After nearly 35 years in the field of Education as a teacher and school principal,  Joan got up from her desk, locked the office door and walked off to pursue her encore career in acting.  Joan's varied and rich life experiences prepared her for the actor she would be.  Growing up in a small steel town in Pennsylvania, the "middle " of seven children to parents of Hungarian heritage, Joan embraced a strong work ethic and the ability to seamlessly fall into an Eastern European accent. Joan was a born storyteller.  This served her well as she taught her special needs middle school students, motivated and entertained her school community, and later as she wrote and produced her own films and plays.

 

Joan Chak is an award-winning actor who is known for her comedic and dramatic flair.  Her active imagination, myriad of amazing life experiences, along with her passion for research allow her to develop a wide range of characters. Quirky or compassionate mother, tough executive, nosy neighbor, sex-starved senior, murderous landlady, and frisky third wife are all roles that Joan has brought to life .  She embraces the complexities and depth of emotion of each of her characters and brings these to her performances.

 

 Joan avidly creates her own content, writing, directing and producing  both  films and plays. These include the short films: Sister, Ms. Fortune, Baking Cookies for a Witch's Funeral, Hott Yoga, About James and the plays: Silver Beaches, Kathy & Emilio and 66. 

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With years of training and experience, Joan has appeared in films that have received awards and nominations in several festivals, including:  The Atlantic City Cinefest, LA Independent Shorts Awards, The Ocean City Film Festival, Southern Shorts Festival and Playhouse West Philadelphia Film Festival.

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