Born on June 9, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, Joan Marshall attended St. Clement's School. Looking far more mature than her age would indicate, when she was just 14 years old she auditioned for, and was hired, as a showgirl at Chicago's Chez Paree, one of the country's foremost nightclubs in the 1940s and 1950s. Two years later, she was appearing in Las Vegas productions. Vegas was also where she met her first husband and her son, Steven, was born. Her daughter Shari was born three years after Steven. Moving to Beverly Hills, she starred on the television series _"Bold Venture" , this was not the case. She and the gifted Mr. Chamberlain were -- and remained -- very close friends. After visiting Jamaica, Joan fell in love with the island nation, where she had a home, and, subsequently, died on June 28, 1992. Her ashes were spread under her favorite tree on the property.
It has been speculated by some that she was the twin sister of writer/director Dirk Wayne Summers. This may have been started by Marshall herself. She always referred to Summers as her brother, and they introduced each other to their various friends as brother and sister (they were the exact same age; went to the same elementary school and high school together and did look remarkably alike). In addition, their relationship was best described as familial, always remaining constantly close. However, no definitive information of their being siblings has ever been disclosed; Marshall is now deceased and Summers refuses to discuss the subject.
When she married business executive Mel Bartfield in 1990 in Los Angeles, her best friend (and, according to some, her brother) writer/director Dirk Wayne Summers , performed the wedding ceremony. He became an ordained minister in 1969.
Was the mother character (then known as Phoebe Munster) in the test episode of "The Munsters" shown to network executives. However, she was subsequently replaced by Yvonne De Carlo when filming began for the first season; network executives thought her character (now renamed Lily Munster) was too much like Morticia Addams) from "The Addams Family" .
Had two children (from her first marriage): Steven and Shari.
