promenade Theatre (1978), the title role in Candida at the Roundabout Theatre (1979), Tasha Blumberg in Isn't It Romantic? at the Playwrights Horizons (1983), Mrs. Thompson in Hunting Cockroaches at the Manhattan Theatre Club (1987), Rose Brill in The Rose Quartet at the Circle Repertory Theatre (1991), Aida Gianelli in Over the River and Through the Woods at the John Houseman Theatre (1998), Nelly Fell in The Torch-Bearers at the Greenwich House Theatre (2000), and as part of a rotating cast in Wit & Wisdom at the Arclight Theatre (2003). She won an Obie Award in 1991 for her portrayal of Eva Adler in The American Plan at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Copeland began working in television in the early 1950s as a guest actress on such shows as Suspense and The Web and on the live telecast of O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh in 1960. She appeared on numerous soap operas. She portrayed Andrea Whiting (Joanne's daughter, Patti's malevolent former mother in-law) on Search for Tomorrow, twin sisters Maggie and Kay Logan on Love of Life, and roles on The Edge of Night, How to Survive a Marriage, and As the World Turns. She also portrayed Gwendolyn Lord Abbott on One Life to Live from 1978–1979, and later returned to the series to play Selma Hanen in 1995. Between 1993 and 1997 she portrayed the recurring character of Judge Rebecca Stein on Law & Order. Her other television credits include guest appearances on The Patty Duke Show, Chicago Hope, ER, All in the Family, and Naked City.

Copeland made her first film appearance as Alice Marie in The Goddess (1958). Her film career was sporadic and her appearances were almost exclusively in prominent secondary roles. Her film credits include Middle of the Night (1959), Roseland (1977), It's My Turn (1980), A Little Sex (1982), Happy New Year (1987), The Laser Man (1988), Her Alibi (1989), Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), The Peacemaker (1997), The Object of My Affection (1998), The Adventures of Sebastian Cole (1998), The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000), The Last Request (2006), and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009). She also voiced Tanana in Disney's Brother Bear (2003).

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1958 The Goddess Alice Marie 1959 Middle of the Night Rita 1982 A Little Sex Ruth Weiss 1989 Her Alibi Audrey 1997 Jungle 2 Jungle Mrs. Prelot The Peacemaker Senator Bevens 1998 The Object of My Affection Madame Reynolds The Adventures of Sebastian Cole Grandma Cole 2003 Brother Bear Tanana Voice 2004 Koda's Outtakes Video short (Uncredited)2006 The Last Request Alice Rudolf 2009 The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Piano player 2011 Love Is Like Life But Longer Old nun Short film (final film role)