Jeanne Cooper | |
|---|---|
 Cooper in 1964 | |
| Born | Wilma Jeanne Cooper (1928-10-25)October 25, 1928 Taft, California, U.S. |
| Died | May 8, 2013(2013-05-08) (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1953–2013 |
| Known for | Katherine Chancellor onThe Young and the Restless |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 3, includingCorbin Bernsen |
| Awards | Hollywood Walk of Fame |
Wilma Jeanne Cooper (October 25, 1928 – May 8, 2013) was an American actress, best known for her role asKatherine Chancellor on the CBS soap operaThe Young and the Restless (1973–2013). At the time of her death, she had played Katherine for nearly 40 years, and her name appears on thelist of longest-serving soap opera actors in the United States.
Cooper also appeared on numerous episodic television series in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as several film roles. She was the mother of three children, the eldest being actorCorbin Bernsen.[citation needed]
Jeanne Cooper was born inTaft, California, the youngest of three children of Albert Troy Cooper and his wife, the former Sildeth Evelyn Moore.[1][2] The family lived in Kern County for several years, first in Taft until 1942 and then inBakersfield. Her mother died on August 21, 1944, the year before Jeanne graduated fromTaft Union High School.[3] Her father lived for several more decades, dying on April 11, 1986.[4]
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Cooper began her acting career in the 1950s, performing initially as a supporting player in films with stars likeMaureen O'Hara,Glenn Ford,Tony Curtis, andHenry Fonda.[1] Her first film role was as Myra in the 1953western film,The Redhead from Wyoming. She later appeared in small roles inThe Man from the Alamo,Over-Exposed,5 Steps to Danger,Rock All Night,House of Women,13 West Street,The Intruder,Black Zoo,The Glory Guys,Tony Rome,The Boston Strangler andKansas City Bomber.
Cooper was a fixture on episodic television throughout the 1950s and 1960s.[5] In 1956, she was cast as Mrs. Hinton in "The Rabbi Davis Story" of the religiousanthology series,Crossroads. That same year, she portrayed Louise Douglas in "Girl Bandit" ofBroderick Crawford'ssyndicated crime drama,Highway Patrol. She also appeared in theWagon Train episode titled "The Whipping" and as Marie Conover in the 1957Cheyenne episode titled "Top Hand" starringClint Walker.
Cooper played Ann Dix in the 1955 episode "I Am Joaquin" of thesyndicatedwestern anthology series,Death Valley Days, hosted byStanley Andrews. In the storyline, Ann searches with ultimate success for eight years for the return of her young daughter whom the Mexican banditJoaquin Murrieta (Cliff Fields) left at aRoman Catholic church after he boarded a ship and stabbed to death the girl's father, Capt. Stephen Dix, played by John Damler.
In 1957, she starred in one of the early episodes of two different western series,NBC'sTales of Wells Fargo starringDale Robertson, in the role of the woman banditBelle Starr, and two episodes onABC’sMaverick; in 1959, she portrayed Duchess in a secondTales of Wells Fargo episode, "Clay Allison". In 1958, she was cast in the episode "Wheel of Fortune" of the NBC western series,Jefferson Drum, starringJeff Richards as a newspaper publisher. Also in 1958, Cooper appeared as Lucy in the "Sundown at Bitter Creek" episode of theCBS western anthology series,Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. She guest starred as love interest Myra inWanted Dead or Alive starringSteve McQueen in S2 E14 "Man on Horseback", which aired 12/3/1959.
In 1960, she again played Belle Starr in the "Shadow of Jesse James" episode of the TV seriesBronco starringTy Hardin. Cooper made five guest appearances during the nine-year run of CBS'sPerry Mason starringRaymond Burr, beginning with the role of Laura Beaumont in the 1958 episode, "The Case of the Corresponding Corpse." In the final season of the show, she made her fifth and final appearance as defendant Miriam Fielding in the 1966 episode, "The Case of the Vanishing Victim". In 1962, Cooper earned her first Emmy nomination for her performance inBen Casey. She appeared as a regular on NBC'sBracken's World series about the movie business.[5] She also appeared in episodes ofThe Twilight Zone,Hawaii Five-O,Mannix,Ironside,Storefront Lawyers,The Silent Force,Touched by an Angel,Gunsmoke, andThe Untouchables, among numerous other series.
