Mystery Behind Joan Copeland Cause of Death: Longtime Broadway Actress Was 99
The Broadway community is in mourning as longtime actress Joan Copeland passed away at the age of 99.
Copeland's son Eric confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter regarding her death which happened early Tuesday, January 4, in her sleep at her Manhattan home on Central Park West, New York City. As of writing, no report has revealed what became the cause of her death. Broadway World initially reported her death.
The actress was known as the sister of legendary playwright Arthur Miller and had a six-decade-long career in Broadway.
Entertainment Industry Filled With Copeland
According to Deadline, she began her career on Broadway, debuting in 1948 with "Sundown Beach" and "Detective Story" the following year.
She became widely known after her performances in a 1976 revival of "Pal Joey" and the 1980 premiere of "The America Clock," which her brother wrote, which later made her win an award nominated for Drama Desk Awards.
Apart from those, she also made it to a couple more projects, including "Not For Children" (1951), "Handful of Fire" (1958), "Tovarich" (1963), "Something More!" (1964), "The Price" (1968), "Coco" (1969), "Two By Two" (1970), "Checking Out" (1976), and "45 Seconds From Broadway" (2001).
By 1991, she took home an Obie Award for her Off-Broadway performance in Richard Greenburg's "The American Plan" at the Manhattan Theater Club.
The publisher also reported that the actress attained a long list of acting credits for portraying roles on daytime series like "Search for Tomorrow" and "One Life to Live" while becoming an original member of the renowned Actors Studio.
Her career as a TV star continued as she participated in the 1950 series "Suspense," "The Edge of Night," "How To Survive a Marriage," "As The World Turns," "The Patty Duke Show," "All in The Family," "Chicago Hope," "NYPD Blue," and "ER."
She also recurred the character of Judge Rebecca Stein from 1991 to 2001 on "Law & Order."
Aside from Broadway shows and TV series, she made herself remarkable for also becoming a star in a wide variety of films such as "The Goddess" (1958), "Happy New Year" (1987), "Jungle 2 Jungle" (1997), "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" (1998), "Brother Bear" (2003), "The Last Request" (2006), "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" (2009) and many more.
May her soul rest in peace.
