Joan Severance

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Joan Severance
Born
Joan Marie Severance

(1958-12-23) December 23, 1958 (age 66) [1]
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, fashion model
Years active1979–present
Spouse
Eric Milan
(m. 1977;div. 1984)
Website www.joanseverance.com

Joan Marie Severance (born December 23, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model.

Contents

Early life

Severance was born in Houston, Texas. [1] Her father was an IBM systems manager who had to move frequently around the world. "By the time I was 11," said Severance, "we'd lived in 12 different places." She and her family also lived in Libya, but in 1967 had to flee the country because of the Six-Day War. They left the Middle East and returned to the United States, settling in Houston. [2]

Severance attended Westbury High School, [3] and at age 15, started modeling to make money for college. Although she hoped to become a veterinarian, she could not afford the cost of tuition. After appearing in the "Miss Houston" beauty contest, she was discovered by Alan Martin, a local photographer in Houston, who introduced her to John Casablancas. Casablancas signed her up with the Elite modeling agency and sent her on assignment to Paris. During this time, she met her future husband, model Eric Milan. [2]

Career

Modeling

During her time in Paris, she posed for Sportswear International, Vogue Paris , and others. [2] [4] Upon her return to the United States, Severance became one of America's top models, filming over 40 commercials, and earning $7,500 per day. [2] She has also modeled for Versace, Chanel, and Armani. [5]

Severance was also on the covers of the January 1990 and November 1992 issues of Playboy magazine, both featuring her in a nude pictorial. More recently, at age 52, she appeared in a six-page editorial along with an interview in the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Genlux magazine.

Severance at the 2005 15th Annual Night of 100 Stars Oscar Severance 2005.png
Severance at the 2005 15th Annual Night of 100 Stars Oscar

Acting

In 1986, Severance began auditioning for acting bits at the urging of her friend Robin Leach. [2] She made her debut in a small role in the first Lethal Weapon film in 1987. She usually takes the "femme fatale" roles in low-budget horror and murder-mystery movies including Lake Consequence (1992), Criminal Passion (1994), and Payback (1995). She was featured alongside Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder in the 1989 comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil , and as Hulk Hogan's love interest, Samantha N. Moore, in the wrestling film No Holds Barred (1989). She had leading roles in Roger Corman's Black Scorpion (1995). She starred in and co-produced the sequels Black Scorpion II: Aftershock (1997) and The Last Seduction II (1999).

She appeared in the Scorpions' video for their 1988 song, "Rhythm of Love." [6]

Her most extensive role was a villainess for an eleven-episode story arc of the TV series Wiseguy ; she played Susan Profitt, half of a brother/sister crime team (the other half was played by Kevin Spacey) to great acclaim. [7] Their partnership was reprised in See No Evil, Hear No Evil. In the early 1990s, Severance appeared as Samantha "Sam" Dooley, the Martian Belle, in two training videos for Virtual World Entertainment alongside other actors such as Cheech Marin, "Weird Al" Yankovic, R. Lee Ermey, and Judge Reinhold. [8] [9] From 1998 to 1999, Severance played Security Chief Camille Hunter on the Aaron Spelling television series Love Boat: The Next Wave on UPN.

In 2006, Severance appeared in My Network TV telenovela Wicked Wicked Games . She was also in shows such as CSI: Miami and One Tree Hill . In 2013, she was in American Horror Story: Asylum . In 2014, she was on Celebrity Wife Swap with Robin Leach.

