Top TV Moments: Joanna Pettet

I was saddened by the recent news that Joanna Pettet had died. In the Comfort TV era she was a frequent guest star on several quality shows and was always memorable regardless of her role. To me she was television’s equivalent to the cool patrician blondes favored by Alfred Hitchcock in films like Vertigo and Marnie, and I’d argue she was a better actress than either Kim Novak or Tippi Hedren.

In her personal life she played a bit part in one of the most infamous crime stories of the 20th century, having had lunch with Sharon Tate in Tate’s home just hours before she was murdered by the Manson Family. Rumer Willis played Pettet in Quentin Tarantino’s film Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood.

Unlike many performers from that era, she was also busy in feature films, appearing in the first (sort of) James Bond movie, Casino Royale, the wartime mystery The Night of the Generals, and the underrated cult horror hit The Evil (trust me, it’s good). But it was on television that most of us came to know her, starting back in 1964.

Route 66 (1964)
In “Child of a Night” Tod and Linc are determined to carry out a dying man’s wish of getting a large sum of money to its rightful recipient. Making her TV debut, the British-born Pettet manages a convincing southern accent as a would-be claimant of the fortune.

The Doctors (1964)
As nurse Judy Lloyd, Pettet appeared in 18 episodes of this daytime drama that debuted the same year as General Hospital.

The Fugitive (1966)
A traveling carnival provides a colorful backdrop to this typically strong episode, featuring Joanna Pettet as an emotionally troubled young woman who falls for Kimble, and jeopardizes his freedom after she is rejected. She would have an equally doomed romance with David Janssen eight years later in the Harry O episode “Forty Reasons to Kill.”

Night Gallery (1971)
Series fans have dubbed Pettet the Queen of Night Gallery, since she appeared in four different episodes. “The Caterpillar” may be the most satisfying but she’s just a supporting player in that tale of lust and murder. More interesting, at least until its climax, is “The House,” in which she plays a woman who tells her psychiatrist about a recurring dream she’s had for ten years: she is driving along a country road and sees a beautiful house – she knocks on the door but wakes up before anyone answers.

On the day she is released from a sanitarium, she spots the house from her dream and finds out it’s for sale. What happens next? No spoilers here, except to say that even Joanna Pettet wasn’t satisfied. “The ending makes absolutely no sense at all,” she said in an interview. 

Banacek (1972)
One reason Joanna Pettet was always in demand is how she seemed to have chemistry no matter who she was paired with on screen. Here she brings out a softer side of George Peppard’s smug, sexist hero. 

In “Project Phoenix” Pettet plays an automotive engineer who falls under suspicion after an experimental vehicle disappears from a moving train. Lots of familiar faces in this one – William Windom, Bert Convy, Peter Mark Richman, Herb Edelman, John Fiedler – what a wonderful era of television this was, with so many great character actors making every part memorable.

The Captains and the Kings (1976)
The 1970s were awash in ‘prestigious’ miniseries adaptations of popular novels, and while this one never made the same splash as Roots or Rich Man, Poor Man, it’s good trashy fun. It’s a multi-generational story of one Irish American family, loosely based on the Kennedys (unofficially to avoid any lawsuits). Amidst a huge all-star cast, Pettet appears as Katherine Hennessey, an early object of desire for young Joe Kenn…er, Armagh, who helps to smooth his rougher edges before his rise to power.

Charlie’s Angels (1980)
“Nips and Tucks” is one of the better fourth season (Shelley Hack) episodes, thanks in part to guest star Louis Jourdan as a renowned plastic surgeon being blackmailed into changing the appearance of a wanted racketeer. Pettet plays the crook’s girlfriend, who’s ready to kill anyone getting in the way.

The Love Boat (1981)
Most of Pettet’s resume consists of heavy dramatic roles, so it’s fun to see her playing light comedy for a change. In “I Love You Too, Smith” she plays a fussy customs agent whom Gopher despises, until she sails on the Pacific Princess, and you can guess what happens next.

Knots Landing (1983)
This was Pettet’s last recurring series role; she appeared in nine episodes as police detective Janet Baines.

The Fall Guy (1984)
Colt and company are shooting a James Bond-type movie (“Always Say Always”), but that’s not what makes this episode memorable. It’s the guest appearances by three former Bond girls that made it more fun – Pettet (Casino Royale), Lana Wood (Diamonds are Forever) and Britt Ekland (The Man with the Golden Gun).

And as it turned out, 1984 was Pettet’s last busy working year. She also appeared in episodes of Hotel, Knight Rider, The Yellow Rose and Finder of Lost Loves. After that IMDB lists only four more projects before she began more than 30 years of (hopefully happy) retirement.