Emmy-nominated actress Jaclyn Ziemann, who played nurse Bobby Spencer on the long-running soap opera “General Hospital” for nearly half a century, died Tuesday in Thousand Oaks, Calif. She is 70 years old.
Her death at Los Robles Her family said the community medical center came after a “short battle” with cancer.
Announcing the death of Mr. Zeman on wednesdayFrank Valentini, the show’s executive producer, tweeted, “Like her character the legendary Bobby Spencer, she was a bright light and a true professional who brought a lot of positive energy to her work. ‘ wrote.
Zeman, who played Barbara Jean (Bobby) Spencer, was one of the longest-serving cast members of the series. since 1963 The show centers on the lives of characters working in a hospital and wealthy business community in the fictional town of Port Charles, New York. Ms Zeman made her first appearance on the show in 1977, Featured in about 900 episodes.
Bobby was a nursing student who left her previous life as an adopted baby prostitute in Florida. She contested the affections of a law student named Scotty Baldwin. She was the younger sister of Luke Spencer, played by Anthony Geary.
She portrayed her character as a loving yet tough nurse who has risen from a difficult past. In one scene she defends her harsh upbringing I told Mr. Baldwin that she hadn’t been given anything.
“I wanted Bobby to have a lively, positive aura and energy,” she said in an interview last year. TV person. “I wanted her to have her intelligence, her humor, and her love of people. Bobby was born into a dysfunctional family, but she wanted to have children and be a mother.” is.”
“I wanted this character to have a lot of energy and be like a hurricane,” she said.
Zeeman was nominated for Four-time Daytime Emmy Award Winner Her work on the show earned her the fifth nomination in 2021 for her performance in the TV series The Bay.
Jacklyn Lee Zeman was born in Inglewood, New Jersey on March 6, 1953 and was raised in Bergenfield. She was the eldest of three daughters born to IBM engineer Richard Zeman and Rita (Duhart) Zeman Rohrman, who worked at Scholastic Magazine.
Cassidy G. MacLeod, one of Zeman’s two daughters, said she began ballet training at the age of five. MacLeod said she moved to New York City when she was 15 to pursue her dance, and she briefly attended New York University. She was cast as Lana McClane in “One Life to Live” in 1976, and in 1977 she transferred to “General Hospital”.
MacLeod has a daughter with her third husband, Glenn Gorden, Lacey Rose Gorden, who divorced in 2007, and Zeman has two children, Lauren Fischetti and Carol Kolb. has a sister and two grandchildren.
“General Hospital” celebrated its 60th anniversary in April. McLeod said her mother’s last appearance was on a TV show. April Show Nurses Ball.
McLeod said her mother, who lived in Calabasas, Calif., adored the “strong-willed” role of Bobby, and after hearing some of the nurses who cared for her say: , said she and her sister realized how deeply the role of mothers affects people. How Bobby inspired them.
“We realized how many lives she touched,” McLeod said. “They said she was her nurse because of her.”
