Biography

Born on a tiny, European island in the wind-blown North Sea, Joey was raised in Hamilton, Ontario by Lithuanian/Russian parents. Her love of acting began on stage as a child, playing a glittering snowflake decked in shimmering garland, and wearing rouge and red lipstick. Her characters grew more serious, such as the Swan, in Tschaikovsky's ballet, then amateur kid-style, of course.

Joey's pre-teen influences were Sandra Dee, and Sally Field. Later, as she grew, Joey emulated Grace Kelley, but in the 1980's, she found herself staring at Helen Mirren in the film, White Nights, and feeling a physical, ethnic, and creative kinship which has lasted to this day.

Joey played the confused, epileptic, 17yr. old Ruth, in The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, by Paul Zindel, when she was already herself a single parent of four. Ruth's character was abused, and she clung to a rabbit for comfort. Joey always worked hard at understanding her characters, bringing empathy for them such as the role of Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? by Edward Albee. Honey was shy, and drunk, married to an up and coming professor, who ignored her. Later, Joey acted and directed at McMaster University, where she received an Honours B.A. in Dramatic Arts. She also played the lead role of the volatile beauty, Katerina, in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Sexy British comedies, such as Two and Two Make Sex, convinced Joey that her niche was as a character actor, and she relished doing accents!

Joey performed in some educational television films in Hamilton, centered around the medical school, such as This is Psychiatry, for CHCH TV. She moved to Toronto where she studied at the Weist Barron School of Television, and was featured in some print work, as well. She was cast in a CBC film as a woman who hosts a political party in her home for a female candidate, staring Peter Donat,which was shot in North York.

For twenty years, Joey was a high school English and Drama teacher in the GTA. Afterwards, Joey returned to her craft as a performer, turning her attention to film and TV: Barbara in Super, Auntie in Water, and Brent's Mom in Three Days (IMDB listing) are her latest acting endeavours, as she happily juggles commercial auditions, cosmetic modeling, supply teaching, and a dozen grandchildren.
- IMDb mini biography by: Joey T. Oliver