Jacqueline Courtney

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Jacqueline Courtney (born Sharon Courtney on September 24, 1946) was one of the first soap opera superstars. She was born in East Orange, New Jersey.

Courtney first had short stints on daytime dramas The Edge of Night and Our Five Daughters. She became famous for her role (and subsequent abrupt departure) as Alice Matthews Frame on Another World; she played the role from the show's debut in May 1964 until July 1975.

In 1975, head writer Harding Lemay had Courtney and her love interest, George Reinholt, fired for "storyline purposes". He reported in his memoir, Eight Years in Another World, however, that Courtney was fired simply because she was a bad actress — Lemay termed her acting as being too "soap operatic," in contrast to the more theatrical-trained actors that he wanted to recruit for the show. In one of the first well-publicized soap opera fights, Reinholt got him and Courtney jobs on One Life to Live, a rival soap which ran opposite Another World in many parts of the country. She played Pat Kendall on the serial until 1983.

Courtney reconciled her differences with Another World and started back on the show as Alice on the 20th anniversary show in May 1984. She played the role until the next year when she was fired entirely, due to lack of story for the character. In 1989 she returned for the show's 25th anniversary and for Mackenzie Cory's funeral.

Apart from a small role on Loving in 1987, Courtney has since retired from acting. She stayed out of the limelight until 2004 when she sent a letter to Soap Opera Weekly rebutting some claims former AW executive produer Paul Rauch had made about her.

Courtney was married to Carl Desiderio from 1970 to 1978, and they had one daughter. Courtney's absence from New York when the couple moved to Jackson, Mississippi was explained away by having the Alice character go to France.