Joan McCracken

In the film All That Jazz (1979) starring Roy Scheider, the angel character played by Jessica Lange is dressed in a similar way to Joan in her final performance in the off-Broadway play "The Infernal Machine" (1958). It seems Fosse was deeply disturbed by Joan's early death, a sorrow that lasted throughout the rest of his life according to his subsequent wife Gwen Verdon.

Joan suffered from a heart condition for seven years, complicated by type I diabetes, before her death in 1961, She was 43 even though the New York Times reported her age as 38. Joan had shaved five years off her age long ago for career purposes..

She was an actress, known for Good News (1947), Claudia: The Story of a Marriage (1952) and Hollywood Canteen (1944). She was married to Bob Fosse and Jack Dunphy.

In the film Hollywood Canteen (1944), she was the featured dancer in the "Ballet in Jive" number.

Joan McCracken was born on December 31, 1917 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Her first husband was novelist/playwright John Paul ("Jack") Dunphy (1914-1992). They met while both were dancers in Philadelphia. Jack's books include John Fury, Nightmovers and The Murderous McLaughlins. Divorced in 1951, he later became the longtime partner of Truman Capote. In a biography of Joan entitled The Girl Who Fell Down by Lisa Jo Sagolla, it is said McCracken violently reacted to losing her brother in combat and Capote, to her anger, used her experience in his film Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) in a similar scene with protagonist Holly Golightly.