Joan Blaine

Joan Blaine (April 20, 1900 – April 18, 1949) was an American actress whose career spanned stage, film, and radio. Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, she was a descendant of James G. Blaine, the 19th-century Republican politician who sought the presidency twice. Her father worked as a lawyer.

Blaine pursued higher education at Northwestern University, from which she graduated, and subsequently spent a year practicing law in Chicago. She also attended Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Before establishing herself in New York, she completed an apprenticeship with the Chicago Theater Guild.

Her stage work included two Broadway productions, Mystery Square and The Ghost Parade, both in 1929. Beyond Broadway, Blaine appeared in the New York productions Spitfire, And So to Bed, and Winter's Tale. She also took on the lead role of Selena Peake in summer stock productions of So Big.

Blaine became a prominent figure in American radio, particularly in the soap opera genre. One old-time radio reference book identified her as one of the first major stars of the soap opera form, noting that she received billing ahead of the program title. A 1938 newspaper article called her one of radio's leading actresses, and a 1943 report described her as the most popular daytime radio actress in the country. Among her earliest radio roles was the title character in The Story of Mary Marlin, which she played beginning in 1934 before departing the program on March 26, 1937, to fulfill a movie contract. She was also featured in The House by the Side of the Road in 1934–1935 and appeared in the Edgar Guest Welcome Valley program in 1936 in a role identified as the mysterious guest. In 1937, she was featured in We Are Four, a dramatic serial broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Beginning March 7, 1938, she starred on CBS in Valiant Lady, playing the lead role of Joan Barrett for most of the program's nine years on the air. Additional radio credits included A Tale of Today, Welcome Valley, and Music Magic, on which she served as narrator and reader of prose selections.

Blaine also appeared in the film The Knife. She was married to William Pitts. She died on April 18, 1949, at New York Hospital, two days before her forty-ninth birthday.