Joanna Kerns
Joanna Crussie DeVarona Kerns is an American actress and director best known for her role as Maggie Seaver on the family situation comedy Growing Pains from 1985 to 1992.
After Growing Pains ended, she turned to directing. She directed one episode of Growing Pains while starring on the show and got hooked. She has also directed episodes of television shows including Dawson's Creek, Titans, Scrubs, Private Practice, Psych, Felicity, Grey's Anatomy, Privileged, ER, Ghost Whisperer, Army Wives, Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, The Goldbergs, This Is Us, and Fuller House.
She has also made notable appearances in feature films, including A*P*E, Girl, Interrupted, and the 2007 comedy Knocked Up. She has also starred in a number of TV movies.
In 1974, Kerns met a commercial producer, Richard Kerns, on the set of a commercial, and they married two years later. Their marriage lasted nine years and the couple had a daughter, Ashley Cooper. In 1994, she married Marc Appleton, a prominent Los Angeles architect. In August 2019, she filed for divorce from Appleton.
She previously dated comedian and actor Freddie Prinze a short time before he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The two had worked together on the 1976 TV movie, The Million Dollar Rip-Off.
Photos
Movies (47)
Love, Danielle
2024 · Executive Producer
Unrest
2017 · Associate Producer
Ain't It Funny
2017 · Mom
Ligeramente Embarazada
2007 · Alison's Mom
Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers
2004 · Maggie Seaver, Director
Defending Our Kids: The Julie Posey Story
2003 · Director
All Over the Guy
2001 · Lydia
The Growing Pains Movie
2000 · Maggie Seaver
Inocencia interrumpida
1999 · Annette
At the Mercy of a Stranger
1999 · Elizabeth Cooper
Emma's Wish
1998 · Emma Bridges-Mame
Sisters and Other Strangers
1997 · Gail Connelly Metzger
Mother Knows Best
1997 · Celeste Cooper
Terror in the Family
1996 · Cynthia Marten
No One Could Protect Her
1996 · Jessica Rayner
Whose Daughter is She?
1995 · Laura Eagerton
See Jane Run
1995 · Jane Ravenson
Mortal Fear
1994 · Dr. Jennifer Kessler
No Dessert, Dad, 'Til You Mow the Lawn
1994 · Carol Cochran
Shameful Secrets
1993 · Maryanne Walker-Tate
The Man with Three Wives
1993 · Katy
Not in My Family
1993 · Veronica Ricci
Desperate Choices: To Save My Child
1992 · Mel Robbins
The Nightman
1992 · Eve, Co-Executive Producer
Captive
1991 · Kathy Plunk
Voices That Care
1991 · Self - Choir Member
Deadly Intentions... Again?
1991 · Sally
The Great Los Angeles Earthquake
1990 · Dr. Clare Winslow
Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade
1989 · Self
The Preppie Murder
1989 · Linda Fairstein
Those She Left Behind
1989 · Diane Pappas
She's Having a Baby
1988 · Joanna Kerns (uncredited)
Cross My Heart
1987 · Nancy
Mistress
1987 · Stephanie
Street Justice
1987 · Catherine Watson
Love Struck
1986
The Rape of Richard Beck
1985 · Anita Parrish
Stormin' Home
1985 · Lana Singer
A Bunny's Tale
1985 · Andrea
The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D.
1984 · Pamela Saletta
Mother's Day on Waltons Mountain
1982 · Doris Marshall
A Wedding on Waltons Mountain
1982 · Doris Marshall
Marriage Is Alive and Well
1980 · Meg
Coma
1978 · Diane
The Million Dollar Rip-Off
1976 · Jessie
A*P*E
1976 · Marilyn Baker
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!
1975 · Citizen (uncredited)
TV shows (86)
Happy's Place
2024 · Director
Corte Nocturna
2023 · Director
El panadero y la belleza
2020 · Director
High School Musical: El Musical: La Serie
2019 · Director
Dilema
2019 · Director
Ligera como una pluma
2018 · Director
F.B.I.
2018 · Director
The Good Doctor
2017 · Director
Man With A Plan
2016 · Director
This Is Us
2016 · Director
Fuller House
2016 · Director
Recovery Road
2016 · Director
Chicago Med
2015 · Director
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
2015 · Director
Jane la virgen
2014 · Director
Chasing Life
2014 · Director
Los Goldberg
2013 · Director
Nashville
2012 · Director
Friends with Benefits
2011 · Director
Chica Rara
2011 · Director
Switched at Birth
2011 · Director
Lindas Mentirosas
2010 · Director
Eastwick
2009 · Edie
Privileged
2008 · Director
Samantha Who?
2007 · Director
Private Practice
2007 · Director
Army Wives
2007 · Director
Notes from the Underbelly
2007 · Director
Men in Trees
2006 · Director
Psych
2006 · Director
Related
2005 · Director
Almas perdidas
2005 · Director
Grey's Anatomy
2005 · Director
Médium
2005 · Director
Clubhouse
2004 · Director
The Tony Danza Show
2004 · Self
Phil del futuro
2004 · Director
Joan of Arcadia
2003 · Director
Hermanos Rebeldes
2003 · Director
The O'Keefes
2003 · Director
Less than Perfect
2002 · Judy, Owen's Other Mom
For the People
2002 · Director
Leap of Faith
2002 · Director
Scrubs
2001 · Director
The Division
2001 · Director
Boston Public
2000 · Director
Titans
2000 · Director
That's Life
2000 · Director
Strong Medicine
2000 · Director
Judging Amy
1999 · Director
Beggars and Choosers
1999 · Director
Felicity
1998 · Director
Any Day Now
1998 · Director
Love Boat: The Next Wave
1998 · Director
Dawson crece
1998 · Director
The Wonderful World of Disney
1997
Ally McBeal
1997 · Director
Clueless
1996 · Director
Suddenly Susan
1996 · Director
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
Aliens in the Family
1996 · Self (voice)
Remember WENN
1996 · Director
Hope and Gloria
1995 · Joanna Kerns, Director
Sala de urgencias
1994 · Director
Chicago Hope
1994 · Stephanie Serone
Intimate Portrait
1993 · Self
Blind Faith
1990 · Maria Marshall
Growing Pains
1985 · Maggie Seaver, Director
Street Hawk
1985 · Mona Wiliams
Hunter
1984 · Dr. Kettering
The Four Seasons
1984 · Pat Devon
V
1983 · Marjorie Donovan
The A-Team
1983 · Trish Brenner
Hill Street Blues
1981
Magnum, P.I.
1980 · Mary Kanfer, Jenny Hunter
The Love Boat
1977 · Beth Luckner
CHiPs
1977 · Colleen
Three's Company
1977 · Bobby Trilling
Quincy, M.E.
1976
Charlie's Angels
1976 · Natalie
Laverne & Shirley
1976
Starsky & Hutch
1975
Switch
1975 · Mae Brenner
Rhoda
1974
Emergency!
1972
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Self