Joan Van ArkFilmography

Icemaker

Actors: Bronson Pinchot

Synopsis: In a world driven by celebrity obsession, what better way to express your admiration of the Hollywood star of yesteryear than by having them glimmering from around your neck or shimmering on your finger wherever you go? At least that's the attitude taken by Dr. Lockbuster (Tim McNeil) as he enters Read More

Tornado Warning

Actors: Jack Clements, Gerald McRaney, Thea Gill, Steve Braun, Joan Van Ark

Synopsis: Gerald McRaney stars in this made-for-TV nailbiter as Jake Arledge, a dedicated meteorologist. Having invented a device to predict the patterns of tornadoes, Jake is unable to convince the higher-ups of the device's value. All this changes when Jake joins forces with his estranged TV-weatherperson Read More

Intimate Portrait: Joan Van Ark

Held for Ransom

Actors: Dennis Hopper, Zachery Ty Bryan

Synopsis: This suspense film features Dennis Hopper as JD, a crazed kidnapper who hijacks a school bus (not unlike his crazed kidnapper in Speed) and holds the students hostage (one of the students is played by former Home Improvement star Zachery Ty Bryan). Even if the hostages are able to break free from Read More

Loyal Opposition: Terror in the White House

Synopsis: In this decidedly pre-9/11 political thriller, the President of the United States (Lloyd Bochner) responds to terrorism by announcing plans to negotiate with the aggressors. This policy does not rest at all well with General Metzger (Nick Mancusco), the fiercely xenophobic chairman of the Joint Read More

Touched By an Angel: 'Til We Meet Again

Synopsis: Monica (Roma Downey) is the nurse at the bedside of elderly Joe Carpenter (Harvey Vernon), who is on the verge of being "collected" by Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye). But before Joe can leave this world, Monica and Tess (Della Reese) must somehow repair the fractured relationships between the Read More

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Part 1

Synopsis: Gee: back when Vivian Banks was played by a different actress, she was soooo supportive of her husband Philip (James Avery). But now that Vivian is portrayed by Daphne Maxwell Reid, it's apparently a different situation altogether: in fact, in the first episode of this two-part story, she Read More

A Mother's Deception: A Moment of Truth Movie

Actors: Joan Van Ark, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Stephen Macht, Brooke Langton, Tom Kurlander

Synopsis: In this made-for-television drama, a family battles to extricate their mother from the religious cult she joined after visiting an unscrupulous therapist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Tainted Blood

Actors: Raquel Welch, Joan Van Ark, Richard Gross, Alley Mills, Natasha Gregson Wagner

Synopsis: Raquel Welch plays a writer working on a project about children who are genetically predisposed for violence--specifically, homicide. To gather real-life examples, she focuses on finding the daughter of a woman who murdered her own parents. The girl also happens to have a twin brother who did the Read More

Terror on Track 9

Actors: Joan Van Ark, Swoosie Kurtz, Richard Crenna

Synopsis: Richard Crenna makes his fifth appearances NYPD detective Frank Janek in Terror on Track 9. The villain this time is a serial killer who preys upon women at Grand Central Station. The murderer's modus operandi is to inject his victims with poison. Janek suspects that the perpetrator is a man with Read More

Knots Landing: Season 13

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson, William Devane

Synopsis: Season Thirteen of Knots Landing gets under way with only one of the four original "couplings" of the series' first season intact: After many romantic side trips and emotional detours, Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and his ex-wife Val (Joan Van Ark) have decided to let bygones be bygones and tie Read More

Always Remember I Love You

Actors: Stephen Dorff

Synopsis: On his 16th birthday, Stephen Dorff discovers that he is adopted. This in itself is not so traumatic, but the worst is still to come: His adoptive parents had bought him from a baby broker, who kidnapped the infant from his natural mother. Dorff rejects the protestations of love from his "mother" Read More

