Joan Ryan is an American actress and singer, who played Judy Denmark/Ginger Del Marco in the Los Angeles production of Ruthless!, and Miss Tina Paladrino on Good Morning, Miss Bliss, the television series that became Saved by the Bell.[1]
Ryan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in Newport Beach, California. She attended the advanced training program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California, and while enrolled, appeared in productions of The Taming of the Shrew, Cyrano de Bergerac and A Doll's House as a member of the conservatory's theater company.[2] Upon completion of the program, Ryan moved to Los Angeles, California where she performed in productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Footloose, Angry Housewives, Nite Club Confidential, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
In 1988, Ryan was cast as Miss Tina Paladrino on the NBC/Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss. The show ran for a single season on Disney Channel before being moved to NBC and re-imagined as Saved by the Bell.[3] [4] In 1992, Good Morning, Miss Bliss was renamed Saved by the Bell: The Junior High Years and incorporated into the Saved by the Bell syndication package on TBS.[5]
In 1993, Ryan appeared as Judy Denmark/Ginger Del Marco in the Los Angeles stage production of Ruthless! The Musical.[6] The following year she would also appear on the original cast recording released by Varèse Sarabande.
Alongside her work in theater and television, Ryan also records and performs as a solo vocal artist. Her one-woman show, entitled Joan Ryan Live!, has been performed at clubs including Feinstein's/54 Below,[7] [8] Birdland,[9] [10] [11] [12] Catalina Jazz Club,[13] [14] and The Green Room 42,[15] and in 2013 earned Ryan the title of BroadwayWorld's Best Female Cabaret Artist.[16] [17]
| Production | Role | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruthless! | Judy Denmark/Ginger Del Marco | Canon Theatre | |
| Mass | "World Without End" Soloist | Hollywood Bowl | |
| Footloose | Vi Moore | Starlight Theatre | |
| Enter the Guardsman | Dresser | Old Globe Theatre | |
| Little Shop of Horrors | Audrey | La Mirada Civic Theatre | |
| Nunsense 2: The Second Coming | Sister Mary Paul/Amnesia | Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts | |
| Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Narrator | Upland Theater | |
| Nite Club Confidential | Dorothy Flynn | Tiffany Theater | |
| Angry Housewives | Jetta | Odyssey Theatre | |
| Suds | Dee Dee | La Mirada Civic Theatre | |
| Anyone Can Whistle | Fay Apple | Dupree Studio Theatre | |
| Rainbow in the Night | Darlene | Matrix Theatre | |
| Justice | Ruth Bader Ginsberg | Arizona Theatre Company |
| Year | Title | Role | Format | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Wright Turn | Katherine Bailey | Television | 3 episodes | |
| 2013 | Hot Guys with Guns | Patricia Armstrong | Film | ||
| 1997-1999 | Chicago Hope | Anesthesiologist | Television | 2 episodes | |
| 1994 | The Today Show | Musical Guest | Television | 1 episode | |
| 1994 | The Young and the Restless | Kathleen Pullman | Television | 4 episodes | |
| 1990 | His & Hers | Mrs. Jackson | Television | 1 episode | |
| 1988-1989 | Good Morning, Miss Bliss | Miss Tina Paladrino | Television | 13 episodes |