The soap world has lost another of its popular performers. Veteran actress Jacqueline Courtney passed away on December 20 of metastatic melanoma, a form of skin cancer that accounts for mearly three-quarters of skin cancer deaths. She was 64.
"Any letter that she wrote to people recently ended with, 'Stay out of the sun. Wear sunscreen,'" Courtney's daughter, Jennifer, told Soap Opera Digest.
During her soap career, Courtney appeared on six different daytime drama series. In 1958, the actress first appeared on The Edge of Night as Kitty. Several years later, she returned to the show as Viola Smith. She went on to appear on Our Five Daughters, The Doctors, One Life to Live, and Loving, but Courtney was best-known to fans as Alice Matthews on Another World. She appeared on Another World for 11 years, from the show's 1964 debut through 1975. She made brief returns in 1984 and 1989 for the show's 20th and 25th anniversaries, respectively.
Several of Courtney's former co-stars have expressed their sadness over the actress' passing.
"I met Jacquie Courtney when I was cast as Rachel on Another World," Robin Strasser told We Love Soaps. "During the years the show was at it's all time height, and set industry-wide standards, it was due in large part to Jacquie Courtney's indelibly romantic incandescence."
"Jackie and I became great friends at One Life to Live," Linda Dano recalled. "She was an extraordinary talent in daytime, a good friend, and an extraordinary human being. We are all saddened by her untimely death."
