Jill Larson
American actress and former model (born 1947)
title: "Jill Larson" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-soap-opera-actresses", "american-stage-actresses", "actresses-from-minnesota", "1947-births", "university-of-minnesota-alumni", "living-people", "circle-in-the-square-theatre-school-alumni", "american-film-actresses", "american-television-actresses", "20th-century-american-actresses", "21st-century-american-actresses"] description: "American actress and former model (born 1947)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Larson" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actress and former model (born 1947) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Jill Larson |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| website | jilllarson.com |
| occupation | Actress |
| years_active | 1971–present |
| :: |
| name = Jill Larson | image = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. | birth_name = | website = jilllarson.com | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1971–present | spouse =
Jill Larson (born October 7, 1947) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Opal Cortlandt on the ABC daytime soap opera, All My Children (1989–2011, 2013), and as titular character in the 2014 supernatural horror film The Taking of Deborah Logan.
Early life
Larson has three sisters. Larson attended the same high school as Dorothy Lyman, who played Opal on All My Children before her. She enrolled at the University of Minnesota (eventually, she finished her education at Hunter College), and began singing in nightclubs with a group called Just Us. It was not long before Just Us was discovered and headed to New York City, where they recorded several soundtracks, including the one for the film, Rachel, Rachel, starring Joanne Woodward.
Career
Larson and her sister traveled throughout Europe in a bus, before she settled in Paris, France. She became a model, and was soon appearing in major American and European fashion spreads. While in Paris, she also landed her first film role (as a Swedish au pair) in Deadly Trap, starring Faye Dunaway and Frank Langella. Her next film role was as Jeanne Moreau's rival for her character's younger lover in the film, Dear Louise.
Larson made her Broadway debut in Death and the King's Horseman (1987). Other Broadway credits include Romantic Comedy by Bernard Slade and Dancing in the End Zone by Bill Davis. Her Off-Broadway credits include Mayo Simon's two-person play These Men (1980) and Terrence McNally's It's Only a Play (1982). Other regional credits include Private Lives, Full Gallop (a one-woman show portraying the famous editor of Vogue, Diana Vreeland), Holiday, The Seagull, the title roles in Agnes of God and Gypsy. In addition to performing, Larson produced the cabaret revue Serious Bizness (1983). One of her proudest accomplishments was producing and appearing in Wicked & My So Called Life - a comedy revue written by Winnie Holzman and David Babcock, which ran successfully Off-Broadway for 8 months.
In 1986, Larson made her daytime television debut as TV columnist Judith Clayton on CBS's As the World Turns. In 1988, she briefly played bomb-loving psycho Ursula Blackwell on One Life to Live before landing the role of Opal on All My Children. She received two Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nominations for her performance. In 2014, Larson guest starred on The Young and the Restless.
In addition to her career on the daytime television, Larson appeared in a number of films, such as White Squall (1996), Were the World Mine (2008) and Shutter Island (2010), and guest starred on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Desperate Housewives, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2014 she had the leading role in the horror-thriller film, The Taking of Deborah Logan. Larson received positive reviews for her performance in film. She later co-starred in horror films Can't Take It Back (2017) and The Manor (2021).
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | * The Deadly Trap* | Au pair | |
| 1972 | * Dear Louise* | ||
| 1986 | *Wise Guys * | Mrs. Fixer | |
| 1996 | * White Squall* | Peggy Beaumont | |
| 1996 | * Vertical City* | ||
| 2005 | * Barry Dingle* | ||
| 2007 | * The Living Wake* | Alma Binew | |
| 2008 | *Were the World Mine * | Nora Bellinger | |
| 2008 | * Manhattanites* | Mrs. Grimm | |
| 2010 | * Shutter Island* | Manacled Woman | |
| 2012 | Soap Life | Herself | Documentary film |
| 2014 | *First Kiss * | Kisser | Short film |
| 2014 | * Red Velvet Cake* | Denise | Short film |
| 2014 | The Taking of Deborah Logan | Deborah Logan | |
| 2015 | * Forever* | Rachel | |
| 2016 | Maya Rose | Violet | Short film |
| 2017 | Can't Take It Back | Maya Rose | |
| 2018 | The Neighborhood Watch | Mary | |
| 2021 | The Manor | Trish | |
| 2022 | A Holiday I Do | Mary Ellen McSurely | |
| 2023 | The Wrath of Becky | Darryl Sr. | |
| :: |
Television
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | The Day the Women Got Even | Paula Robinson | TV movie |
| 1985 | * The Equalizer* | Single Female | Episode: "Mama's Boy" |
| 1986-1987 | * As the World Turns* | Judith Clayton | Recurring role |
| 1988 | * Kate & Allie* | Felicia Brompton | Episode: "Working Women" |
| 1988-1989 | *One Life to Live * | Ursula Blackwell | Series regular |
| 1989 | * Santa Barbara* | Garnette | Recurring role |
| 1989-2011, 2013 | * All My Children * | Opal Cortlandt | Series regular |
| Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1991, 1993) | |||
| Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Wedding: Daytime (1992) | |||
| 1990 | * Over the Limit* | Mrs. Walsh | TV movie |
| 2007 | * Law & Order: Criminal Intent* | Clara Holland | Episode: "Bombshell" |
| 2011 | *Desperate Housewives * | Sister Marta | Episode: "Farewell Letter" |
| 2012 | *CSI: Crime Scene Investigation * | Lucinda Kemp | Episode: "Tressed to Kill" |
| 2014 | *The Young and the Restless * | Connie Ross | Recurring role |
| 2016 | Vinyl | Bellamy | Recurring role. 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane | Rachel Jacobs | TV movie |
| 2020 | *Hunters * | Frannie Fischer | Episode: "The Mourner's Kaddish" |
| :: |
References
References
- (June 4, 2015). "Jill Larson".
- "Jill Larson 411 - Soap Opera Digest".
- "Who's returning to online edition of All My Children, One Life to Live - Inside TV - EW.com". EW.com.
- (February 20, 2014). "'AMC' Alum Jill Larson Heads to 'Y&R'". Soap Opera Network.
- "The Taking of Deborah Logan Leads to Bloody Murder in this Red Band Trailer ~ 28DLA".
- "[Trailer] The Taking of Deborah Logan Puts a New Twist on Possession Films".
- "The Taking of Deborah Logan".
- (January 16, 2016). "Deborah Logan Speaks: Jill Larson Reflects on a Year in the Wake of "The Taking"".
- (October 7, 2021). "'The Manor' Review: Evil Is Afoot at This Old Folks' Home".
- (January 11, 2023). "SXSW – 'Evil Dead Rise', 'The Wrath of Becky', & 'Late Night With the Devil' to World Premiere! [Images]".
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