Jeanne Cooper, who played Katherine Chancellor, the “Dame of Genoa City,” on “The Young and the Restless,” has died. She was 84. Her death was confirmed by her son, actor Corbin Bernsen, on his Twitter account.
“Mom passed this morning,” Bernsen posted. “She was in peace and without fear.” Cooper had been suffering from an undisclosed illness. The cause of death was not given.
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I’ve written before about my love of the TV show DALLAS (at least the original version, not the abomination currently produced by TNT), but that is not the only Soap Opera that I followed as a lad. For a good chunk of my teenage years into my early twenties, I also watched some daytime Soaps. I usually had a daily ritual of my 4-hour Soap Opera block, starting at 11am with THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS on CBS and then I’d switch to NBC at 12pm for DAYS OF OUR LIVES, followed by ANOTHER WORLD, and then ending with SANTA BARBARA. The latter two series have long been canceled, but Y&R and DOOL are still going strong, and while I no longer watch the series, I still occasionally check out the Soap Opera Digest to keep up with what’s going on for all those characters I enjoyed.

By the time I’d started watching Y&R, Katherine Chancellor was pretty much a background supporting character, a busybody who would sometimes butt into the lives of the main characters, but when she did take center stage, she very much had an aura of authority about her. Cooper was very good at her job. So it’s sad to hear of her passing, but at 84 we can definitely say that she lived a long and fulfilling life. And she died while still gainfully employed, doing the job she loved so much, how people can say that?

So, Rest In Peace, Jeanne Cooper. You will be missed.