Joan Chandler was an actress who was best known for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's Rope
She was born Joan Imel Cheeseman on August 24, 1923 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Her father, William Carl Cheeseman, was an auto salesman. During her childhood she took piano lessons and studied ballet. After graduating from high school she attended the School of Arts at Bennington College in Vermont. In 1944 she landed a role on Broadway in The Late George Apley. Joan married David McKay, a playwright, on January 25, 1945. The couple had one daughter together. She made her film debut in the 1946 drama Humoresque starring Joan Crawford. Then Alfred Hitchcock gave her a supporting role in his 1948 technicolor drama Rope. Although her performance got good reviews her movie career never took off.
Joan starred in several Broadway plays including Where's Charley, The Lady From The Sea, and The Disenchanted. She was also one of the founding members of the Actor's Studio in New York. In 1951 her marriage to David ended. The following year she married Dr. Charles Hogan, a psychiatrist. This marriage also ended in divorce. During the 1950s she appeared on the television shows Studio One and Suspense. Her final acting role was on a 1962 episode of Armstrong Circle Theater. Sadly on May 11, 1979 she died from cancer. Joan was only fifty-five years old. She was cremated and her ashes were given to her family.
