Joan Benedict Steiger has passed away at the age of 96. The longtime actress died due to complications from a stroke at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, a family spokesperson confirmed to multiple outlets. Benedict, who was born in Brooklyn, initially studied dance before shifting her focus to acting. She began her TV career in the ’50s with appearances on Candid Camera and The Steve Allen Show.
Joan Benedict Steiger has died. The longtime actress died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, a family spokesperson confirmed to multiple outlets. Benedict, who died due to complications from a stroke, was 96
The Brooklyn-born actress initially studied dance before changing her focus to acting. Benedict began her TV career in the ”50s, appearing on Candid Camera and The Steve Allen Show.
Stints on The Incredible Hulk and Fantasy Island followed, as did roles in movies such as The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington and Perfect Victims.
Benedict also had a role on Days of Our Lives and recurred on General Hospital as Edith Fairchild. Her final onscreen appearance came in the 2017 film Opus of an Angel. Joan Benedict at an event in 2017. – Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for TCM
Benedict was married to John Myhers for 30 years. After Myhers” death in 1992, she reconnected with actor Rod Steiger, whom she”d first met as a teenager, and married in 2000. Steiger died in 2002, and Benedict entered into a relationship with Jeremy Slate, who died in 2006.
“Both of my husbands, and my lifetime partner, Jeremy, were wonderful men who respected me as an actress,” she told Women Fitness in 2016. “They all died from different forms of cancer, so my memories are sometimes bittersweet, but with no regrets.” Jeremy Slate and Joan Benedict Steiger pose together in 2004. – Matthew Simmons/Getty Images
Benedict is survived by her daughter, Claudia, and granddaughters, Hanna and Ashley, multiple outlets report.
