Jacklyn Zeman, who played Bobbie Spencer for 45 years on daytime television drama General Hospital, has died at 70.
Zeman died after a short battle with cancer, her family confirmed on Wednesday.
News of her death was first announced by the show’s executive producer, Frank Valentini.
“I am heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Jackie Zeman,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Just like her character, the legendary Bobbie Spencer, she was a bright light and a true professional that brought so much positive energy with her work.”
ABC Entertainment and General Hospital said in a statement Zeman had been a beloved member of the General Hospital and ABC family since she originated the “iconic” role of Spencer more than 45 years ago.
“She leaves behind a lasting legacy for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of the bad girl turned heroine and will always be remembered for her kind heart and radiant spirit,” they said.
Zeman first joined General Hospital in 1977 as Barbara Jean, who went by Bobbie and was the feisty, younger sister of Anthony Geary’s Luke Spencer.
Zeman grew to regard Geary as family off camera.
“I’m probably closer to him than I would be a real-life brother,” she told co-star Maurice Benard last year on his YouTube series State of Mind.
A hard-working nurse, Bobbie had worked as a teen prostitute and given up a baby for adoption but had managed to turn her life around and become a nurse at General Hospital.
Zeman’s portrayal of Spencer was a spirited, upbeat woman who was as sweet as pie but who also had a sense of self.
“Bobbie has been a fascinating person for me to play,” she said in an interview in 1982.
“I get to do … all the things that most women think about but wouldn’t dare.”
Born March 6, 1953, in Englewood, New Jersey, Zeman discovered a love for dance as a child and as a teen, began acting in school productions.
She worked in Venezuela as a dancer after high school and was pre-med at New York University but dropped out when she was offered a contract at the soap One Life to Live.
She played Lana McClain on One Life for a little more than one year before leaving for General Hospital.
“I didn’t even audition,” she told a blogger in 2010.
Zeman was nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards for her work on the show.
Outside of soap operas, Zeman worked as a Playboy Bunny to help pay for college and acted in commercials.
She had a role in 1982’s National Lampoon’s Class Reunion and appeared in a string of TV movies.
She also had a series regular role as Sofia Madison in the crime-drama series The Bay, earning her a fifth Emmy award nomination.
Zeman last’s appearance on General Hospital before her death was in April for the wedding of her character’s grandson.
Zeman is survived by two daughters, Cassidy and Lacey from her first marriage to Glenn Gordon.
She was married and divorced two more times to Steve Gribbin and disc jockey Murray Kaufman.
-AP
