Jill Larson
Encyclopedia
Jill Larson is an American dramatic actress. She is most widely known for her portrayal of Opal Cortlandt
on the popular daytime drama, All My Children
, a role she has played for 22 years, garnering her 2 Emmy nominations. She has also appeared in films such as "Shutter Island
" with Leonardo DiCaprio
, "The Living Wake
" with Jessie Eisenberg, "Were the World Mine
", and "White Squall
" with Jeff Bridges
.
, the daughter of Ruth Evangeline (née Boyce), an interior decorator, and John Charles Larson, an aerospace engineer. She 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
.
She 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, Chere Louise.
She 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, (Gilmore Girls, Brothers and Sisters), which ran successfully Off-Broadway for 8 months.
In 1986, Larson made her daytime television debut as TV columnist Judith Clayton on As the World Turns
. In 1988, she briefly played bomb-loving psycho Ursulla Blackwell on One Life to Live
before landing the role of Opal on All My Children
.
She has appeared in television series such as "Law and Order
", and most recently in an episode of "Desperate Housewives
" on ABC (2011).
In June 2006, after approximately 17 years on contract at All My Children, Larson was taken off contract and reassigned to recurring status. But in early December 2009, ABC announced that, effective immediately, Larson would go back to contract status to ensure her stay with the show through its move to LA.
Jill maintains bi-coastal residences in New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA and lives with her daughter, Anni.
Opal Cortlandt
Opal Sue Cortlandt is a fictional character on ABC's daytime drama All My Children. She was portrayed by Dorothy Lyman from 1981 to 1983, but is most notable for being portrayed by Jill Larson since December 13, 1989...
on the popular daytime drama, All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, a role she has played for 22 years, garnering her 2 Emmy nominations. She has also appeared in films such as "Shutter Island
Shutter Island
Shutter Island is a best-selling novel by Dennis Lehane, published by Harper Collins in April 2003. A film adaptation was released in February 2010. Lehane has said he sought to write a novel that would be an homage to Gothic settings, B movies, and pulp. He described the novel as a hybrid of the...
" with Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
, "The Living Wake
The Living Wake
The Living Wake is a dark comedic film written and produced by Mike O'Connell and Peter Kline. A directorial debut and also produced by Sol Tryon, the film stars Mike O'Connell, Jesse Eisenberg, and Jim Gaffigan.- Plot :...
" with Jessie Eisenberg, "Were the World Mine
Were the World Mine
Were the World Mine is a 2008 romantic musical fantasy film directed by Tom Gustafson and written by Gustafson and Cory James Krueckeberg.Were the World Mine is a story of gay empowerment, inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream...
", and "White Squall
White squall
A white squall is a sudden and violent windstorm phenomenon at sea which is not accompanied by the black clouds generally characteristic of a squall. The name refers to the white-capped waves and broken water, its meager warning to any unlucky seaman caught in its path...
" with Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
.
Life and career
Larson was born in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, the daughter of Ruth Evangeline (née Boyce), an interior decorator, and John Charles Larson, an aerospace engineer. She has three sisters. Larson attended the same high school as Dorothy Lyman
Dorothy Lyman
Dorothy Lyman is an American television actress, director and producer. She is most commonly known for her work as architect Gwen Parrish Frame in Another World and in All My Children as Opal Sue Gardner, and on the syndicated sitcom Mama's Family, as Naomi Harper.Lyman was born in Minneapolis,...
, who played Opal on All My Children before her. She enrolled at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
(eventually, she finished her education at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
), 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
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where they recorded several soundtracks, including the one for the film, Rachel, Rachel
Rachel, Rachel
Rachel, Rachel is a 1968 American drama film produced and directed by Paul Newman. The screenplay by Stewart Stern is based on the 1966 novel A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence.-Plot:...
, starring Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman...
.
She 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
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
au pair) in Deadly Trap, starring Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
and Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
. Her next film role was as Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director.She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
's rival for her character's younger lover in the film, Chere Louise.
She made her Broadway debut in Death and the King's Horseman
Death and the King's Horseman
Death and The King's Horseman is a play by Wole Soyinka based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during British colonial rule: the ritual suicide of the horseman of an important chief was prevented by the intervention of the colonial authorities...
(1987). Other Broadway credits include "Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
" by Bernard Slade and "Dancing in the End Zone" by Bill Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
. Her Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
credits include Mayo Simon
Mayo Simon
-Select filmography:*The Man from Atlantis pilot episode, *Futureworld *Phase IV *Marooned *I Could Go On Singing -External links:...
's two-person play These Men (1980) and Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally is an American playwright who has received four Tony Awards, an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been a member of the Council of the...
's It's Only a Play (1982). Other regional credits include "Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
", "Full Gallop" (a one-woman show portraying the famous editor of vogue, Diana Vreeland), "Holiday
Holiday (play)
Holiday is a 1928 play by Philip Barry. It was adapted for film twice. First in 1930, directed by Edward H. Griffith with Ann Harding, Mary Astor, Edward Everett Horton, Robert Ames and Hedda Hopper...
", "The Seagull
The Seagull
The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
", the title roles in "Agnes of God
Agnes of God
Agnes of God is a play by John Pielmeier which tells the story of a novice nun who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent clash during the resulting investigation...
" and "Gypsy
Gypsy: A Musical Fable
Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business...
". 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
Winnie Holzman
Winnie Holzman is an American dramatist, screenwriter and poet. She created the ABC television series My So-Called Life, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for writing in 1995...
and David Babcock, (Gilmore Girls, Brothers and Sisters), which ran successfully Off-Broadway for 8 months.
In 1986, Larson made her daytime television debut as TV columnist Judith Clayton on As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
. In 1988, she briefly played bomb-loving psycho Ursulla Blackwell on One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
before landing the role of Opal on All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
.
She has appeared in television series such as "Law and Order
Law and Order
Law and Order may refer to:In politics:*Law and order , a term common in political debate and discussion, generally indicating support of a strict criminal justice system*Law and Order Offensive Party, a minor German political party...
", and most recently in an episode of "Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
" on ABC (2011).
In June 2006, after approximately 17 years on contract at All My Children, Larson was taken off contract and reassigned to recurring status. But in early December 2009, ABC announced that, effective immediately, Larson would go back to contract status to ensure her stay with the show through its move to LA.
Jill maintains bi-coastal residences in New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA and lives with her daughter, Anni.
Roles
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W... |
|
| 2010 | Shutter Island | Old Woman |
| 2008 | Were the World Mine Were the World Mine Were the World Mine is a 2008 romantic musical fantasy film directed by Tom Gustafson and written by Gustafson and Cory James Krueckeberg.Were the World Mine is a story of gay empowerment, inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream... |
Nora Fay |
| 1989-2011 | All My Children All My Children All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most... |
Opal Cortlandt |
| 1988–1989 | One Life to Live One Life to Live One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social... |
Ursula Blackwell |
| 1986 | As the World Turns As the World Turns As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light... |
Judith Clayton |
| 1986 | Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (TV series) Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California... |
Garnette |
External links
- Jill Larson's Place (official site)
- Jill Larson Interview!