Font Resize
By Larry Altman
Staff Writer
Joyce DeWitt, a star on the 1970s hit television series "Three's Company," was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving over the weekend in El Segundo, police said Monday.
DeWitt, 60, of Santa Fe, N.M., was stopped at 4:19 p.m. Saturday when she drove around a barricade at Pine Avenue and Sierra Street near the city's annual fireworks show, El Segundo police Sgt. Dan Kim said.
Witnesses said DeWitt pulled up in a black sports car, parked, and staggered toward a police officer standing in uniform next to his motorcycle.
She slurred, "Where the hell is East Oak Street?" a witness said.
An officer asked how much she had had to drink and she said, "Just one." She then reached into her car, pulled out a plastic container and began drinking from it.
It was unclear what was inside.
An officer "observed signs of possible alcohol intoxication," Kim said.
DeWitt, who played Janet Wood on the popular TV show from 1976 to 1984, failed a field sobriety test and was taken to the El Segundo jail. She was cited and released at 1:20 a.m. Sunday.
DeWitt took a breath test, but the result was not available.
DeWitt starred with John Ritter as Jack Tripper, and Suzanne Somers as Chrissy Snow on the popular situation comedy.
Ritter's character feigned being gay so he could live with the two women played by DeWitt and Somers.
The District Attorney's
DeWitt's own Web site - JoyceDeWitt.com - says she is best known for her television role on "Three's Company," but has starred in numerous theatrical productions, most recently the Canadian premieres of the play Dinner With Friends.
She also has appeared in shows including Chapter Two, Sweet Charity and Damn Yankees.
Besides "Three's Company," she appeared in television on "The Love Boat," "The Osmonds" and "Living Single."
She also has worked on charity events to end hunger and homelessness.
DeWitt left Hollywood for a time, saying her producers on "Three's Company" treated her with disrespect.
She traveled for 10 years after the show.
"I took journeys to Egypt and Peru, sweated through the Amazon jungles and walked through the rice fields of Bali," she told People magazine in 1999.