In 1965, she appeared in the ABC network's Western television seriesThe Big Valley as Elaine Baxter Jason, a mercantile store owner and an old friend of series character Victoria Barkley (Barbara Stanwyck). In another episode she appears as the money-hungry aunt of Heath (Lee Majors). Her husband was portrayed in the episode byJohn Anderson, who years later became known asMacGyver's grandfather, Harry Jackson.
Cooper is best known for her role asKatherine Chancellor on the daytime soap operaThe Young and the Restless. Her character broke ground in the daytime medium; Katherine endured several bouts withalcoholism, ischemic stroke, and the loss of many men in her life (four late husbands, and a child surrendered for adoption).[5]
In 1984, Katherine (and Cooper) also had afacelift on national television (Cooper had pitched the idea of having a live facelift toCBS executives, who agreed to write the facelift into the show).[1][6][7]
For many years, the story of Katherine's bitter rivalry with characterJill Foster Abbott (originally portrayed by Brenda Dickson, and more recently byJess Walton) was a mainstay of the show. A 2003 storyline suggested Jill was Katherine's daughter born out of wedlock,[8] but further story developments in 2009 cast doubt on that assertion, and the long-bitter enemies were found not to be mother and daughter after all.
Cooper received tenDaytime Emmy nominations, nine for Outstanding Lead Actress and one for Outstanding Supporting Actress, and twoPrimetime Emmy nominations. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmys in 2004.[1] For her contributions to television, Cooper received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame, which is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. She won the 2008Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. This was her first competitive win; she had first been nominated in 1989.
Cooper's character, Katherine, was thought to have died in a November 2008 episode. It was, however, her look-alike,Marge, who died, and Katherine had experienced memory issues due to the car accident that took Marge's life.
Cooper had to take a medical leave in October 2011 and her part on the soap was temporarily recast with veteran actressMichael Learned. However, the next month, Cooper confirmed she was returning to the set. She returned as part of the show on December 23, 2011. She taped her last scene on the show in March 2013 on the same day as theYoung and the Restless 40th anniversary and this scene aired on May 3, 2013, five days before her death.
A tribute episode ofThe Young and the Restless in honor of Jeanne Cooper, made up of clips, cast memories and interviews, was shown on May 28, 2013, on CBS. Her character, Katherine, died offscreen a few months later after a trip around the world.
Cooper married television producer Harry Bernsen, Jr., and they were together for 23 years before divorcing. In her book (released on July 31, 2012), Cooper makes it known that after their divorce, she and her ex-husband very rarely saw each other (only when family functions dictated) and they were not close or even friends before his death on May 31, 2008.
The Bernsens had three children, all of whom are actors:Corbin Bernsen ofL.A. Law fame (born September 7, 1954), whose mother Cooper portrayed twice on that series; Collin Bernsen, born March 30, 1958; and Caren Bernsen,[8] born August 17, 1960.
