Joan Banks

Joan Banks
Credits
Role	Margaret Baxter
Biographical Information
Birth Name	Joan Elinor Banks
Birthdate	October 30, 1918
Birthplace	New York, New York, United States
Death Date	January 18, 1998 (age 79)
Death Place	Los Angeles, California, United States

Joan Banks played Margaret Baxter, wife of client Joe Baxter, in the fourth season episode, "Birdies, Bogeys and Baxter" (1967).

Biography

Joan Banks was an American actress. She was born Joan Elinor Banks on October 30, 1918 in New York, New York.

She attended a school of Russian ballet as a little girl and excelled as a swimmer during high school. Her talent earned her a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and she attended Hunter College.

Blessed with a deep, distinctive voice, Joan Banks spent much of her acting career on radio, making her debut with Walter O'Keefe in 1936 at the age of 18. At that same age, she became the first "feminine stooge" for Stoopnagle and Budd on their show. Then, she played many other roles on radio programs, including Peggy O'Neill Kayden in The O'Neills (1934-1943), Camilla in Young Widder Brown (1938-1956), and Jane Stacy in My Friend Irma (1947-1954). She met her future husband Frank Lovejoy when both had roles on the radio soap opera This Day Is Ours (1938-1940). Banks was also a regular voice-over artist, as was Frank Lovejoy, on the popular radio series Gang Busters (1936-1957) that featured weekly episodes based on actual crime incidents. Each program ended with various descriptions of wanted criminals, many of whom were later arrested due to avid listener participation.

Joan Banks began her Hollywood career in October 1950 with a lead role in the Stars Over Hollywood episode, "Some Small Nobility" (season one, episode five). During the 1950s, she played small roles in a few films, including Robert Parrish's 1951 Cry Danger, Mark Robson's 1951 Bright Victory, Robert Pirosh's 1952 Washington Story, Robert Parrish's 1952 My Pal Gus, and Blake Edwards's 1957 Mister Cory. In the mid-1950s, she began appearing with increasing frequency as a guest star on numerous television series, including Four Star Playhouse, I Love Lucy, Robert Montgomery Presents, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Stage 7, Private Secretary, The Ford Television Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Adventures of McGraw, Mr. Adams and Eve, Mike Hammer, State Trooper, Wanted: Dead of Alive, Zane Grey Theatre, The David Niven Show, Philip Marlowe, Hazel, National Velvet, and five episodes of Perry Mason. Her last television appearance was in Bewitched.

After retiring from film and television, she returned to radio and played numerous roles between 1974 and 1980 in 33 episodes of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Joan Banks married fellow The Day Is Ours and Gang Busters actor Frank Lovejoy on May 31, 1940. They had a daughter, Judith, and a son, Stephen. Banks used her married name professionally after her marriage. Frank Lovejoy died of a heart attack on October 2, 1962. At the time, he and Banks were appearing together in a New Jersey stage production of Gore Vidal's play The Best Man, but they had been off the night he was stricken. Joan Banks married Allan Raymond Johnson, Chairman of the Board of Saks Fifth Avenue, on February 14, 1969. They divorced in 1979.

Joan Banks died from lung cancer on January 18, 1998 in Los Angeles, California. She was 79.

Sources

• Joan Banks on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on January 27, 2025. Updated on March 28, 2025.
• Joan Banks on Wikipedia. Retrieved on March 28, 2025.