Joanna Cassidy (born Joanna Virginia Caskey; August 2, 1945)[1] is an American actress and former model. She began working as a model in the 1960s and made her professional acting debut in 1973, appearing in the thriller films The Laughing Policeman and The Outfit. She later starred in films Bank Shot (1974), The Late Show (1977) and went to star in the short-lived television series The Roller Girls (1978) and 240-Robert (1979). In 1982, she played replicantZhora Salome in science fiction film Blade Runner.
Cassidy majored in art at Syracuse University.[9] During her time there, she married Kennard C. Kobrin in 1963, a doctor in residency, and found work as a fashion model. They moved to San Francisco, where her husband set up a psychiatric practice while Cassidy continued modeling. They had a son and a daughter together.[citation needed] In 1968, she landed a bit part in the thriller film Bullitt.[2]
Career
Joanna Cassidy in 1974
Cassidy's first major film appearance was in the 1973 thriller The Outfit.[2] She appeared in a 1973 Smokey Bear public service announcement (PSA),[10] and on such television series as Mission: Impossible, Starsky & Hutch and Taxi. She had a secondary role in the drama film Stay Hungry (1976), a film about bodybuilding that featured a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cassidy was considered for the role of Wonder Woman for a television series, but lost it to Lynda Carter. She co-starred in the film Our Winning Season (1978). Her first regular role was as sheriff's pilot Morgan Wainwright in the action-adventure series 240-Robert (1979), although the series only lasted for two abbreviated seasons. Afterwards, Cassidy continued to appear in guest roles in series such as Dallas and Falcon Crest, as well as a regular role on the short-lived sitcom Buffalo Bill (1983) (for which she earned a Golden Globe Award).[2] She starred as a lead character, CIA operative Liz "Foxfire" Towne, in the short-lived NBC action television series Code Name: Foxfire (1985).[9]
Since 2000, Cassidy has appeared in the film Ghosts of Mars (2001) directed by John Carpenter, and had a recurring role as Margaret Chenowith on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under, for which she received Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. In 2004, she guest-starred in three episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise as T'Les (the Vulcan mother of Enterprise crewmember T'Pol), and she had a recurring role as Beverly Bridge on the series Boston Legal in 2006. She voiced the villainess Hecubah in the computer game Nox (2000) and once again voiced Maggie Sawyer in the 2002 video game Superman: Shadow of Apokolips.
In the spring of 2007, Cassidy donned Zhora's costume once more, 25 years after the release of Blade Runner, to recreate a climactic scene from the film for the fall 2007 Final Cut release of the film.[12] In the original 1982 release, a stunt performer played out Zhora's death scene, with the physical differences between the performer and Cassidy very evident (including the stuntwoman wearing a different wig). For the Final Cut, Cassidy's head was digitally transposed onto footage of the stunt performer, making the death scene fit continuity. According to the DVD featurette, All Our Variant Futures, it was Cassidy herself who suggested this be done; she is captured on video making the suggestion during filming of a retrospective interview related to Blade Runner.[13]
Joanna Cassidy in 1976
In the second season of the NBC series Heroes, she is seen in a photo of the 12 senior members of the show's mysterious company. Beyond appearances in photographs, the actress first appeared as Victoria Pratt in the 10th episode of season two, "Truth & Consequences", during which her character was killed.
In 2011, Cassidy began to appear in a recurring role on the ABC series Body of Proof as Judge Joan Hunt, the mother of Megan Hunt, Dana Delany's character on the series. The series was canceled by ABC after three seasons in May 2013. In 2015, Cassidy was cast as a main character in the Bravo scripted series Odd Mom Out. She plays the role of Candace Von Weber, a snobbish Upper East Side socialite and mother-in-law to the show's protagonist Jill Weber (Jill Kargman).[14] The series was canceled in 2017. In 2019, she co-starred in the Amazon Prime miniseries Too Old to Die Young and later had a recurring role on NCIS: New Orleans.
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