Joan Blaine (April 20, 1900 - April 18, 1949) was an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

best known for her work in

soap operas A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

Early years

Blaine was born April 20, ca. 1900 Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Deaths, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 76. in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and was a descendant of James G. Blaine, a 19th-century American politician who twice was the Republican candidate for president of the United States. Her father was a lawyer. She graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and practiced law in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

for a year after receiving her degree. She also attended

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

Radio

A 1938 newspaper article described Blaine as "one of radio's leading actresses," and one in 1943 reported, "Joan was acclaimed the most popular daytime radio actress in the country." She was described in one old-time radio reference book as "one of the first real stars of the oap operaform, getting billing up front before the title."Dunning, John. (1976). ''Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925-1976''. Prentice-Hall, Inc. . P. 628. One of Blaine's earliest roles on radio was playing the title character in ''

The Story of Mary Marlin ''The Story of Mary Marlin'' is an American soap opera radio program. It was broadcast from October 3, 1934, until April 12, 1945, and returned from September 24, 1951, until April 11, 1952. After 1937 it was among the highest-rated soap operas. A ...

'', beginning in 1934. She left the program March 26, 1937, "to fulfill a movie contract." She was featured in ''The House by the Side of the Road'' in 1934-1935 and had a role called "mysterious guest" in the Edgar Guest ''Welcome Valley'' program in 1936. In 1937, she was featured in ''We Are Four'', a "dramatic serial" on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

. She starred in ''Valiant Lady'', beginning March 7, 1938, on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, and continued in the lead role of Joan Barrett for most of the program's nine years on the air.Dunning, John. (1998). ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. Oxford University Press. . Pp. 692-694. Blaine was also featured in ''A Tale of Today'' and ''Welcome Valley''Buxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). ''The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950''. The Viking Press. SBN 670-16240-x. Pp. 232, 254. and was the "narrator and reader of prose selections" on ''Music Magic''.Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 76.

Stage

Blaine had an apprenticeship with the Chicago Theater Guild. She had roles in two

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

productions -- ''Mystery Square'' and ''The Ghost Parade'' and appeared in the New York productions ''Spitfire'', ''And So to Bed'', and ''Winter's Tale''. She also portrayed the lead character, Selena Peake, in

summer stock theatre In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock the ...

productions of '' So Big''.

Film

Blaine appeared in a movie, ''The Knife.''

Personal life

Blaine was married to William Pitts.

Death

Blaine died April 18, 1949, in New York Hospital.

Radio appearances

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaine, Joan 1900 births 1949 deaths American film actresses American radio actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses