Jeanne Cooper Before She Was Young And Restless

The Young and the Restless icon

Katherine Chancellor was a one-of-a-kind, iconic character on The Young and the Restless. Younger fans may not know this, but Jeanne Cooper had a fantastic career before becoming famous as Kay Chancellor. There are some facts that her greatest devotees may not be aware of. As popular as she was for four decades on Y&R, her prior resume is very impressive. This famous woman's life began when she was born Wilma Jeanne Cooper on October 25, 1928. She passed away on May 8, 2013, at age 84, and spent 40 years on Y&R before her passing.

Jeannie Cooper's personal life

At the time of her death, Jeanne Cooper was number eight on the list of the longest careers of US soap opera actors. Looking at her birth name, it is probable that her parents named her Wilma Jean, although she was always referred to as Jeannie. Ms. Cooper was the mother of three children, one of them, Corbin Bernsen, gained fame on the NBC television show LA Law.

He also had a recurring role on The Young and the Restless as Father Tim, the older brother of Paul Williams (Doug Davidson), a Catholic priest. He was also a part of the cast of Psych on the USA network and the three Psych films that have followed thus far. The actress did not talk much about her marriage except to say that her husband had many extramarital affairs.

Jeannie Cooper family life and early career

Wilma Jeanne Cooper was born in Taft, California, to Albert Troy Cooper and his wife, Sildeth Evelyn Moore Cooper. Jeanne was the youngest of three siblings and began her acting career in the 1950s. She appeared in supporting roles with many Hollywood greats, acting in films with stars like Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, and Glenn Ford.

She was a slender young woman with darker hair, but her facial features were easily recognizable. Jeanne Cooper's first film role was in the 1953 western The Redhead from Wyoming.

In this movie, she portrayed a character named Myra. She later appeared in minor roles in 12 feature films. They are Black Zoo, The Intruder, Glory Guys 5, Steps to Danger, Rock All Night, The Man from the Alamo, House of Women, Tony Rome, The Kansas City Bomber, Over-Exposed, 13 West Street, and The Boston Strangler.

Jeannie Cooper's television career

From the 1950s through the 1970s, Jeanne Cooper was often seen on episodic television. If you watch the RETRO channel, MeTV, or Encore Westerns, you will see her in her younger days in these early roles. She portrayed Ann Dix in the 1955 episode "I Am Joaquin" in Death Valley Days. In 1956, she was cast in "The Rabbi Davis Story" as Mrs. Hinton.

That same year, she portrayed Louise Douglas in "Girl Bandit" in the crime drama Highway Patrol. She also appeared in an episode of Wagon Train titled "The Whipping." In 1957, she starred in one of the early episodes of two popular Western programs. As female bandit Belle Starr, she was on ABC's Maverick and NBC's Tales of Wells Fargo.

Jeannie Cooper was in many westerns

In 1959, Cooper portrayed the Duchess in her second Tales of Wells Fargo role titled "Clay Allison." Ironically, "Duchess" was the nickname her television son, Brock, gave her on The Young and the Restless. In 1958, she was on the NBC western Jefferson Drum, and in the same year, the actress appeared on the CBS western anthology series Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater as Lucy.

In 1960, she portrayed Belle Starr once again in an episode of the TV series "Bronco ."She was Marie Conover in a 1967 episode of Cheyenne titled "Top Hand. Cooper also made five guest appearances during the nine-year Perry Mason run on CBS.

Her first appearance was in 1958 when she played Laura Beaumont in an episode of "The Case of the Corresponding Corpse." In 1966, during the ninth and final season of the show, she made her last appearance as a defendant named Miriam in "The Case of the Vanishing Victim."

Additional roles and honors

Jeanne Cooper received her first Emmy nomination in 1962 for her performance in Ben Casey. The actress was a regular on NBC's Bracken's World. She later appeared in episodes of Mannix, Storefront Lawyers, Ironside, Hawaii Five-O, Touched by an Angel, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone: The Silent Force, and Gunsmoke.

Cooper returned to The Big Valley in 1965, and according to Wikipedia, she was also in many other television series. If you are a fan of oldies networks, like MeTV, especially westerns, keep an eye out for the young brunette Jeanne Cooper, because sooner or later, you are bound to see her.