How plastic surgery ruined JVA’s career.

[TJames03]

How Plastic Surgery Damaged Joan Van Ark's Career - Nicki Swift

Joan Van Ark became famous for her roles on the nighttime soap operas Dallas and Knots Landing between the late 1970s to the early 1990s. While the actress was a total stunner at the peak of her career, Van Ark has changed dramatically thanks to plastic surgery.

www.nickiswift.com

 

[One Mighty Hobble]

Thank you for the article. It's such a sad situation when celebrities are not happy with their appearance and end up looking worse. There is no going back. How about Priscilla Presley's botox nightmare? She was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, and hardly looks like herself for decades now. On the flip side, Linda Gray has remained au naturale and looks incredible, even today.

 

[Alexis]

Joan Van Ark is such an amazingly talented actress. One of the best actresses I have ever seen, thank God for Knots Landing.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I agree @Alexis. I think JVA is one of the most underrated actresses I’ve ever seen

 

[Jeff]

I do feel bad for her. A couple of wrong decisions and she is scarred for life. I've always wondered if working with Donna Mills gave her a complex. She has referenced that working with Donna initially was intimidating due to her beauty.

But, I have to give Joan credit; when you watch her on interviews you would never think that she had any idea that she had bad work done. She talks about age and wanting to be young and just does not even seem to give it a second thought. And I hope that is true. There is nothing she can do about it now, so I am glad she seems happy and is enjoying life just as she should!

 

[Daniel Avery]

The effort to remain looking 45-55 even after one hits 65+ seems to be counter-productive. So much is written about how there aren't any good parts for an actress over 50, but having that overly-preserved, permanently-startled look cuts one's career prospects even further. The typical "grandmotherly" roles cast women of a certain age who look that age (for the most part). The plastic surgery has made it impossible for her to play "an average grandmother" like you see in sitcoms or Hallmark TV-movies.

The role of Gloria Fisher (JvA's Y&R role) was unique because Gloria was also trying to fight back against the march of time and was a bit of a joke as she attempted to fool John Abbott into thinking her sons were 20-something when they were in fact 45-ish and 30-ish. I read gossip-y anecdotes about how the directors had to use filming "strategies" to film JvA in the best possible light, to work around some of the problems that come with "startling close-ups" (that tendency of Y&R to shove the HD cameras in actors' faces). They would film her only in certain angles ("the good side") and style her hair to hide certain flaws, etc. In prime time such arrangements of cameras and lighting is commonplace since they have the luxury of time. Daytime? Not so much. The reason such anecdotes leaked out of the set was because it frustrated some of the crew and actors who are constantly harping on how "time is money". I think it is admirable that they were willing to help her out in that situation, since those cameras are indeed ruthless. But then their reward was having that character become a hit, drawing a lot of positive buzz because she was a shot in the arm that the show needed at that time. She was a "name" actress and drew attention when she was hired. The character lost a lot of that spark when JvA left and the role was recast.

 

[tommie]

The effort to remain looking 45-55 even after one hits 65+ seems to be counter-productive. So much is written about how there aren't any good parts for an actress over 50, but having that overly-preserved, permanently-startled look cuts one's career prospects even further. The typical "grandmotherly" roles cast women of a certain age who look that age (for the most part). The plastic surgery has made it impossible for her to play "an average grandmother" like you see in sitcoms or Hallmark TV-movies.

I think it all depends on what attitude people go in with - let's face it, most actors in Hollywood have had a little help, just those that we think of "aging gracefully" have usually been smarter about the work they had done and never went in trying to look 29 again, just trying to look good "for their age". Even Betty White had a facelift for Christ sakes!

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Joan Van Ark is such an amazingly talented actress. One of the best actresses I have ever seen, thank God for Knots Landing.

I agree with this 100%! Brill actress.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Yes, when an actor (male or female) can get work done that isn't obvious (or at least does not give the telltale signs of 'work done'), I say go for it. "Gloria's" onscreen husband Jerry Douglas (who played John Abbott on Y&R) had an "eye lift" procedure done at one point during his time on Y&R and though it took some getting used to, the actor benefitted from the enhancement because he was still being written as a viable, eligible bachelor. In real life he had a notably younger wife, as well. The difference between him and JvA however, was that he knew when to stop and I'm afraid Joan did not. Whether the additional surgeries were attempts to correct previous mistakes or just 'maintenance' I doubt we will ever know.

 

[Alexis]

Joan's surgery never seems to have calmed down or relaxed which leads me to believe that she's had lots of work done. It's not just one facelift. Linda Evans looked a similar way a few years back after her work but that really calmed down and she looked great after. I think Joan has had a few facelifts, and fillers multiple times. There's no difference between her lip colour and her skin on her face which is strange. She should have stopped a long time ago. Like around the time of Back To The Cul-de -sac. She looked great there and could have kept on working playing a woman of her real age or a little younger.

 

[Alexis]

Weirdly JVA just popped up in a season 5 episode of The Nanny from 1997. She plays an aging actress who's career trademark is her mole on her face. Fran accidentally hoses her with water and the mole washes off. At one point in the episode JVA confesses that most of her is fake, pointing to her hair, a blonde bob wig, her breasts, her bottom. She's actually very funny in it and she does look great.

