Jeanne Cooper

Wilma Jeanne Cooper (born October 25, 1928 in Taft, California), best known as Jeanne Cooper, is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Katherine Chancellor on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. Though she was not on the series when the show debuted in March 1973, she made her onscreen debut in November of that year, and remains the longest-tenured actor on The Young and the Restless.

Early career

Cooper began her career in the 1950s. Her first starring role was as Myra in 1953's western The Redhead from Wyoming. She also appeared as a player in films with stars like Maureen O'Hara, Glenn Ford, Tony Curtis, and Henry Fonda. Cooper was a fixture on episodic television throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1965, she appeared in the western "The Big Valley" as Heath's money hungry aunt. Her husband was portrayed by John Anderson, who years later became known as MacGyver's often quoted grandfather, Harry Jackson.

Katherine Chancellor

Cooper's character has broken ground in the daytime medium; Katherine has endured several bouts with alcoholism, and the loss of many men in her life (two husbands,and a child given away after birth).

Katherine (and Cooper) also had a facelift on national television (Cooper had pitched the idea of having a live facelift to CBS executives, who agreed to write the facelift into the show for Katherine Chancellor).

For many years, the story of Katherine's bitter rivalry with character Jill Foster Abbott has been a mainstay of the show. (In real life, Cooper and Jill's portrayer, Jess Walton are close friends.) It was revealed in 2003 that Jill was Katherine's daughter born out of wedlock^[1], but developments in 2009 have cast doubt upon that assertion and the long bitter enemies were found not to be Mother and Daughter after all.

She has received nine Daytime Emmy nominations, eight for Outstanding Lead Actress and one for Outstanding Supporting Actress, and two Primetime Emmy nominations. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmys in 2004. For her contributions to television, Cooper received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. She won the 2008 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Out of her eight nominations for lead actress, this was her first win in the category.

Cooper also played the role of Marge Cotrooke, Katherine's lookalike, on the show from 1989 to 1990, and again in 2008 and 2009. Cooper recently signed a new three-year deal with Y&R.

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 is currently experiencing memory issues due to the car accident that took Marge's life.

The magazine, CBS Soaps In Depth, recently reported that Cooper's character, Katherine, along with Christian LeBlanc's character, Michael, will make a guest appearance on the finale of Guiding Light which airs Friday, September 18, 2009.

Personal life

Jeanne Cooper was born to Albert Troy Cooper and his wife Sildeth Evelyn Moore. She was the youngest of their three children. Jeanne's family lived in Kern County for several years, first in Taft until 1942 and then moving to Bakersfield. Her mother died August 21, 1945 and her father died April 11, 1986. She married television producer Harry Bernsen, Jr. and they were together 23 years before divorcing. Interviews and reports state they remained the best of friends until his death in June 2008.

The Bernsens had three children, including actor Corbin Bernsen, of L.A. Law fame (Ms. Cooper guest-starred twice as his character's mother on the series) born September 7, 1954 who is married to British actress Amanda Pays. Another son who is an actor, Collin Bernsen, born March 30, 1958. She also has a daughter, Caren.^[1] born August 17, 1960 who is an actress.

Corbin Bernsen and Amanda Pays have four sons: Oliver Miller (born 1989), twins Henry and Angus (born 1992), and Finley (born 1998)

Selected filmography

References

External links

• Jeanne Cooper at the Internet Movie Database
• Jeanne Cooper at TV.com
• Jeanne Cooper bio on The Young and the Restless CBS website