Soap Star Makes Appearance in Kittanning

Three or four days a week, 83-year-old Jeanne Cooper drives from her Hollywood Hills home to the job she’s held for the last 38 years - bringing life to the character of Katherine Chancellor, the outspoken, powerful, insanely wealthy force of nature who, along with Jeanne herself, has become an iconic legend in the world of daytime television and its number one show, The Young and the Restless.

Cooper will be a guest today on the WTYM Morning Show at 10AM.

She released today the story of her compelling, inspiring life in a book entitled “Not Young, Still Restless.” Published by HarperCollins, it tells the story of her life before, during, and away from the CBS soundstage that only houses a fraction of who she is. With her signature fearlessness, honesty, and humor, Jeanne chronicles her long tenure in Hollywood.

Cooper began her life in the small town of Taft, California and leads her to the heart of the Los Angeles movie industry.

She has made appearances on such classic series as The Twilight Zone, Perry Masson, Maverick, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Hawaiian Eye, and 77 Sunset Strip. Her feature film co-stars read like a Who’s Who of Hollywood’s Golden Age: Tony Curtis, Maureen O’Hara, Shelley Winters, and Glenn Ford, to name just a few.

She had an optimistic marriage that looked so good on paper and produced the three great loves of her life – her daughter Caren, and her sons Collin and actor Corbin Bernen – before it ended, leaving her a single working mother.

She describes herself as a recovering alcoholic, while her character Katherin Chancellor continued to struggle with the same crippling addiction. Her world-famous televised facelift as part of her Young and the Restless storyline was very real while she was fighting and beating cancer.

She became beloved by soap opera fans for her long-rinning role as the wealthy, tough-as-nails but generally good-hearted Katherin Chancellor on CBS’ “The Young and the Restless”. She is the only actor who has been with the show since it’s premiere. For her work on the series, she has received back-to-back Daytime Emmy Award nominations as Outstanding Leading Acress in a Drama Series in 1989, 1990, and 1991. In 1993, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, recognizing her years of work in show business.

Her ability to not just survive, but thrive as an octogenarian in a business that too often is devoted to a misguided pursuit of the youth market is a tribute to her life.