Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress, one of three acting sisters from a show-business family. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 films from the era of silent films, well into the sound era. In the late 1920s, Joan Bennett was a rising star in both theater and film, transitioning from a stage ingénue to a Hollywood leading lady. Unlike the dark-haired “femme fatale” image she later became famous for in the 1940s, she began her career as a natural blonde often cast in sweet, youthful roles.
At age 18, Bennett made her professional Broadway debut in the play Jarnegan (1928), performing alongside her father, Richard Bennett. She became a movie star almost overnight in 1929 with two major roles. Her first significant film role in Bulldog Drummond (1929), playing Phyllis Benton opposite Ronald Colman. She played Lady Clarissa Pevensey in Disraeli (1929), opposite George Arliss.
Before she famously dyed her hair chestnut brown for Trade Winds (1938), Bennett was one of Hollywood’s most promising young blonde starlets. Her look in the late 1920s often styled in finger waves or soft curls typical of the flapper era. She frequently wore dropped-waist dresses, pearls, and cloche hats. Even as a teenager, she possessed a distinctive, cultured speaking voice that helped her transition easily from silent films to “talkies.”
Joan was part of the famous Bennett acting dynasty. While her older sister Constance Bennett was already an established, high-paid star known for playing sophisticated society women, Joan was initially marketed as the “magnolia-drenched” younger sister, specializing in pert, poised ingénue roles. During this period, she was already a young mother. Having married at 16 and divorced by 18, she reportedly entered the film industry out of a “necessity” to support herself and her daughter.
Unlike many silent film stars whose careers withered with the arrival of microphones, Joan thrived. Her stage background (coming from the “Theatrical Bennetts” dynasty) gave her a technical advantage. By 1929, she was under contract with Fox and was being groomed as a major star, representing the refined, “classy” side of the Roaring Twenties.
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