Knots Landing: Season 12

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson, William Devane

Synopsis: Rendered mortally ill by anti-chemical activists during Season Eleven of Knot's Landing, scheming politician-businessman Greg Sumner (William Devane) is snatched from the jaws of death by a liver transplant--which, characteristically, he has secured by dishonest means. This leaves Sumner alive and Read More

Menu for Murder

Actors: Ed Marinaro, Julia Duffy, Douglas Barr, Morgan Fairchild, Joan Van Ark

Synopsis: The made for TV Menu for Murder was first telecast December 4, 1990. An unpopular PTA leader is murdered with a poisoned croissant sandwich during a gala luncheon. Though practically every woman on the committee had expressed a desire to kill the victim, the principal suspect is housewife Julia Read More

Knots Landing: Season 11

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson, William Devane

Synopsis: Although the scheming Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills) had departed Knots Landing at the end of its tenth season, the series still managed to serve up a full recipe of fascinating intrigues during its eleventh season on the air. Dominating much of the proceedings is a plotline sparked by a Read More

My First Love

Synopsis: An ageing widow's relationship with an ex-flame is re-ignited when she runs into her former boyfriend at a class reunion in this warmhearted tale of middle-aged romance starring Bea Arthur, Richard Kiley, and Joan Van Ark. Despite their rekindled feelings, the pair soon finds their powerful Read More

Shakedown on the Sunset Strip

Synopsis: In this crime drama set in LA during the '40s, an infamous Hollywood madam is arrested and mayhem ensues as the names of her famous patrons, among them government officials and policemen, are revealed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Knots Landing: Season 10

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson

Synopsis: Season Ten of Knots Landing begins with Val (Joan Van Ark) surviving the lethal drug overdose administered by Jill (Teri Austin). Worried that her current amour Gary (Ted Shackelford) was planning to re-wed his former wife Val, Jill had schemed to bump off her rival in a manner that would look Read More

Knots Landing: Season 09

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson

Synopsis: The big news of Knots Landing's ninth season is the apparent murder of unsavory politician Peter Hollister, who in the course of the previous season had had affairs with both Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills) and Abby's daughter Olivia (Tonya Crowe)--leading Abby to believe that Olivia was the killer Read More

Knots Landing: Season 08

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson

Synopsis: Moving to its now-famous Thursday night timeslot on the occasion of its eighth season, Knots Landing quickly updates its fans on events left unresolved at the end of Season Seven, not least of which is the mysterious kidnapping of Karen MacKenzie (Michele Lee). It turns out that Karen's abductor Read More

Knots Landing: Season 07

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson

Synopsis: The "Black Market Baby" story arc which dominated most of Knots Landing's sixth season is resolved in the first few episodes of Season Seven, as Val Ewing (Joan Van Ark) is tearfully reunited with her twin babies, who had been stolen and auctioned off on the illegal-adoption circuit. This settled Read More

Knots Landing: Season 06

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson

Synopsis: Season Six of Knots Landing begins with the conniving Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills) finding herself the victim rather than the predator for a change when she is kidnapped by the sinister Mark St. Claire (Joseph Chapman). Meanwhile, Karen Fairgate MacKenzie (Michele Lee), having been wounded by a Read More

Glitter

Knots Landing: Season 05

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson

Synopsis: The fourth-season murder of singer Cijji Dunne still looms large over the main characters of Knots Landing as the series launches its fifth year on the air. After briefly suspecting Cijji's erstwhile lover Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and Gary's wife Val (Joan Van Ark), Federal prosecutor Mack Read More

Knots Landing: Season 04

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson

Synopsis: Joining the cast of Knots Landing as the series begins its fourth season is Kevin Dobson as Federal prosecutor Marion Patrick "Mack" MacKenzie, who is brought into the storyline when Karen Fairgate (Michele Lee), widowed owner of Knots Landing Motors, decides to aggressively pursue the criminals Read More

