Jill Jacobson, a star of film and TV known for her work in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the soap operas Falcon Crest and Days of Our Lives, has died. She was 70 years old.
Jacobson’s friend and publicist Daniel Harary confirmed the news to Variety on Sunday, Dec. 15. Harary said that she died on Dec. 8 in Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Culver Health Center after a “long illness.”
The actress, who served as a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society, revealed during an episode of the Jim Masters Show in September that she struggled with esophageal cancer that “kind of took me out of the game for a while.”
“What I went through was pretty intense. You can’t function, you just can’t function,” she said at the time. “And now I’m so grateful, I just want to keep going, I want to help people. It makes you want to help people.”
Jacobson’s manager Ben Padua also confirmed the news of her death to Entertainment Weekly, telling the outlet: “We are incredibly sad to say goodbye to our beautiful, soulful, hysterically funny, elegantly raunchy client, Jill Jacobson.”
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“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.”
Originally from Texas, Jacobson studied radio, TV and film performance at the University of Texas at Austin before moving to L.A. to launch her acting career, per Deadline. In her earliest days of acting, she starred in films including 1977’s Nurse Sherri and Bad Georgia Road.
Jacobson appeared in several other indie comedy movies over the course of her career, including 1982’s Forbidden Love, 1983’s Baby Sister and 1984’s Splash.
She also starred in a number of TV roles from the 1980s to the 2000s, including a 22-episode stint as character Erin Jones on Falcon Crest, five episodes of Days of Our Lives, two episodes of Newhart, an episode of Quantum Leap and many more.
Notably, Jacobson appeared in two different Star Trek series — Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — in two different guest roles.
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Most recently, Jacobson appeared in the horror anthology series Etheria in 2020. She was also known for her theater roles and stand-up comedy, performing at the iconic L.A. venues Improv and The Comedy Store.
Caryn Richman, who starred in The New Gidget alongside Jacobson, told Deadline that she remembered the actress as a “brilliant” comedic actress as well as a friend.
“Jill’s comic timing was brilliant. And her enthusiasm and love of life made our time together on set joyful,” Richman said.
Jacobson’s family said in a statement, per Deadline: “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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