 

[Willie Oleson]

She was also in Nip/Tuck and I think in cases like these the only thing that's left is accepting roles that state the obvious and make fun of it.
Whether or not it ruined her post-Knots career is only a guess. There aren't many big soap stars who managed to maintain that kind of success.
Joan Collins is one of the very few who stayed firmly in the limelight. Nicolette and Heather got big roles in other soaps, Lorenzo got his Renegade, but then they were still relatively young.
The rest is condemned to obscure roles in daytime and internet soaps. Nothing wrong with it and they need money like everyone else, but it's not exactly a step-up from prime time fame.

 

[TJames03]

The effort to remain looking 45-55 even after one hits 65+ seems to be counter-productive. So much is written about how there aren't any good parts for an actress over 50, but having that overly-preserved, permanently-startled look cuts one's career prospects even further. The typical "grandmotherly" roles cast women of a certain age who look that age (for the most part). The plastic surgery has made it impossible for her to play "an average grandmother" like you see in sitcoms or Hallmark TV-movies.

The role of Gloria Fisher (JvA's Y&R role) was unique because Gloria was also trying to fight back against the march of time and was a bit of a joke as she attempted to fool John Abbott into thinking her sons were 20-something when they were in fact 45-ish and 30-ish. I read gossip-y anecdotes about how the directors had to use filming "strategies" to film JvA in the best possible light, to work around some of the problems that come with "startling close-ups" (that tendency of Y&R to shove the HD cameras in actors' faces). They would film her only in certain angles ("the good side") and style her hair to hide certain flaws, etc. In prime time such arrangements of cameras and lighting is commonplace since they have the luxury of time. Daytime? Not so much. The reason such anecdotes leaked out of the set was because it frustrated some of the crew and actors who are constantly harping on how "time is money". I think it is admirable that they were willing to help her out in that situation, since those cameras are indeed ruthless. But then their reward was having that character become a hit, drawing a lot of positive buzz because she was a shot in the arm that the show needed at that time. She was a "name" actress and drew attention when she was hired. The character lost a lot of that spark when JvA left and the role was recast.

Rumor has it that JVA was so difficult on the Y&R set that she was really fired and didn’t leave of her own accord.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

She was also in Nip/Tuck and I think in cases like these the only thing that's left is accepting roles that state the obvious and make fun of it.
Whether or not it ruined her post-Knots career is only a guess. There aren't many big soap stars who managed to maintain that kind of success.
Joan Collins is one of the very few who stayed firmly in the limelight. Nicolette and Heather got big roles in other soaps, Lorenzo got his Renegade, but then they were still relatively young.
The rest is condemned to obscure roles in daytime and internet soaps. Nothing wrong with it and they need money like everyone else, but it's not exactly a step-up from prime time fame.

Also, William Devane had a sitcom after KL, but I don't remember how successful it was. He was later in The West Wing.
This shows the double.standard in the expectations of beauty. WD always had quite a few wrinkles on his face
Not that there's anything wrong with that. He's a good looking man, and they added to his charm. It's just a shame that a gifted, beautiful woman like JVA felt she had to go to such extremes to get acceptable.
Are there any actresses who have never had any work done? I can't recall Julie Harris ever looking as if she had done anything.

 

[Angela Channing]

Are there any actresses who have never had any work done?

Linda Hamilton looked fabulously natural in the recent Terminator film.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Since it is so common for everyone in Hollywood to deny having had plastic surgery, the easiest "passive" means of figuring out the answer is examining photos of them taken over the years.

 

[stevew]

Beautiful woman that if they had work done as they aged must have been subtle because they do look older and a beautiful older. Like men, women can age well, actually age, not right fight age, and look beautiful: Sue Elle Ewing, Abby Cunningham and Angela Channing. Well that's my opinion anyway. Vive la difference (in age).

 

[Chris2]

That story makes me sad when it states that JVA was never happy with the way she looked and that’s one of the reasons she was so willing to have plastic surgery. She was a very attractive woman when she was younger. It’s sad that she didn’t realize that.

 

[AndyB2008]

Also, William Devane had a sitcom after KL, but I don't remember how successful it was. He was later in The West Wing.
This shows the double.standard in the expectations of beauty. WD always had quite a few wrinkles on his face
Not that there's anything wrong with that. He's a good looking man, and they added to his charm. It's just a shame that a gifted, beautiful woman like JVA felt she had to go to such extremes to get acceptable.
Are there any actresses who have never had any work done? I can't recall Julie Harris ever looking as if she had done anything.

The sitcom was Phenom, which only lasted one season despite finishing in the Top 20 and a lead in from Full House. It was another attempt from Gracie Films/Columbia Tri-Star for ABC after the Eldoradoesque failure of Sibs.

Devane however went uncredited in the opening for the whole run because of some spat with James L Brooks and ABC over getting top or equal billing alongside Judith Light.

On my Sibs point, although Sibs pre-dated Eldorado, it was the similar thing that happened to that. It was from Gracie Films and it had Tracey Ullman show alumni on and off screen (Heide Perlman, Sam Simon, James L Brooks, George Clinton, Dan Castellaneta), so ABC clearly saw how successful TTUS was and thought Sibs would be a hit. So confident in fact, they gave it the lead out slot after Roseanne.

Sky did pick Sibs up for transmission in the UK later, mainly because of the Simpsons connection what with Dan in it and Gracie producing.

 

[AndyB2008]

Ref Phenom though, although it was axed, it did give early roles to Ashley Johnson, now a voice over actress for shows like the Jumanji animated series, Recess, and Ben 10, Todd Louiso, who was later in Snakes on a Plane, Jerry Maguire and High Fidelity, and Jennifer Lien, later to be on Star Trek Voyager before Paramount wrote her off.