Veteran stage and screen actress Rebecca Balding, best known for her roles on TV series Soap and the original Charmed, died July 18 in Park City, UT. Balding passed away following a battle with ovarian cancer, her husband, actor-director James L. Conway tells Deadline. She was 73.
Born in Little Rock, AR, Balding studied acting at the University of Kansas. She began her career on the stage in Chicago before moving to Hollywood where she went to on to guest star in dozens of television series, but is perhaps best known for her role in Soap.
Balding had a key arc over the first two seasons of ABC’s controversial spoof of daytime dramas in 1977-79. She played conniving attorney Carol David, who meets the gay Jodie (Bily Crystal, in his breakout role) and quickly seduces him. Their one-night stand leads to her pregnancy.
She later persuades Jodie to move in together – before admitting that she is carrying his child. He then proposes in order to fulfill his paternal responsibility and she accepts – only to not show up for their wedding. Carol later gave birth to a daughter and would fight Jodie for custody, which he ultimately won. Carol subsequently kidnapped the child, but Jodie got her back, and Balding’s character went away.