Joan Severance
Joan Severance for Vogue Taiwan in 2019
Born
Joan Marie Severance

(1958-12-23) December 23, 1958[1]
Houston, Texas, U.S
Occupation(s)Actress, fashion model
Years active1979–present
Spouse
Eric Milan
​
​
(m. 1977; div. 1984)​
Websitewww.joanseverance.com

Joan Marie Severance (born December 23, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model.

Early life

Severance was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Martha and John C. Severance. Her father was an IBM systems manager who had to move frequently around the world. "By the time I was 11," said Severance, "we'd lived in 12 different places." Her family and she also lived in Libya, but in 1967 had to flee the country because of the Six-Day War. They left the Middle East and returned to the United States, settling in Houston.[2]

Severance attended Westbury High School,[3] and at age 15, started modeling to make money for college. Although she hoped to become a veterinarian, she could not afford the cost of tuition. After appearing in the "Miss Houston" beauty contest, she was discovered by Alan Martin, a local photographer in Houston, who introduced her to John Casablancas. Casablancas signed her up with the Elite modeling agency and sent her on assignment to Paris. During this time, she met her future husband, model Eric Milan.[2]

Career

Modeling

During her time in Paris, she posed for Sportswear International, Vogue Paris, and others.[2][4] Upon her return to the United States, Severance became one of America's top models, filming over 40 commercials, and earning $7,500 per day.[2] She has also modeled for Versace, Chanel, and Armani.[5]

Severance was also on the covers of the January 1990 and November 1992 issues of Playboy magazine, both featuring her in a nude pictorial. More recently, at age 52, she appeared in a six-page editorial along with an interview in the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Genlux magazine.

Severance at the 2005 15th Annual Night of 100 Stars Oscar

Acting

In 1986, Severance began auditioning for acting bits at the urging of her friend Robin Leach.[2] She made her debut in a small role in the first Lethal Weapon film in 1987. She usually takes the "femme fatale" roles in low-budget horror and murder-mystery movies including Lake Consequence (1992), Criminal Passion (1994), and Payback (1995). She was featured alongside Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder in the 1989 comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and as Hulk Hogan's love interest, Samantha N. Moore, in the wrestling film No Holds Barred (1989). She had leading roles in Roger Corman's Black Scorpion (1995). She starred in and co-produced the sequels Black Scorpion II: Aftershock (1997) and The Last Seduction II (1999).

She appeared in the Scorpions' video for their 1988 song, "Rhythm of Love."[6]

Her most extensive role was a villainess for an eleven-episode story arc of the TV series Wiseguy; she played Susan Profitt, half of a brother/sister crime team (the other half was played by Kevin Spacey) to great acclaim.[7] Their partnership was reprised in See No Evil, Hear No Evil. In the early 1990s, Severance appeared as Samantha "Sam" Dooley, the Martian Belle, in two training videos for Virtual World Entertainment alongside other actors such as Cheech Marin, "Weird Al" Yankovic, R. Lee Ermey, and Judge Reinhold.[8][9] From 1998 to 1999, Severance played Security Chief Camille Hunter on the Aaron Spelling television series Love Boat: The Next Wave on UPN.

In 2006, Severance appeared in My Network TV telenovela Wicked Wicked Games. She was also in shows such as CSI: Miami and One Tree Hill. In 2013, she was in American Horror Story: Asylum. In 2014, she was on Celebrity Wife Swap with Robin Leach.

