Veteran actress Jill Jacobson, who appeared in the likes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the soap opera Falcon Crest, has died. She was 70.
As reported by Variety, Jacobson passed away on Sunday, December 8, in Los Angeles, California. Her publicist, Daniel Harary, confirmed the passing to the outlet, noting Jacobson died after a battle with “a long illness.”
Jacobson’s manager, Ben Padua, also confirmed the news to Entertainment Weekly, saying, “We are incredibly sad to say goodbye to our beautiful, soulful, hysterically funny, elegantly raunchy client, Jill Jacobson.”
“Jill was a total spitfire of an actress with comedic timing straight out of a Marx Brothers’ flick and Hollywood glamour right from its golden age. Jill took us on so many adventures and she was an absolute blast,” he added. “Thank you, Jill. We’ll see you in our dreams.”
A graduate of the University of Texas, Jacobson began her acting career after moving to Los Angeles and landing the title role in the 1977 film Nurse Sherri. She would go on to star in several other movies, namely indie comedies, including 1982’s Forbidden Love, 1983’s Baby Sister and 1984’s Splash.
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On television, she was best known for playing Erin Jones on Falcon Crest across 22 episodes. She also portrayed Larue Wilson on eight episodes of The New Gidget. Her other credits included Days of Our Lives, Newhart, Quantum Leap, Who’s The Boss?, Murphy Brown, Castle, and more.
Jacobson also had two different guest roles in two Star Trek series, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In more recent years, she appeared in a 2019 episode of the short-lived ABC series The Fix and a 2020 episode of the Plex horror anthology series Etheria.
Off-screen, Jacobson served as a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. She opened up about her battles with esophageal cancer while on the Jim Masters Show back in September, saying, “What I went through was pretty intense. You can’t function, you just can’t function. And now I’m so grateful. I just want to keep going. I want to help people. It makes you want to help people.”
In a statement to Deadline, Jacobson’s The New Gidget co-star Caryn Richman said, “Jill’s comic timing was brilliant. And her enthusiasm and love of life made our time together on set joyful.”
Meanwhile, Jacobson’s family described her as “Beautiful, energetic, and positive to the end… she will be deeply missed by numerous relatives, friends and her beloved dogs Benny and Kowalski.”
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