Joanna Miles, a renowned American actress, was born on March 6, 1940, in Nice, France, to expatriate American abstract painter Jeanne Miles and French painter-museum curator Johannes Schiefer.
Escaping the war, Joanna was relocated to the United States in 1941. She graduated from the progressive Putney School in 1958.
She began her career in New York, acting in a number of plays, television shows, and films. On receiving numerous rewards, she reached the apogee of her career, playing "Laura Wingfield" in the 1973 TV production of "The Glass Menagerie", alongside co-stars Katharine Hepburn, Sam Waterston, and Michael Moriarty, for which Mrs. Miles and Michael Moriarty won Emmy Awards.
In 1990, for nine years, Joanna founded and served as the Artistic Director of the Playwright's Group in LA. She also holds the position of vice-president of "Brandman Productions".
Joanna has continued to work steadily in TV, films, and theater. She is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio and the Motion Picture Academy.
Most recently, in 2012, she starred in "Women In Shorts" at the Working Stage Theater, "Women On Time" in 2015, and "Front Door Open" at the Greenway Court Theater in 2016, for which she won The Edon Award for best actress, among a few other play readings around town, including "The Widow Kinsky" at the Blank Theater.
An ex-New Yorker, Joanna resides in LA with her husband, writer, producer, and novelist Michael Brandman. Her son, Miles Brandman, is a film writer, director, and playwright, while her stepson, Steven J. Brandman, is a television producer.
In 2018, Joanna received The Marquis Who's Who Lifetime Achievement Award.