In 2013, shortly after a round of promotion for theY&R 40th anniversary, Cooper became ill due to an infection. She died on May 8, 2013, in a Los Angeles hospital.[9][10][11] In addition to the infection, Cooper had been a heavy smoker most of her adult life and suffered fromchronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Her finalY&R scene was taped March 26, 2013 (the exact date ofY&R's 40th anniversary) and aired on May 3, 2013.[12] “Mom passed this morning”, her son,Corbin Bernsen, revealed onTwitter the day of her death. “She was in peace and without fear.”[13]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | The Redhead from Wyoming | Myra | |
| The Man from the Alamo | Kate Lamar | ||
| Shadows of Tombstone | Marge | ||
| 1955 | The Naked Street | Evelyn Shriner | Uncredited |
| 1956 | The Houston Story | Madge | |
| Over-Exposed | Renee | ||
| Calling Homicide | Darlene Adams | ||
| Five Steps to Danger | Helen Bethke | ||
| 1957 | Rock All Night | Mabel | |
| Plunder Road | Fran Werner | ||
| 1958 | Screaming Mimi | Lola Lake in Photo | Uncredited |
| Unwed Mother | Mrs. Horton | ||
| 1960 | Let No Man Write My Epitaph | Fran | |
| 1962 | 13 West Street | Mrs. Quinn | |
| House of Women | Helen Jennings | ||
| The Intruder | Vi Griffin | ||
| Red Nightmare | Helen Donavan | ||
| 1963 | Black Zoo | Edna Conrad | |
| 1965 | The Glory Guys | Mrs. Rachael McCabe | |
| 1967 | Tony Rome | Lorna Boyd | |
| 1968 | The Boston Strangler | Cloe | |
| 1970 | There Was a Crooked Man... | Prostitute | |
| 1972 | Kansas City Bomber | Trainer Vivien | |
| 1973 | The All-American Boy | Nola Bealer | |
| 1977 | The San Pedro Bums | Mrs. McClory | |
| 1991 | Lethal Justice | Clerk | |
| 1992 | Frozen Assets | Zach Shepard's Mother | |
| 1993 | Beyond Suspicion | Renata | |
| 2002 | The Tomorrow Man | Jeanine | |
| 2005 | Carpool Guy | Mrs. Lunsford | |
| 2009 | Donna on Demand | Virginia Hart | |
| Dead Air | Paranoid Caller |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957–1959 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Belle Starr / Duchess | Episodes: "Belle Starr" and "Clay Allison" |
| 1957–1962 | Cheyenne | Marie Conover / Mary "Molly" Spenser | Episodes: "Top Hand" and "The Quick and the Deadly" |
| 1958–1966 | Perry Mason | Laura Beaumont / Thelma Hill / Ethel Belan / Mary Browne / Miriam Fielding | |
| 1959 | The Twilight Zone | Barmaid Miss Smith | Episode: "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" |
| 1959 | Wanted Dead or Alive | Myra | Season 2, Episode 14: "Man on Horseback" |
| 1961 | The Tall Man | Mrs. Elmira Webster | Episode: "The Reversed Blade" |
| 1961 | Rawhide | Mrs. Clara Wilson | Episode: "Incident on the Road Back" |
| 1962 | The Untouchables | Fran Cagle | Episode: 'The Case Against Eliot Ness' - Season 3, episode #83 |
| Wagon Train | Donna Fuller | Episode: "The Donna Fuller Story" | |
| Have Gun – Will Travel | Edna Hardin | Season 6, Episode 16: "The Treasure" | |
| 1962–1963 | Bonanza | Abigal Hinton / Emilia Miller | Episodes: "The Good Samaritan" and "She Walks in Beauty" |
| 1963 | Stoney Burke | Loren Schuyler | Episode: "Webb of Fear" |
| Gunsmoke | Lilly Pitts | Episode: "The Ex-Con" | |
| Mr. Novak | Louise Sargent | Episode: "The Boy Without a Country" | |
| 1965 | The Big Valley | Martha Simmons | Season 1 Episode 3 / "Boots with My Father's Name" |
| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Mother Fear a.k.a. Yvonne | Episode: "The Children's Day Affair" - Season 2, episode #41 | |
| 1966 | The Big Valley | Elaine Jason | Season 1 Episode 29 / "Tunnel of Gold" |
| 1966–1967 | Daniel Boone | Amy Barr / Addie Ogilvie | |
| 1969 | Death Valley Days | Rachel Barrett | Season 17, Episode 14: "A Gift" withValentin de Vargas andHarry Lauter |
| 1973–2013 | The Young and the Restless | Katherine Chancellor | 1973–2013 |
| Marge Cotrooke | 1989–1990, 2008–2009 | ||
| 1973 | Hawkins | Mrs. Hamilton | Season 1, Episode 3: "A Life for a Life" |
| 1974 | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Dr. Kline | 1 episode (Season 1, Episode 7) |
| 1975 | Emergency! | Evelyn Fenady | 1 episode (Season 5, Episode 5) |
| 1997 | The Nanny | Herself | |
| 2005 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Katherine Chancellor | Guest (October 31, 2005 - November 1, 2005) |
| 2009 | Guiding Light | Wedding Guest | Guest star |
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