Joan Benedict Steiger (July 21, 1927 – June 24, 2024) was an American actress best known for her role as Edith Fairchild on ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

''.

Early life and education

Benedict Steiger was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, and first performed at the age of seven at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

. She continued her training at Rome Opera Ballet School, before studying with acting coaches Robert Lewis and

Stella Adler Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress and acting teacher. A member of Yiddish Theater's Adler dynasty, Adler began acting at a young age. She shifted to producing, directing, and teaching, founding the ...

, founders of the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method actin ...

in New York.

Career

Theatre

Her list of stage credits include acclaimed productions of contemporary offerings such as ''Promises, Promises'', ''The Beauty Queen of Leenane'', ''Collected Stories'' by Donald Margulies, P.J. Barry's ''

The Octette Bridge Club ''The Octette Bridge Club'' is a play by P.J. Barry. Set in Providence, Rhode Island, it focuses on eight sisters of Irish descent who meet on alternate Friday evenings to play bridge and gossip. The first act, which opens with the women posing ...

'', Horton Foote's ''The Traveling Lady'', and Morris West's ''The World is Made of Glass'', opposite

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'', for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He als ...

in the comedy ''The Mind with the Dirty Man'', and others.

Film

Benedict Steiger is known for a classic bit from the original version of ''

Candid Camera ''Candid Camera'' is an American hidden camera and practical joke reality television series. The show was created, developed, and presented by Allen Funt. Various versions of the show have appeared on television from 1948 to 2014. The program ...

'', where she played a lost tourist looking for directions from passersby. She was also part of the ensemble of the original ''

Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC,

'', where she did double duty as the spokesperson for Hazel Bishop cosmetics. On daytime drama, she had regular and recurring roles on ''

'', ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'', and ''Capitol''. She has a starring role the 2011 feature ''Dead Border''.

Personal life

Joan Benedict Steiger's personal relationships are the basis for her one-woman show, ''The Loves of my Life''. Her first marriage was to actor

John Myhers John Benjamin Myhers (December 18, 1921 – May 27, 1992) was an American stage and screen actor. His film roles included playing Mr. Bratt in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical '' How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (1 ...

, best known for his work in ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', and they were married from 1962 until Myhers' death in 1992. Benedict Steiger is also the widow of the Academy Award-winning actor

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger ( ; April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associ ...

, whom she married October 10, 2000. They appeared in two films together, ''A Month of Sundays'' and the telefilm ''The Flying Dutchman''. Following Rod Steiger's death in 2002, Benedict Steiger's partner was actor

Jeremy Slate Jeremy Slate (born Robert Bullard Perham; February 17, 1926 – November 19, 2006) was an American film and television actor, and songwriter. He is best known for portraying Larry Lahr in ''The Aquanauts'' (1960–1961), Chuck Wilson in ''One ...

, a veteran of over 80 films and television shows dating back to 1959, until his death in 2006. Steiger lived in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

. She died from complications of a stroke at the

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

in Los Angeles, on June 24, 2024. She was 96.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steiger, Joan Benedict 1927 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Brooklyn Actresses from Malibu, California American soap opera actresses American stage actresses