Joan Weldon Profile

Joan Weldon

	(Joan Louise Welton)
5 August 30	is born in San Francisco, California. Her father’s a lawyer at the Jeweler’s Board of Trade.
?	her mother dies when she is five; she is raised by her grandmother
	takes piano lessons as a child
?	attends Galileo High School
?	starts taking singing lessons at age 16
?	works for a telephone company at age 16
?	sings in the chorus of the San Francisco Grand Opera Company
52	producer Stanley Rubin spots her in one of Civic Light Opera founder Edwin Lester’s season shows and screen tests her for 20th Century-Fox
?	while singing with a Los Angeles opera company, she is spotted by a talent scout
	with actor Peter Lawford and her friend, literary agent Alain Bernheim, she attends a benefit party where she meets Jack Warner’s son-in-law, producer Bill Orr
	since 20th Century-Fox isn’t signing singers, she gets a contract with Warner Brothers. Bill Orr changes her name to Weldon.
53	together with Vera Miles, she’s considered for House of Wax, but Phyllis Kirk gets the part
54	befriends bit player Mary Alan Hokanson while filming Them! Later, they will meet frequently in New York.
	her singing scene opposite Tony Martin in Deep in My Heart ends on the cutting room floor
54	attends the premiere of her movie The Command, at the Pantages, with Barbara Warner, Jack Warner’s daughter
September 54	is around when Sarah Churchill and her husband Tony Beauchamp visit Hollywood
26 December 54	is off to Acapulco with a group of people. When Warner Brothers learns about it, she is sued for breach of contract, which does not expire until December 31. Extremely unhappy, she gains 20 pounds.
December 55	sings with Jimmy McHugh
September 59	she and fellow actor Hugh O'Brian are on hand in Chicago to congratulate columnist Louella Parsons on receiving her doctorate from Quincey College
Late 50s	leaves Hollywood to tour with The Music Man
?	stars on Broadway opposite Alfred Drake in Kean
?	opens the State Theatre in New York City performing the “If I Loved You” scene from Carousel with John Raitt
?	tours with Fess Parker in Oklahoma
66	marries eye surgeon Dr. David Podell and settles in New York City
c. 67	is the lead in the stage production of The Merry Widow at the State Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York
68	her daughter, Melissa, is born. She will become a fashion executive.
80	is on stage for the last time with The Desert Song in Sacramento
90s	resides in New York City
April 19	is inducted into the Galileo Hall of Merit
11 February 21	as Joan Podell, she dies at age 90 at her home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Sources: Samuel Clemens, Picture Show's Who's Who, Filmfax, I Was a Monster Movie Maker by Tom Weaver, Picture Show Annual 1955, Modern Screen, www.Ancestry.com
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Links: Filmography