Red Flag: The Ultimate Game

Synopsis: Purportedly based on a true story, this made-for-TV drama was filmed on location at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The focus is on two highly competitive jet pilots, Major Jay Rivers (Barry Bostwick) and Major Phil Clark (William Devane). Unable to leave their rivalry on the ground, Rivers and Read More

Knots Landing: Season 03

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Michele Lee, John Pleshette

Synopsis: Season Three of Knots Landing picks up where the previous season left off, as Sid Fairgate (Don Murray), owner of Knots Landing Motors and the boss of series protagonist Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford), hovers between life and death after his car "accidentally" plummets over a cliff, the end result Read More

Knots Landing: Season 01

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Don Murray, Michele Lee, John Pleshette

Synopsis: Season One of the Dallas spinoff Knots Landing begins as Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford), ex-alcoholic "black sheep" of the oil-rich Ewing clan, moves from Texas to Southern California with his long-suffering wife Val (Joan Van Ark). The couple make their new home in the cul-de-sac community of Knots Read More

Knots Landing: Season 02

Actors: Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, Don Murray, Michele Lee

Synopsis: Playing to disappointing ratings during its first season on the air, the Dallas spinoff Knots Landing made a spectacular leap forward during Season Two with the introduction to the cast of Donna Mills as Abby Cunningham, the manipulative and predatory sister of Sid Fairgate (Don Murray), Gary Read More

Quincy, M.E.: Gone But Not Forgotten

Synopsis: In an episode obviously inspired by the Howard Hughes saga, reclusive billionaire Stanley Appleton Troy is found murdered in his high-rise executive suite, despite being protected by a state-of-the-art security system. There's only one obvious suspect, Ben Mular (Ramon Bieri) and Lt. Monahan Read More

Kojak: Lady in the Squad Room

Synopsis: There's no love lost between Lt. Kojak (Telly Savalas) and female detective Joanne Long (Joan Van Ark), who much against her will has been transferred to Kojak's department from the rape squad. Even so, the two antagonists must bury the hatchet long enough to capture an elusive drug peddler who Read More

The Rockford Files: There's One in Every Port

Synopsis: Jim (James Garner) is summoned to the bedside of his old friend Eddie Marks (Howard Duff), who claims to be dying and desperate need of money for his medical treatment. Eddie begs Jim to get him access to high-stakes poker game presided over by Blast Gillette (George Memmoli) in order to acquire Read More

Testimony of Two Men

Synopsis: The inaugural presentation of the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" anthology, the three-part, six-hour miniseries Testimony of Two Men was based on the 1968 best-seller by Taylor Caldwell; it originally aired in three separate two-hour installments. Sprawled over the course of several generations Read More

The Last Dinosaur

Synopsis: In this Japanese fantasy, the world's wealthiest man enters a time warp to a prehistoric world to hunt a Tyrannosaurus Rex. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Rockford Files: Resurrection in Black & White

Synopsis: In her efforts to prove the innocence of a man who has spent six years behind bars on a murder charge, journalist Susan Alexander (Joan Van Ark) places her own life in danger. Hired as a reluctant bodyguard for Susan, Jim (James Garner) tries to find out the source of her trouble. The clues lead Read More

Shell Game

Synopsis: An amiable con man pulls a scam on the corrupt leader of a fund-raising campaign for a major charity in this lively drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Last of the Mohicans

Synopsis: A frontier scout named Hawkeye forms an unlikely friendship with a tribe of Mohican warriors amidst the backdrop of the French and Indian War in an animated adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's classic novel. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Rules of the Game

Synopsis: A cynical husband's apathetic philosophy is put to the test when his adulterous wife draws him into a duel against her exasperated lover in this adaptation of Liugi Pirandello's upper class tragicomedy starring Joan Van Ark, David Dukes, Glen Close, and John McMartin. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Read More

