Colleen Zenk

Colleen Zenk is an American actress, best known for her role as Barbara Ryan in the daytime TV drama ''As the World Turns'', a role she played from September 1978 until the show ended in September 2010.

Zenk was born in Barrington, Illinois, and studied drama at The Catholic University of America. Her goal was to be a dancer, but a knee injury ended her dancing career. She appeared in print ads and TV commercials at the beginning of her career, including several commercials for Kellogg's.

Career

In 1980, Zenk co-starred on Broadway with musical theatre legends Chita Rivera and Donald O'Connor in the sequel to ''Bye Bye Birdie'' titled ''Bring Back Birdie''. She also appeared with Albert Finney and Carol Burnett, in the 1982 movie musical ''Annie'' directed by John Huston.

In 1982, Zenk was also the focus of a commercial for L'eggs pantyhose.

In 1991, she was one of three actors - along with fellow daytime performers Deidre Hall and Leslie Charleson - to appear in the leading roles of the NBC made-for-television movie "Women on the Ledge."

''As The World Turns''

Zenk's most notable role was as Barbara Ryan on ''As the World Turns''. After auditioning for several soap operas, including ''The Edge of Night'', ''Guiding Light'' and ''Search for Tomorrow'', Zenk was signed to a contract at ''As the World Turns'' and assumed the role of Barbara in 1978. She played the role for 32 years, until the show ended in 2010.

In the early years of Zenk's run on ''As the World Turns'', her character, Barbara, was tormented by her criminal ex-husband, James Stenbeck (played by Anthony Herrera). For a brief period in the mid-1980s, the character of Barbara, as written by award-winning head writer Douglas Marland, became a complex romantic vixen.

In 2001, then head-writer Hogan Sheffer took the character in a drastically different direction after the character suffered burns in a fire which destroyed her face (and more deception by then-husband Craig Montgomery). Sheffer was quoted in a 2006 interview in a cover-feature article in ''The New Yorker'' that he wanted to give Zenk, who he felt was an "under-utilized gem of an actress", more to do than just pour coffee with children underfoot. She was nominated for a Lead Actress Daytime Emmy Award in 2001, 2002. and 2011, and also voted Best Villain by Soap Opera Digest in 2003. Sheffer won the Emmy Outstanding Writing in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005, in part with stories featuring Zenk's work.

Zenk was prominently featured in the show's special 50th anniversary episode "Seven Divas on a Bus" in April 2006, and also in several special comedy episodes over the years.

Other TV work

In 2014, she appeared as "Joan" in the 5th-season episode "Loose Lips" of the CBS show '' Blue Bloods''.

On "Thurston," a Western web series, she portrayed town madam, "Agnes Snead" garnering two Lead Actress nominations from the Indie Series Awards.

Zenk also appeared in supporting roles on the web series "Tainted Dreams" and "Milgram and the Fastwalkers".

In April 2018 the series "After Forever" debuted on Amazon; Zenk played Dr. Robbins.

Theatrical roles

In the summer of 2005, Zenk came out of her self-imposed musical theater retirement and starred as Dolly Levi in a regional tour of '' Hello Dolly!'' at the Academy Theater in Meadville, Pennsylvania and the Pocono Playhouse. Due to overwhelming audience response, she was asked to reprise the role that fall at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

In June 2007, three weeks after her initial three surgeries for oral cancer, in the 50th anniversary production at Little Theatre on the Square of Sullivan, IL. The production was Stephen Sondheim's ''Follies'', and Zenk played Phyllis Stone. Recovering from tongue reconstruction and on heavy pain medication due to radiation burning and side effects, Zenk sang and danced with the 35 piece orchestra, and brought down the house.

In April 2011, only 4 months after more cancer surgery to her tongue, she debuted her one-woman show "Colleen Zenk: LIVE" at Bob Egan's New Hope, to great critical acclaim. She was featured in the new Off-Broadway show from the Araca Group, "Odyssey, the epic musical" at the American Theatre of Actors in October, 2011. Then, the long-awaited NY debut of her one-woman show "Still Sassy" premiered at Feinstein's at the Regency in New York City October–November 2011.

She was one of the many producers of the Broadway revival of ''Godspell''. In late 2012, she starred in the off-Broadway world premiere of the stage version of the bestselling memoir, ''Marrying George Clooney, Confessions from a Mid-life Crisis''. She kicked off the 2012–2013 theatre season for CAP21 in their "Concerts for CAP21" Benefit Series with a "standing room only" night of her one-woman show "Still Sassy". In 2013, she portrayed iconic actress Tallulah Bankhead in the Regional Premiere of Matthew Lombardo's play ''Looped'' at STAGEWORKS/Hudson.

The world premiere of Michael Slade's play "Family Shots" at the Human Race Theatre Company in 2015 earned her a Lead Actress in a Play DayTony nomination. That same year, she played "Polly Wyeth" in back-to-back productions of the Pulitzer Prize nominated play "Other Desert Cities" by Jon Robin Baitz, directed by Dan Foster at Theatre Workshop of Nantucket and the Hudson Stage Company in New York.

In June 2018, Zenk returned to the role of Dolly in "Hello, Dolly!" at The Little Theatre on the Square.

In 2020, Zenk made several appearances on the YouTube show "The Locher Room," which facilitates discussions with entertainment figures, including actors, writers and producers from soap operas.

Personal life

Zenk married musician and actor Michael Crouch in 1983. They divorced in 1986.

In 1987, she married actor Mark Pinter, whom she met on the set of ''ATWT''. Together, they raised 6 children (four from previous marriages and two from their union). They made their home in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

In May 2010, Zenk filed for divorce citing abandonment and irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized in August 2010.

In 2007, Zenk was diagnosed with oral cancer. Through a series of four surgeries including brachytherapy radiation, Zenk's stage II cancer was treated. In October 2007, Zenk appeared on CBS's ''The Early Show'' to publicize the risk factors of oral cancer and to stress early screening.

She partnered with the Oral Cancer Foundation to do additional interviews in print and TV media as well as produce public service TV announcements (PSA) on the importance of early detection. In 2008, CBS donated approximately $500,000 in airtime minutes on their national affiliates for the PSA to play.

In November 2008, her cancer returned. She had neck dissection surgery to remove 22 lymph nodes and then underwent five weeks of daily IMRT radiation ending in late February 2009. Hollywood, Health and Society honored her and ''As The World Turns'', in 2009. She underwent further surgery in December 2010, August 2012 and January 2013, but is now in remission.

Her story was told in depth in ''Woman's Day'' magazine in March, 2009. In the article, Zenk said it appears her cancer was most likely caused by HPV-16, a strain of a common sexually transmitted virus that can potentially also cause cervical cancer.

Zenk revealed that she contracted COVID-19 in 2020, with a lengthy recovery period.

References

External links

*
CBS-TV: ''As The World Turns''SoapCentral page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenk, Colleen

American film actresses
American musical theatre actresses
American soap opera actresses
American television actresses
Actresses from Illinois
Living people
People from Barrington, Illinois
Catholic University of America alumni
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
American people of Hungarian descent
Year of birth missing (living people)