The Daytime Emmy Award–nominated soap opera star also appeared on Broadway in more than 20 different productions.

*One Life to Live *villain Jennifer Harmon dies at 82

The Daytime Emmy Award–nominated soap opera star also appeared on Broadway in more than 20 different productions.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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May 12, 2026 1:35 p.m. ET

'One Life to Live' star Jennifer Harmon in 1976. Credit:

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

- Jennifer Harmon, a Daytime Emmy Award–nominated soap opera star and Broadway performer, has died at 82.

- The actress appeared in soap opera series *One Life to Live *and *How to Survive a Marriage*.

- Harmon also appeared in many Broadway shows throughout her career and served as understudy to Jessica Lange, Judi Dench, and others.

Jennifer Harmon, known for her portrayal as the villain Cathy Craig Lord on the soap opera *One Life to Live*, has died.

Per a memorial page set up in her honor, her family announced that she "passed on May 9, 2026, at the age of 82, born December 3, 1943, and was a resident of New York, New York."

Along with her soap opera stardom, Harmon had a prolific career on Broadway appearing in more than 20 different productions throughout several decades.

Harmon was born on Dec. 3, 1943, in Pasadena, and grew up in New Orleans. She attended the University of Mississippi and the University of Michigan, according to *The Hollywood Reporter*.

Before becoming a television star, she began her career onstage, making her Broadway debut in *You Can’t Take It With You *in 1965, per *Variety*. Before 1970, she also appeared in Chekhov’s* The Cherry Orchard *and Ibsen’s *The Wild Duck*.

Jennifer Harmon on 'One Life to Live' in 1976.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Among her other appearances on Broadway include *The School for Scandal*, *Blithe Spirit*, *The Sisters Rosensweig*, *The Little Foxes*, *The Deep Blue Sea*, *Amy’s View*, *The Dinner Party*, *The Glass Menagerie*, *Barefoot in the Park*, and *Seascape*. Her final Broadway credit was a role in *Other Desert Cities *in 2012.

As a Broadway performer, Harmon served as the understudy for actresses Stockard Channing, Judi Dench, Jessica Lange, the late Marian Seldes, and Blythe Danner.

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Harmon portrayed Chris Kirby on* How to Survive a Marriage* for its full run from 1974 to 1975, appearing in more than 300 episodes. She then took on the role of Cathy Craig Lord on *One Life to Live*, which earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series.

Harmon appeared in other soap operas including *Guiding Light*, *Another World*, and *Loving.*

Harmon in 1976.

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Her most recent acting credit was in a 2010 episode of *The Good Wife*. Other television credits for Harmon include roles in *Dallas*, *St. Elsewhere*, *Law & Order*, *Oz*, *Homicide: Life on the Street*, and *Rescue Me*.

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