Cyrano

Actors: Kurt Kasznar, Joan Van Ark, Victor Garber, Martyn Green

Synopsis: For its third animated-cartoon presentation, ABC Afterschool Special offers a streamlined adaptation of Edmond Rostand's romantic play Cyrano de Bergerac. The best swordsman and wittiest raconteur in all France, Cyrano de Bergerac (voiced by José Ferrer, recreating his most famous Broadway role) Read More

The F.B.I.: The Vendetta

Synopsis: Syndicate chieftan Rudy Keppler (John Vernon) leaves the security of his Caribbean hideway and sneaks back into the States. He plans to kill Nick Thomas ({$Vic Mohica), the young hood who has murdered Keppler's brother in a Mob power play. Striking while the iron is hot, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Read More

Big Rose

Actors: Shelley Winters, Barry Primus, Lonny Chapman, Michael Constantine, Joan Van Ark

Synopsis: Shelley Winters is appropriately cast as Big Rose, a rough 'n' tough private detective. Nobody messes with Big Rose, least of all her new young partner (Barry Primus), who likes to joke his way through dangerous situations. The two detectives are hired to thwart a gang of confidence tricksters who Read More

Ironside: Trial of Terror

Synopsis: Everett Ward (Andrew Duggan), longtime accountant for drug-dealing businessman Mike Martine (Harold J. Stone), decides to step forward and testify against his boss after witnessing a murder. Unfortunately, Ward's act of defiance proves to be his undoing when he becomes Martine's next victim. Now Read More

The Rockford Files: Find Me if You Can

Synopsis: Jim (James Garner) is understandably confused when a woman (Joan Van Ark) identifying herself as Florence Baker hires him to find her--that's right, to find HER! He soon discovers that Florence is actually Barbara Kelbaker, and that she has stolen $50,000 from her live-in lover Ralph Correll Read More

Frogs

Actors: Ray Milland, Sam Elliott, Joan Van Ark, Adam Roarke, Judy Pace

Synopsis: The slimy denizens of the Everglades organize a particularly nasty rebellion in this enjoyable entry from the "nature-run-amok" horror subgenre which favored drive-in venues of the mid-'70s. The story takes place amid the festivities honoring the birthday of crotchety, wheelchair-bound Southern Read More

The Judge and Jake Wyler

Actors: Bette Davis

Synopsis: Even Bette Davis showed up in a TV-movie pilot from time to time. The Judge and Jake Wyler stars the indestructible Davis as a hypochondriac former judge who becomes a private detective. Davis puts paroled ex-con Doug McClure to work as her "leg man," searching for clues in the supposed suicide of Read More

The F.B.I.: The Deadly Gift

Synopsis: Posing as a psychic, silver-tongued con artist Charles Ridgeway (Fritz Weaver) specializing in relieving his wealthy clients of their jewels and other valuables. Ridgeway's current pigeon is widow Carol Stanford (Dana Wynter), who is desperate to make contact with the spirit of her dead son. FBI Read More

The F.B.I.: The Condemned

Synopsis: The Season Six opener of The F.B.I finds federal agents Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) and Colby (William Reynolds) canvassing an era ranging from Pennsylvania to Oregon in search of two elusive bank robbers. Perry Victor (Martin Sheen) is the suave schemer of the pair, while Shep Buford (Tim Read More

The F.B.I.: The Maze

Synopsis: A fugitive from the FBI, Frank Welles (Steve Ihnat) has also been marked for death by a Mafia hitman. Despite the danger involved, Welles makes a stopover in San Diego, intending to wreak vengeance against the man whom he holds responsible for the death of his best friend's daughter. Thus Read More

Bonanza: Sweet Annie Laurie

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Joan Van Ark, James Olson

Synopsis: Joan Van Ark made an early TV starring appearance in this January 5, 1969 episode of Bonanza. The actress is cast as Laurie Adams, who is desperate to break off her relationship with her fugitive-outlaw husband Kelly Adams (James Olson). Hoss Cartwright tries to help Laurie, a task made difficult Read More