Barbara Tarbuck (January 15, 1942 – December 26, 2016) was an American film, television, and stage actress from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, best known for her recurring role as Lady Jane Jacks on ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

''.

Biography

Tarbuck was born in Detroit, Michigan. From the ages of 9-13, Tarbuck performed as a regular on the children's series ''Storyland'', which aired on the Detroit AM radio station WWJ. From there, she learned acting skills from veteran actors on radio shows such as ''The Lone Ranger'', ''The Shadow'' and ''The Green Hornet''. Tarbuck attended

Cooley High School Thomas M. Cooley High School is located at the intersection of Hubbell Avenue and Chalfonte Street, on the northwest side of Detroit, Michigan. The three-story, Mediterranean Revival-style facility opened its doors on September 4, 1928. The scho ...

and

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

. Upon winning the Eva Woodbridge Victor Scholarship, she finished her

Bachelors A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

in 1963. While in college, she participated in the production of ''Where's Charley'', which toured through

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. She also earned her master's degree in

Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. She then went to

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

to work as the lead actress in their inaugural theatre touring company season. She began to work on her PhD and taught beginning acting. While at Indiana University, she was granted a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. LAMDA's Principal is ...

. She then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to pursue her acting career in stage, film, and television productions. In her later career, alongside her acting roles, she taught acting at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. She married James Denis Connolly in 1980; he died in 2005. They had one child, Jennifer Lane Connolly, who is a documentary producer. Tarbuck contracted the neurodegenerative

Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), also known as subacute spongiform encephalopathy or neurocognitive disorder due to prion disease, is an invariably fatal degenerative brain disorder. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, ...

and died due to complications at her Los Angeles home on December 26, 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarbuck, Barbara 1942 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American child actresses American film actresses American radio actresses American soap opera actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Indiana University alumni Actresses from Detroit University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni Wayne State University alumni UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television faculty Deaths from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease Neurological disease deaths in California Cooley High School alumni