Joanna Cassidy

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. During her time there, she married Kennard C. Kobrin in 1963, a doctor in residency, and found work as a fashion model. They moved to San Francisco, where her husband set up a psychiatric practice, while Cassidy continued modeling. They had a son and a daughter together. In 1968, she landed a bit part in the thriller film Bullitt.

In June 2025, she reportedly is in a relationship with her former co-star Suzanne Somers' widower, Alan Hamel.

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). Cassidy also provided the voice of Inspector Maggie Sawyer on The WB series Superman: The Animated Series, and had recurring guest roles on television series such as L.A. Law, Melrose Place, Diagnosis: Murder, and The District.

Since 2000, Cassidy has appeared in the film Ghosts of Mars (2001), directed by John Carpenter, and had a recurring role as Margaret Chenowith on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under, for which she received Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. In 2004, she guest-starred in three episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise as T'Les (the Vulcan mother of Enterprise crewmember T'Pol), and she had a recurring role as Beverly Bridge on the series Boston Legal in 2006. She voiced the villainess Hecubah in the computer game Nox (2000) and once again voiced Maggie Sawyer in the 2002 video game Superman: Shadow of Apokolips.

In the spring of 2007, Cassidy donned Zhora's costume once more, 25 years after the release of Blade Runner, to recreate a climactic scene from the film for the fall 2007 Final Cut release of the film. 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

References

References

1. "Joanna Cassidy".
2. "Joanna Cassidy". [[British Film Institute]].
3. "Cassidy, Joanna 1944–".
4. "Joanna Cassidy Biography". [[TV Guide]].
5. Smith, Richard Harland. "Joanna Cassidy Biography". [[Turner Classic Movies]].
6. "Explore Historical Newspaper Archives Online - NewspaperARCHIVE.com". newspaperarchive.com.
7. Lakeland Ledger]]'', November 27, 1983. Accessed July 10, 2011. "Actress Joanna Cassidy, star of the movie ''Under Fire'', remembers being 'a rowdy kid' at Haddonfield Memorial High School two decades ago."
8. Gray, Mark. (June 26, 2025). "Suzanne Somers' Widower Alan Hamel Confirms 'Wonderful' New Romance with Her Former Costar (Exclusive)".
9. She appeared in a 1973 [[Smokey Bear]] public service announcement (PSA),"If you knew it was me would you have listened?" US National Archives on YouTube (starting 1971, 4th video in clip-set): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYkv7N7OLSU, start at 1m37s; see also year-dated PSAs and other-media overview at Ad Council's Smokey Bear website: https://smokeybear.com/en/smokeys-history?decade=1970
10. Christopher, James. (September 3, 2007). "Blade Runner: The Final Cut". [[The Times]].
11. Giardina, Carolyn. (2007). "Cutting a new 'Blade': No bloodshed allowed". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
12. ''All Our Variant Futures'', a featurette in ''Blade Runner Five-Disc Complete Collector's Edition'' DVD set, 2007
13. (15 January 2015). "About Odd Mom Out". Bravotv.com.
14. Grater, Tom. (Sep 2, 2015). "Oldenburg to honour Joanna Cassidy".