About
Joyce DeWitt (born April 23, 1949) is an American actress best known for playing Janet Wood on the ABC sitcom Three’s Company from 1977 to 1984.
Joyce DeWitt was born on April 23, 1949, in Wheeling, West Virginia, and grew up in Speedway, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. She is the second of four children born to Norma (née Branch) DeWitt (1926–2013) and Paul DeWitt (1925–2016). She is of Italian descent from her mother, while her father was of Swedish and Dutch descent. DeWitt began appearing on stage at the age of 13. She competed in speech and debate through the Indiana High School Forensic Association. She graduated from Speedway Senior High School, and once worked at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ticket office.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in theater from Ball State University. Subsequently, while she was performing in summer stock, the director convinced her to enroll in UCLA’s Department of Theater MFA program, where she was awarded the Master of Fine Arts Fellowship as well as the Clifton Webb Scholarship. She graduated in 1974.
While attending UCLA, she worked as a secretary until her television debut on an episode of Baretta. Contrary…
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