Joanna Cassidy

Joanna Cassidy (born Joanna Virginia Caskey) is an American actress and former model. She began working as a model in the 1960s and made her professional acting debut in 1973, appearing in the thriller films The Laughing Policeman and The Outfit. She later starred in the films Bank Shot and The Late Show (1977), the short-lived television series The Roller Girls (1978), and 240-Robert (1979). In 1982, she played replicant Zhora Salome in the science-fiction film Blade Runner.

Cassidy starred in the political thriller film Under Fire (1983), winning a Sant Jordi Award for Best Actress in a Foreign Language Film and received a nomination for the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress. From 1983 to 1984, she starred opposite Dabney Coleman in the NBC comedy series Buffalo Bill, for which she received a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She later starred in films The Fourth Protocol (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) for which she received a Saturn Award nomination, The Package (1989), Where the Heart Is (1990), Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), and Ghosts of Mars (2001).

Cassidy also starred in a number of made-for-television movies and miniseries, including Hollywood Wives (1983), Invitation to Hell (1984), Barbarians at the Gate (1993), and The Tommyknockers (1993). From 2001 to 2005, she played Margaret Chenowith on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under, for which she received both Primetime Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for her supporting turn on the hit series. From 2011 to 2013, she played Joan Hunt on the ABC series Body of Proof, and from 2010 to 2013 starred in the HBO Canada comedy series Call Me Fitz, for which she won two Canadian Screen Awards, as well as a nomination for a Gemini Award.

Biography Cassidy was born Joanna Virginia Caskey in Camden, New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, the daughter of Virginia and Joe Caskey. She was raised in Haddonfield, and attended Haddonfield Memorial High School, and has described herself as being "a rowdy kid" there. She is known for her infectious, howling laugh which can be heard in the film The Laughing Policeman and on her appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Cassidy majored in art at Syracuse University.

Career

Cassidy's first major film appearance was in the 1973 thriller The Outfit. and on such television series as Mission: Impossible, Starsky & Hutch and Taxi. She had a secondary role in the drama film Stay Hungry (1976), a film about bodybuilding that featured a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cassidy was considered for the role of Wonder Woman for a television series, but lost it to Lynda Carter. She co-starred in the film Our Winning Season (1978). Her first regular role was as sheriff's pilot Morgan Wainwright in the action-adventure series 240-Robert (1979), although the series lasted for only two abbreviated seasons. Afterwards, Cassidy continued to appear in guest roles in series such as Dallas and Falcon Crest, as well as a regular role on the short-lived sitcom Buffalo Bill (1983) (for which she earned a Golden Globe Award).

In 1982, Cassidy had her breakthrough film role as the replicant snake performer Zhora Salome in Ridley Scott's science-fiction film Blade Runner. The following year, she co-starred in Under Fire with Gene Hackman and Nick Nolte, earning her a Sant Jordi Award and a nomination for a National Society of Film Critics Award. She continued to appear in both films and television; she co-starred in the television miniseries Hollywood Wives (1985), and appeared in The Fourth Protocol (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), 1969 (1988), The Package (1989), Where the Heart Is (1990) and Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991). In 1993, she co-starred with Dudley Moore on the sitcom Dudley, but the series only lasted for six episodes. She played the ex-wife of James Garner's lead character in the television movie, The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A. (1994).

Her other screen credits from this era include Barbarians at the Gate (1993), the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Tommyknockers (1993), and Wes Craven's Vampire in Brooklyn (1995). In the original 1982 release, a stunt performer played out Zhora's death scene, with the physical differences between the performer and Cassidy very evident (including the stuntwoman wearing a different wig). For the Final Cut, Cassidy's head was digitally transposed onto footage of the stunt performer, making the death scene fit continuity. According to the DVD featurette, All Our Variant Futures, Cassidy herself suggested this be done; she is captured on video making the suggestion during filming of a retrospective interview related to Blade Runner.

In the second season of the NBC series Heroes, she is seen in a photo of the 12 senior members of the show's mysterious company. Beyond appearances in photographs, the actress first appeared as Victoria Pratt in the 10th episode of season two, "Truth & Consequences", during which her character was killed.

In 2008–2009, Cassidy appeared in episodes of Ghost Whisperer, Desperate Housewives, and Law & Order: UK, and was also seen in the recurring guest role of Amanda Hawthorne, the mother-in-law of Jada Pinkett Smith's eponymous character on the medical drama Hawthorne.

In 2011, Cassidy began to appear in a recurring role on the ABC series Body of Proof as Judge Joan Hunt, the mother of Megan Hunt, Dana Delany's character on the series. The series was canceled by ABC after three seasons in May 2013. In 2015, Cassidy was cast as a main character in the Bravo scripted series Odd Mom Out. She plays the role of Candace Von Weber, a snobbish Upper East Side socialite and mother-in-law to the show's protagonist Jill Weber (Jill Kargman). The series was canceled in 2017. In 2019, she co-starred in the Amazon Prime miniseries Too Old to Die Young and later had a recurring role on NCIS: New Orleans.

In 2015, Cassidy received an honorary award at the Oldenburg International Film Festival.

Filmography

Film

Television