DJDM/WENN.com

If you’ve ever spent a week watching soap operas, you’re absolutely familiar with the woman in the above picture.

Jeanne Cooper, long time star of CBS’ The Young & The Restless, passed away last Thursday in Los Angeles. The cause of her death has not been disclosed but within the last month, she’s been in and out of the hospital dealing with an unknown illness.

Her son, actor Corbin Bernsen, notified everyone through his Facebook page saying:

“My mother passed away this morning just a short time ago, peaceful with my sister by her side, in her sleep. I was going to visit this afternoon, thought I had time. Reminder to self – time is a precious thing. I too am at peace however. I said my goodbyes several times over during the last few weeks. I’ll go one last time now for a gentle kiss a final farewell for this lifetime. She has been a blaze her entire life, that beacon, that boxer I spoke of earlier. She went the full twelve rounds and by unanimous decision… won! And while her light finally gave into the wind that gives flight to all our journeys, there will always be a glimmer left behind by what she stood for…”

Bernsen has continued to update his page on how he and the rest of his family has been coping with Cooper’s death.

Cooper has played the role of Katherine Chancellor for 40 years and has truly blazed trail.  She’s well-known for being open about having a face lift in the 80s; she was so “open” about it that she had the producers write it into the show and the face lift was performed on-screen.

Entertainment Weekly says The Young & The Restless is currently shooting six weeks in advance so there’s no word yet as to how they’ll deal with her death. The current storyline has Chancellor recovering from a successful brain surgery.

As the daughter of two actors, there was no question as to the path that Julia Pace Mitchell was to follow. The Young and The Restless actress is one of the few Black actresses representing for the sistahs on the soap opera circuit. She talks to 24Wired.TV about CBS taking a chance on her, colorism in Hollywood and the empowerment of Black actors. Quite an inspiring artist if you ask us. Check it out.

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