She died following a battle with rare neurological disease that affected her walking, balance, eye movements and swallowing
|Jennifer Leak, who played Jennifer in SOAP, died at the age of 76 after a long battle with a neurological disease.
Her home country is Wales, and she was born there. She has been in The Young and the Restless and Yours, Mine, and Ours.
In a heartbreaking tribute, her ex-husband and former co-star Tim Matheson confirmed the sad news.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of Jennifer Leak’s death,” the Virgin River star said.
I loved her as my first wife, too, not just as my screen sister in “Yours, Mine, and Ours.”
Jennifer was a wonderful woman who was strong, beautiful, and very talented. My deepest condolences go out to James D’Auria, her husband of 47 years, and all of their many friends.
The actress passed away at her Florida home after a long battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disease.
The brain disorder makes it hard to walk, keep your balance, move your eyes, and swallow.
Courageous Jennifer had taken part in a number of studies to help fight the disease.
She was born in Cardiff but moved to Los Angeles to become an actress.
The first movie she was in was Yours, Mine, and Ours, which starred Lucille Ball as her daughter.
The star then went on to be in Nero Wolfe, Hawaii Five-0, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
She got her start on the soap opera Bright Promise in 1971. After that, she went on to star in The Young and the Restless, Another World, Guiding Light, and One Life to Live.
Tim, a star of “The West Wing,” and she got divorced in 1971. Six years later, she married James D’Auria.
Jennifer quit acting in 1992 and then worked for a real estate company as a sales agent.