Joanna Gleason (born Joanne Hall; June 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American actress and singer, known for her performances in theatrical musicals and plays, and on film and television.

In theatre, Gleason originated the role of the Baker's Wife in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods on Broadway, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical in 1988. She also received Tony nominations for her performances in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1985) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005). Her notable film appearances include supporting roles in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), and Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997). On television she has appeared in ER, Friends, The West Wing, The Good Wife and The Affair.

Joanne Hall was born in Toronto, the eldest of three siblings born to television producer and game show personality Monty Hall, and his wife, Marilyn (née Plottel), both of whom died in 2017.^[1] At the time of her birth, her father was working at the Canada Wheat Board and had changed his name from Halparin to Hall. He later started his TV career and went on to fame as host of Let's Make a Deal.^[2] In May 1956, the Hall family moved to New York and, in the early 1960s, they moved to Los Angeles.

Hall graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1968.^[3] She was in the school's productions of The Music Man, The Mikado, The Grass Harp, and The Madwoman of Chaillot. In high school, Gleason received acting instruction from John Ingle, the soap opera star, who taught at BHHS from 1955 to 1985. She continued her education at UCLA,^[4] then Occidental College, from which she graduated. Gleason has been a teacher herself, holding classes and workshops all over the country.^[5]

Gleason made her professional debut in Promises, Promises in 1972.^[6] Five years later she debuted on Broadway, originating the role of Monica in Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart's I Love My Wife (1977),^[7] for which she was honored with a Theatre World Award.^[8]

Gleason returned to Broadway in 1984 to appear in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, as a replacement for the role of Charlotte originated by Christine Baranski.^[9] In 1985 she played Pam in a revival of Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg,^[10] for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. She won the Drama Desk Award in the same category the following year for her performances off-Broadway as Virginia in Terrence McNally's It's Only a Play and Trudy in Andrew Bergman's Social Security.^[6]

Gleason had her greatest success as the original Baker's Wife in Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, firstly at the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego in 1986, before transferring to Broadway the following year. The New York Times, although somewhat critical of the production, described her as "wonderful,"^[11] and she won both the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical (presented by her co-star Bernadette Peters) and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.^[12] Her performance was captured on the original cast recording and in a filmed version broadcast on the PBS anthology series Great Performances.

In 1991 Gleason played the lead role of Nora Charles in Arthur Laurents, Charles Strouse and Richard Maltby Jr.'s Nick & Nora, a musical adaptation of The Thin Man that encountered numerous troubles in previews and closed after only nine performances.^[13] As Muriel in the musical adaptation of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005),^[14] she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The following year she played Titsiana in Douglas Carter Beane's The Cartells, a staged soap opera in which the New York Times deemed her "hilarious."^[15]

In 2007, Gleason was honored by the New England Theatre Conference with a Special Award for Achievement in Theatre.^[16]

In 1979, Gleason was cast as supporting character Morgan in the television sitcom Hello, Larry starring McLean Stevenson; the series ran for two seasons but was poorly received. In the 1983 television movie Still the Beaver, she played Beaver's ex-wife Kimberly.

Gleason debuted on film in 1986, with roles in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (as Carol) and Mike Nichols' Heartburn (as Diana).^[8] She worked with Allen again in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), playing Wendy, the wife of Allen's character.^[17] She has since appeared in numerous films including F/X2 (1991),^[18] Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), The Wedding Planner (2001),^[19] and Sex and the City (2004). She played the memorable role of Dirk's mother opposite Mark Wahlberg in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997).

On television, Gleason played the role of Nadine Berkus on the show Love & War (1992–95), several episodes of which she also directed, and Joan Silver on Temporarily Yours (1997).^[20] She starred in the Lifetime series Oh Baby as Charlotte from 1998 to 2000, also directing episodes of this show. Shortly following the end of this series, she starred opposite Bette Midler on Bette as agent Connie Randolph.^[21] She appeared in six episodes of the Canadian black comedy series Sensitive Skin as Veronica, from 2014 to 2016.

Gleason's numerous guest starring television credits include episodes of The West Wing, The Practice, King of the Hill, Friends, Password Plus, Tracey Takes On..., Murphy Brown, ER, The Outer Limits, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods and The Newsroom.

Gleason has been married three times. She was married to acting coach Paul G. Gleason. She kept his surname professionally, although they divorced on June 28, 1982. Later, she married Michael Bennahum.^[2] Gleason has one child, Aaron David Gleason, from her first marriage.

Gleason has been married to actor Chris Sarandon since 1994. The two met while performing in Broadway's short-lived 1991 musical Nick & Nora, returned to the stage together in Thorn and Bloom (1998),^[22] and collaborated on several films, such as Road Ends, Edie & Pen, Let the Devil Wear Black, and American Perfekt.

Gleason's siblings are television writer/director Sharon Hall Kessler and Emmy award-winning television writer/director Richard Hall.^[23]

• Joanna Gleason at the Internet Broadway Database
• Joanna Gleason at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Joanna Gleason at IMDb
• Joanna Gleason – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
• TonyAwards.com Interview with Joanna Gleason
• BroadwayWorld: Holtzman's 'Something You Did' Premieres Off-Bway with Gleason