Remembering The Young and the Restless’ Legendary Jeanne Cooper on What Would Have Been Her 92nd Birthday
Not a day goes by that her Genoa City family, including us, doesn’t miss her.
It’s almost impossible to believe that it’s been nine years since The Young and the Restless‘ Jeanne Cooper passed away. On the one hand, it seems like forever since her iconic Katherine Chancellor swept through a room, bejeweled fingers stabbing at the air as she bickered with Jill or confided in Esther. On the other, her presence is felt every day thanks to Chancellor Communications, Chancellor Park and, of course, the mansion now occupied by others but forever haunted by her indomitable spirit.
Only Cooper sparkled more brightly than Katherine’s jewels.
Credit: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Similarly, memories of Cooper are never far from the minds of those she left behind, from the co-stars who felt blessed to share the stage with her to fans who so easily related to the complicated character she inhabited. As Kate Linder (Esther) so succinctly put it on Instagram, we are “missing Jeanne Cooper, today and always.”
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Missing #jeannecooper today & always ! #happybirthday @youngandrestlesscbs #yr
Even before Cooper’s birthday rolled around, she was in the thoughts of many, including former on-screen sparring partner Jess Walton (Jill). Earlier this week, she posted a photo taken during the 1991 masquerade ball which saw Genoa City’s residents gathering at the Colonnade Room. “These old Halloween photos are so special,” she wrote. And as with Linder’s post, the comment section quickly filled with people sharing their memories of Cooper and expressing how much they had always loved the Jill/Katherine relationship.
Despite playing bitter enemies for years, Cooper and Walton could not have been closer in real life. “She was part warrior, part rabble rouser, part truck driver and part diva, all wrapped up in one great lady,” Walton said after Cooper’s 2013 death. “Most of all, to me, she was my friend, and I loved her.
“For the last 26 years, hers was the face I most wanted to see when I came to work,” she added. “Hers was the energy I most wanted to bounce off of on stage. Hers was the voice that kept me in stitches. And because of all that, hers is the presence I will never in my life forget.”
More: Jeanne Cooper honored by son Corbin Bernsen
As we mark what would have been Cooper’s birthday, visit the comments to share your favorite memories of the actress and her iconic character. Then click the gallery below to relive one of our very favorite Katherine moments, in which she was visited by Rex and Phillip following her failed intervention.