Personal life

Severance married fellow model Eric Milan in 1977. They separated amicably in 1984. According to Severance, they "just grew apart".[2] Severance was diagnosed with vitiligo when she was eight years old; the primary area affected by the disease is her eyes.[10]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1987 Lethal Weapon Girl in Black Playsuit Uncredited
1989 See No Evil, Hear No Evil Eve
1989 No Holds Barred Samantha
1989 Worth Winning Lizbette
1990 Bird on a Wire Rachel Varney
1991 Another Pair of Aces: Three of a Kind Susan Davis Television film
1991 The Runestone Marla Stewart
1991 Write to Kill Belle Washburn
1992 Illicit Behavior Melissa Yarnell
1992 Almost Pregnant Maureen Mallory
1993 Lake Consequence Irene
1993 Red Shoe Diaries 2: Double Dare The Woman Segment: "Safe Sex"
1994 Criminal Passion Melanie Hudson
1995 Payback Rose Gullerman
1995 Dangerous Indiscretion Caroline Everett
1995 Hard Evidence Madelyn Turner
1995 Black Scorpion Darcy Walker Television film
1996 Frequent Flyer Alison Rawlings Television film
1996 Profile for Murder Dr. Hanna Carras
1997 Black Scorpion II Darcy Walker
1997 In Dark Places Chapelle
1998 Matter of Trust Theresa Marsh
1998 Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story Paley Television film
1999 The Last Seduction II Bridget Gregory
2001 Cause of Death Angela Carter
2003 Mystery Woman Mary Stenning Television film
2005 Taylor Leigh
2006 Last Sunset Lisa Wayne
2007 Born Dr. Sammael
2012 Sharkproof Connie Krebs
2016 Accidentally Engaged Sandy Byers
2016 Becker's Farm Mrs. Schmidt

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1979 ABC Afterschool Specials Actress exiting limo Episode: "A Movie Star's Daughter"
1987 Mike Hammer Pauline Episode: "Lady Killer"
1988 Wiseguy Susan Profitt 9 episodes
1988 Max Headroom Zik-Zak Hallucination Girl Episode: "Neurostim"
1989 Murphy's Law Alex Kovac Episode: "All's Wrong That Ends Wrong"
1989 The Hitchhiker Jane Ambergris / Holly May Stillman Episode: "My Enemy"
1991 Midnight Caller Norma Cheever Episode: "Uninvited Guests"
1991 Good Sports Randi Episode: "The Moody Blues Swing"
1992 Red Shoe Diaries The Woman Episode: "Safe Sex"
1992 Tales from the Crypt Rona Episode: "The New Arrival"
1993 Johnny Bago Reno Hubbertston Episode: "Lady Madonna"
1993 L.A. Law Lauren Chase Episodes: "How Much Is That Bentley in the Window" and "Foreign Co-respondent"
1997 Profiler Christine Logan Episodes: "Venom: Part 1" and "Venom: Part 2"
1998-1999 Love Boat: The Next Wave Security Chief Camille Hunter 23 episodes
2003 She Spies Lauren Drake Episode: "Love Kills"
2004 One Tree Hill Cynthia Price Episodes: "I Shall Believe" and "Suddenly Everything Has Changed"
2005 CSI: Miami Sophie Townsend Episode: "Money Plane"
2006-2007 Wicked Wicked Games Anna Whitman 9 episodes
2013 American Horror Story: Asylum Marion Episode: "Madness Ends"
2013 Masters of Sex Leona Episode: "Brave New World" and "Fallout"
2016 NCIS: Los Angeles Mary Reynolds Episode: "Glasnost"

References

  1. ↑ "Joan Severance". Turner Classic Movies.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Most Twisted Sister in Prime Time, Wiseguy's Joan Severance Gives a Brand New Meaning to Hedonism Archived 2016-09-23 at the Wayback Machine on People; Kaufman, Joanne (March 7, 1988)
  3. ↑ "Westbury High Class of 1977". Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  4. ↑ Joan Severance magazine covers Archived 2011-07-01 at the Wayback Machine on JoanSeverance.com
  5. ↑ "Joan Severance | METRO Models". www.metromodels.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Rhythm of Love video". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Joan Severance - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Virtual World Battletech 3.0 Trainer". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Virtual World Red Planet 3.0 Trainer". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  10. ↑ Satenstein, Liana (April 25, 2017). "Watch This '80s Supermodel's Spectacular Age-Defying Beauty Routine". Vogue. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
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