Joyce DeWitt was born the second oldest of four to parents Paul and Norma DeWitt on April 23, 1949 in Wheeling, West Virginia but grew up in Indiana. Joyce began taking acting lessons when she was in high school. Although her father was hardly thrilled at his daughter's ambition, she persuaded him to let her major in theater in college. DeWitt soon moved to UCLA where she received her master's degree. After college, she worked as a legal secretary while at the same time going from audition to audition. Months passed before ABC offered her a choice of two comedy pilots but gave her only 24 hours to decide on which. After reading both scripts in a hurry, she chose the one about one guy living with two girls ( "Three's Company" (1976)). She chose well - the other show never sold. She had been in numerous amounts of plays before but became familiar to everyone as the sensible, down-to-earth, football jersey wearing, brunette roommate, Janet Wood. Dewitt became famous and while many celebrities would automatically welcome in the huge amounts of attention, she usually kept to herself and didn't care too much for publicity.

After "Three's Company" (1976) ended, she traveled the world before settling in New Mexico. She is slowly returning to acting. She and Suzanne Somers did not speak to each other for 30 years after Suzanne left the show in 1981. Finally, in February 2012, they reunited after Suzanne invited Joyce to be a guest on her web series "Suzanne Somers: Breaking Through.".Went to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.Received a master of fine art in acting from the University of California, Los Angeles.When shooting "Three's Company" (1976), she always wore either pantyhose or tights, and refused to work bare-legged. Though this caused conflict between her and the show's producers, it endeared her to hosiery manufacturers, and she became the spokeswoman for L'eggs pantyhose in the late 70s.Very active in theater since the age of 13 and prefers stage work to television.Auditioned as Fonzie's girlfriend on "Happy Days" (1974) in the late 1970s, although she didn't get chosen for the part (explaining she was too short and young), she was cast as Janet Wood on "Three's Company" (1976) just a few weeks later.Is a part of the LIFE (Love Is Feeding Everyone) organization where she, and other famous actors, are helping fight world hunger and homelessness.Was a cheerleader in high schoolHas three other siblingsIs part Swedish, part Italian.Cousin of Fay DeWitt .Has Irish AncestryIs a member of Chi Omega women's fraternity.On July 4th, 2009, she was arrested in El Segundo, California for DUI. According to reports, police pulled her over after she drove past a barricade near a park. An officer arrested DeWitt after he became suspicious that she had been drinking and administered a field sobriety test. She was booked at the police station, cited, and released on her own recognizance.Pled no contest to misdemeanor DUI [May 25, 2010].