Joanna Roos

Joanna Roos, born Dorothy Roos on January 11, 1901 in Brooklyn, New York, was a versatile American performer whose career spanned five decades across stage, radio, television and film. Raised in a family that moved to Syracuse when she was ten, Roos completed high school locally and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse University, financing her studies by working as a stenographer for The Post‑Standard and giving readings for touring Lyceum companies. After graduation she refined her craft at Yvette Guilbert's School of the Theatre in New York and Paris, preparing for a debut that would soon follow. Her professional theatrical debut arrived in May 1921 with The Harlequinade at the Neighborhood Playhouse, and she quickly earned critical praise, most notably for her portrayal of Sofya Alexandrovna in Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at the Cort Theatre in 1930, a performance described by contemporary critics as “unforgettable.” Over the next forty years Roos amassed an extensive Broadway résumé that included titles such as Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1938), The Trojan Women (1941), Orpheus Descending (1957) and Peer Gynt (1960), showcasing her range from classic drama to modern works. In addition to acting, she contributed to the dramatic arts as a playwright, founding member of the New Dramatists Committee, and author of award‑winning plays that further solidified her reputation in the theatrical community. Roos’s talents translated seamlessly to the emerging media of radio and television; she became a familiar voice on the long‑running soap Joyce Jordan, M.D. and appeared in televised anthology series such as The Web (1954) where she played Elizabeth Stover, and the NBC drama Today Is Ours (1958). Her most enduring television role came on the daytime serial Love of Life, where she first embody the compassionate mother‑in‑law Althea Raven (1955‑1957) and later returned as Sarah Dale Caldwell McCauley, a part she inhabited from 1968 until her retirement in 1978. Throughout her career she remained dedicated to fostering new playwrights, and her involvement with New Dramatists earned her several accolades for her own scripts. On the personal front, Roos married musician Edmund Rickett, a partnership that lasted until her death. She passed away on May 13, 1989, at the Medical Center at Princeton in New Jersey at the age of 88, leaving behind a legacy of artistic commitment and a body of work that continues to inspire scholars of American theatre and early broadcast performance.