Joanna Kerns

About this actor

Joanna Kerns (born February 12, 1953) is an American actress and director best known for her role as Maggie Seaver on the family situation comedy Growing Pains from 1985-1992. Kerns was born Joanne Crussie DeVarona in San Francisco, California. Her father, David Thomas DeVarona, a Mexican-American, was an insurance agent and her mother, Martha Louise (née Smith), was a clothing store manager. Kerns is the third child of four. She has an older brother and a younger brother, as well as an older sister. Her older sister, Donna de Varona is a famed Olympic gold medal swimmer. Their aunt is silent film actress Miriam Cooper. Growing up, Kerns was in competition with her sister, Donna, who won two gold medals in swimming in 1964. Kerns stated in an interview, "Donna was the golden girl. There was pressure inside me to duplicate Donna's success" (Wallace 16). Joanna tried swimming, but realized it was not her sport, so she switched from swimming to gymnastics. In fact, Joanna became so good...