She died of ovarian cancer on October 8, 1983, at Encino Hospital in Encino, California. By that time, she was already so ill with cancer that she had to travel to the award ceremony in a wheelchair.Joan Hackett was well known as a social activist, embracing solar energy and losing causes such as the preservation of the old Morosco Theatre in Times Square with equal fervor. She also played the second "Mrs. de Winter" in a television version of Daphne Du Maurier's classic "Rebecca".Joan's off-beat personality likely limited her career in films. document.write('