Joan van Ark was born on June 16, 1943, in New York City, New York. Her parents were not connected to the film industry.

When Joan was a teenager acting in Denver, she met actress Julie Harris, and their lives would never be the same. Julie pushed her to go to the highly regarded Yale Drama School and gain admission using a scholarship she had also set up. This made Joan Van Ark the second-ever woman to enroll at the Drama School

She [Harris] wrote to the dean and asked him to meet me. “Long story short, my parents drove me to New Haven, Connecticut, to meet the dean, who gave me a scholarship,” Joan recalled.” It was meant to be.” Joan went on to perform in the theatre for a few years, but her real passion was in Television. Temperature’s Rising, Spider-Woman, and Days of Our Lives Joan achieved enormous renown as a result of her roles in Temperature’s Rising, Spider-Woman, Days of Our Lives, and even one Bonanza episode. But her role as Valene Ewing on Dallas in 1978 was where she first achieved great popularity. She ended up playing the most important role she has ever had. Because of how popular the show was, Joan appeared on its spin-off, Knots Landing. a program that was actually written prior to Dallas. Dallas was initially chosen by the producers because it was the best option for portraying affluent households at the time. Joan was then forced to play the same part in Dallas instead of joining the Knots Landing cast.