Joan Blondell was born Rose Joan Blondell on August 30, 1906, in New York, New York. Her parents were vaudeville entertainers and Joan began performing with them when she was three years old. In 1926 she won fourth place in the Miss America pageant. She appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies and starred in several successful Broadway shows. After making several short films Joan was offered a contract with Warner Brothers. Her first film at the studio was Sinner's Holiday with James Cagney. She became one of Hollywood's busiest actresses often making eight films a year. Joan worked with Barbara Stanwyck in Night Nurse and with Bette Davis in Three On A Match. Although she rarely played the lead role her wisecracking characters made her popular with audiences during the depression. In 1932 Joan married cinematographer George Barnes. Their son, Norman, was born in 1935. The marriage fell apart when Joan fell in love with Dick Powell, her costar in Gold Diggers of 1933. She divorced George and married Dick in September 1936. Two years later Joan gave birth to a daughter named Pamela Ellen. Dick also adopted her son, Norman. He left Joan in 1944 after he began an affair with actress June Allyson.

Joan married her third husband, producer Mike Todd, in 1947. Their marriage was an unhappy one and Mike often became abusive. Joan once accused him of trying to push her out of window. He also had a gambling problem and lost her entire fortune. Joan was forced to filed for bankruptcy and finally left Mike in 1950. She received an Academy Award nomination in 1952 for her performance in the drama The Blue Veil. Now in her forties she found she was no longer in demand in Hollywood. She returned to the stage in a production of The Rope Dancers and was nominated for a Tony award. During the 1960s she became a familiar face on television. She made guest appearances on dozens of shows like The Lucy Show and The Twilight Zone. In 1968 she starred in the series Here Comes The Bride. She was nominated for two Emmy awards for her work on the show. She wrote a novel called Center Door Fancy in 1972. The book was loosely based on her own experiences in Hollywood. One of her final roles was playing a waitress in the hit musical Grease. Joan died on December 25, 1979, from leukemia. She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Her son, Norman Powell, went on to produce many hit television shows including 24.