Joosten was born in Chicago. Her first career was as a psychiatric nurse at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, living in nearby Lake Forest, Illinois, where she married a psychiatrist and raised two sons. Following her 1980 divorce, she began acting in community theater in 1982, at age 42.
Hostage
Louise
Bedtime Stories
Mrs. Dixon
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Aunt Jackie
Wedding Crashers
Chazz's Mom
Hellraiser: Inferno
Mother
Breaking Dawn
Neighbor
Phoenix
Esther
Rails & Ties
Mrs. Brown
The TV Set
Lois
Kiss Toledo Goodbye
Wheelchair Lady
Mega Python vs. Gatoroid
Angie
Wish Wizard
Mrs. Inkwell
Grandview, U.S.A.
Mrs. Clark
The Making of a Hollywood Madam
Mrs. Oshatz
Red Roses and Petrol
Nurse
Secret Santa
Winifred
Combustion
Miss Knight
The Stranger Beside Me
Judge
The Package
Waitress
Jane Doe: Ties That Bind
Cara Goodman
Wasabi Tuna
Erma
Annul Victory
Self
Cheaper by the Dozen 2
Theatre Patron
Best Men
Edie