Joan Prather is an American actress, best known for her role as Janet McArthur Bradford (wife of David) in ''

Eight Is Enough ''Eight Is Enough'' is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who ...

''.

Early life

Prather was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Prather first began acting in grade-school stage productions, and was a regular on the teen dance show "Somethin' Else" during her high school years. She graduated from Highland Park High School in 1969.

Film and television credits

Her film credits include ''

The Single Girls ''The Single Girls'' (also released under the titles ''Bloody Friday'' and ''Private School'') is a 1974 exploitation film about a group of swingers at a Caribbean resort who are stalked by a mysterious killer. The film was directed by Beverly Se ...

'' (1974), ''

Big Bad Mama ''Big Bad Mama'' is a 1974 American action-crime- sexploitation comedy movie produced by Roger Corman, starring Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, and Tom Skerritt, with Susan Sennett and Robbie Lee. This movie is about a mother, Wilma (played by ...

'' (1974), '' The Devil's Rain'' (1975), ''

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

'' (1975), ''

Rabbit Test The rabbit test, or Friedman test, was an early pregnancy test developed in 1931 by Maurice Friedman and Maxwell Edward Lapham at the University of Pennsylvania. Test The hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is produced during pregna ...

'' (1978) and ''

Take This Job and Shove It "Take This Job and Shove It" is a 1977 country music song written by David Allan Coe and popularized by Johnny Paycheck, about the bitterness of a man who has worked long and hard with no apparent reward. The song was first recorded by Paycheck o ...

'' (1981). She appeared in TV series such as ''

Executive Suite An executive suite in its most general definition is a collection of offices or rooms—or suite—used by top managers of a business—or executives. Over the years, this general term has taken on a variety of specific meanings. Corporate offi ...

'', ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...

'', ''

Fantasy Island ''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. Gu ...

'', and the 1980 edition of ''

Battle of the Network Stars ''Battle of the Network Stars'' is a series of competitions in which television stars from ABC, CBS and NBC would compete in various sporting events. A total of 19 of these competitions were held between 1976 and 1988, all of which were aired b ...

''. During her teen years, Joan was a featured "go-go" dancer on a local Dallas teen dance TV show called

Sump'n Else ''Sump'n Else'' was an American live teen dance television show that aired from 1965 to 1968 on Channel8 WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, formatted similarly to ''American Bandstand''. Hosts The show featuring a youthful host, Ron Chapman, who went ...

(NOT "Somethin' Else" as some sources on the internet have erroneously posted). The show ran from 1965 to 1968 and it was roughly modeled after "American Bandstand" and often featured national and local bands.

Scientology

While on the set of ''The Devil's Rain'', Prather told an "extremely unhappy"

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

that

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...

had helped her, inspiring him to get involved with the religion upon his later return to Los Angeles.''John Travolta''
Bob McCabe, Parragon, 1996, page 19

Personal life

Prather quit acting in the late 1980s. She was married to James J Fiducia for five years in the late 1970s, and is currently married to lawyer Douglas J. Frye and lives in Malibu, California. In September 2008, she was arrested for felony hit-and-run in Malibu and was released on $50,000 bail.

References

External links

* Living people American film actresses 20th-century American actresses American television actresses Actresses from Dallas 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-screen-actor-1950s-stub