Personal life

Severance married fellow model Eric Milan in 1977. They separated amicably in 1984. According to Severance, they "just grew apart". [2] Severance was diagnosed with vitiligo when she was eight years old; the primary area affected by the disease is the skin around her eyes. [10]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1987 Lethal Weapon Girl in Black PlaysuitUncredited
1989 See No Evil, Hear No Evil Eve
1989 No Holds Barred Samantha
1989 Worth Winning Lizbette
1990 Bird on a Wire Rachel Varney
1991Another Pair of Aces: Three of a Kind Susan DavisTelevision film
1991 The Runestone Marla Stewart
1991Write to Kill Belle Washburn
1992Illicit BehaviorMelissa Yarnell
1992Almost PregnantMaureen Mallory
1993 Lake Consequence Irene
1994 Criminal Passion Melanie Hudson
1995 Payback Rose Gullerman
1995Dangerous IndiscretionCaroline Everett
1995Hard EvidenceMadelyn Turner
1995 Black Scorpion Darcy WalkerTelevision film
1996 Frequent Flyer Alison RawlingsTelevision film
1996Profile for MurderDr. Hanna Carras
1997 Black Scorpion II Darcy Walker
1997In Dark Places Chapelle
1998 Matter of Trust Theresa Marsh
1998Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman StoryPaleyTelevision film
1999 The Last Seduction II Bridget Gregory
2001Cause of Death Angela Carter
2003 Mystery Woman Mary StenningTelevision film
2005Taylor Leigh
2006Last SunsetLisa Wayne
2007BornDr. Sammael
2012SharkproofConnie Krebs
2016Accidentally EngagedSandy Byers
2016Becker's Farm Mrs. Schmidt

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1979 ABC Afterschool Specials Actress exiting limoEpisode: "A Movie Star's Daughter"
1987 Mike Hammer PaulineEpisode: "Lady Killer"
1988 Wiseguy Susan Profitt9 episodes
1988 Max Headroom Zik-Zak Hallucination GirlEpisode: "Neurostim"
1989 Murphy's Law Alex KovacEpisode: "All's Wrong That Ends Wrong"
1989 The Hitchhiker Jane Ambergris / Holly May StillmanEpisode: "My Enemy"
1991 Midnight Caller Norma CheeverEpisode: "Uninvited Guests"
1991 Good Sports RandiEpisode: "The Moody Blues Swing"
1992 Red Shoe Diaries The WomanEpisode: "Safe Sex"
1992 Tales from the Crypt RonaEpisode: "The New Arrival"
1993 Johnny Bago Reno HubbertstonEpisode: "Lady Madonna"
1993 L.A. Law Lauren ChaseEpisodes: "How Much Is That Bentley in the Window" and "Foreign Co-respondent"
1997 Profiler Christine LoganEpisodes: "Venom: Part 1" and "Venom: Part 2"
1998-1999 Love Boat: The Next Wave Security Chief Camille Hunter23 episodes
2003 She Spies Lauren DrakeEpisode: "Love Kills"
2004 One Tree Hill Cynthia PriceEpisodes: "I Shall Believe" and "Suddenly Everything Has Changed"
2005 CSI: Miami Sophie TownsendEpisode: "Money Plane"
2006-2007 Wicked Wicked Games Anna Whitman9 episodes
2013 American Horror Story: Asylum MarionEpisode: "Madness Ends"
2013 Masters of Sex LeonaEpisode: "Brave New World" and "Fallout"
2016 NCIS: Los Angeles Mary ReynoldsEpisode: "Glasnost"

References

  1. 1 2 "Joan Severance". Turner Classic Movies . Archived from the original on April 18, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Most Twisted Sister in Prime Time, Wiseguy's Joan Severance Gives a Brand New Meaning to Hedonism Archived 2016-09-23 at the Wayback Machine on People ; Kaufman, Joanne (March 7, 1988)
  3. "Westbury High Class of 1977" . Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  4. Joan Severance magazine covers Archived 2011-07-01 at the Wayback Machine on JoanSeverance.com
  5. "Joan Severance | METRO Models". www.metromodels.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  6. "Rhythm of Love video". YouTube . November 2009. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  7. "Joan Severance - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  8. "Virtual World Battletech 3.0 Trainer". YouTube . October 10, 2006. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  9. "Virtual World Red Planet 3.0 Trainer". YouTube . October 11, 2006. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  10. Satenstein, Liana (April 25, 2017). "Watch This '80s Supermodel's Spectacular Age-Defying Beauty Routine". Vogue. Retrieved November 10, 2020.