# RIP Duchess (Jeanne Cooper dead at 84) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-duchess-jeanne-cooper-dead-at-84/657834 "2013-05-08T19:02:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-duchess-jeanne-cooper-dead-at-84/657834/1 "2013-05-08T19:02:12Z")
[The Young & The Restless star Jeanne Cooper dead at 84](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=182312165) She was the only actor still on the show who’d been active in the production since the premiere in 1973. Y&R was one of my mother’s “stories”, and became one of mine up until about 10 years ago when I moved away from my hometown. Katharine Chancellor was a classic soap archetype. Ms. Cooper was actor Corbin Bernsen’s mother and he has been keeping her fans updated on her condition throughout this last illness. You’ll be missed, Jeanne. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-duchess-jeanne-cooper-dead-at-84/657834/2 "2013-05-09T01:04:48Z")
Amazingly enough, she wasn’t the longest running character in soap history. [Helen Wagner as Nancy Hughes is.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Wagner) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-duchess-jeanne-cooper-dead-at-84/657834/3 "2013-05-09T01:32:17Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Amazingly enough, she wasn’t the longest running character in soap history. [Helen Wagner as Nancy Hughes is.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Wagner) Yep. ATWT was another one of our stories. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-duchess-jeanne-cooper-dead-at-84/657834/4 "2013-05-09T02:17:10Z")
Y&R was one of my Dad’s favorite shows. He usually worked second shift, so if my sister or I was home from school during the day he was the one to watch us. I remember sitting on the couch with him watching the show and Dad saying “Don’t tell your mother I let you watch this!” ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-duchess-jeanne-cooper-dead-at-84/657834/5 "2013-05-09T03:37:38Z")
I’m glad there is a thread. Jeanne Cooper’s book jumped of the shelf at the library about 3 months ago. Of course I have no way of knowing, but it seemed like she didn’t hold anything back or sugar coat things. I have had a few different periods of soap watching throughout the years. (Always CBS) Having someone like Katherine Chancellor is great because when you dive back in after a long time off you don’t feel like you’re starting from scratch. If I could figure out when they might air a tribute episode I would definitely record and watch that. I mean, they’re not going to recast the character, right? ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-duchess-jeanne-cooper-dead-at-84/657834/6 "2013-05-09T03:41:04Z")
My grandma was actually pretty sad today. I watch the Y&R with her every day after work/school (it’s on at 4:30 here), and we’ve been watching it since I was born. I bought her Cooper’s autobiography at Christmas, and she read it through, to my surprise. “It was like a friend I had for forty years just died,” she told. They’re about the same age, too, so even though it was just some lady from the TV that we never knew, that was sad for me, too…☹ ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-duchess-jeanne-cooper-dead-at-84/657834/7 "2013-05-09T21:14:40Z")
I watched Y&R all through high school and college. Katherine Chancellor was a tough old dame. The show won’t be the same without the catfights between her and Jill. Can you imagine when Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) dies? The show will have to be cancelled.