Rebecca Balding, who starred in the television shows Soap and Charmed, passed away at the age of 73.
Her courageous fight against ovarian cancer ultimately resulted in her passing.
Rebecca Balding, a veteran of both the stage and the screen, passed away on July 18 in Park City, Utah. She was most known for her roles on the television programs Soap and the original Charmed. Her husband, actor and director James L. Conway, revealed to Deadline that Balding passed away after a long and courageous battle with ovarian cancer. It was the year 73.
Balding received her acting training at the University of Kansas after being born in Little Rock, Arkansas. She began her career on the stage in Chicago before heading to Hollywood, where she has since appeared as a guest star in scores of television series. However, the character she played in Soap is likely the one that has brought her the most notoriety.
During the first two seasons of the controversial parody of daytime dramas that was broadcast on ABC from 1977 to 1979, Balding played an important role. She portrayed the scheming attorney Carol David, who, after meeting the gay Jodie (played by Billy Crystal in his breakthrough role), immediately seduces him. Their one-night fling is what ultimately results in her becoming pregnant. Later, she is successful in persuading Jodie to move in with her, but not before she reveals that she is pregnant with his kid. The next step in the process is that he makes the proposal in order to fulfill his paternal role, and she accepts it; yet, he does not attend their wedding. Later, Carol would give birth to a daughter, and she and Jodie would get into a custody battle, which Jodie would eventually win. After that, Carol ended up kidnapping the child, but Jodie was able to get her back, and Balding’s character was written out of the show.
In addition, she played the role of Alyssa Milano’s superior in the first iteration of the Charmed television series, which ran from 1998 to 2006.
In the late 1970s, Balding starred as Corky Crandall on the sitcom Makin’ It. In the 1980s, she portrayed the role of Carla Mardigian, the first female reporter, opposite Ed Asner in the film Lou Grant. Her character was eventually written out of the drama in favor of another female reporter after she had appeared in the first three episodes of the show. She made her debut alongside Asner in the same year, playing his daughter Julie in the timeless Christmas TV movie The Gathering, as well as the film’s sequel. In the same year, 1977, Balding starred as Amy Franklin in the television movie Deadly Game alongside Andy Griffith and James Cromwell. Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210, Home Improvement, MacGyver, Family Ties, Hotel, Matt Houston, Cagney & Lacey, Starsky & Hutch, and The Bionic Woman are just some of the other television shows in which she has appeared.
Balding, who was a member of the original cast of Scream, also acted in the horror flicks Silent Scream and The Boogens. Her most recent film role was in Yesterday’s Dreams, which she played in back in 2005.
Balding is survived by her husband, the filmmaker and screenwriter James L. Conway, her daughters Sarah and Kathleen, and her grandkids.
