Jill Larson

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Jill Larson (born October 7, 1947) is an American soap opera actress. Larson joined the cast of All My Children as the flamboyant Opal Sue Purdy in 1989. Her performance earned her two Daytime Emmy Award nominations (1991 and 1993).

Larson grew up in Minnesota, with her three sisters, their engineer father and interior decorator mother. Larson attended the same high school as Dorothy Lyman, who played Opal on All My Children before her. She enrolled at the University of Minnesota (eventually, she finished her education at Hunter College), and began singing in nightclubs with a group called Just Us. It wasn't long before Just Us was discovered and headed to New York City, where they recorded several soundtracks, including the one for the film, Rachel, Rachel, starring Joanne Woodward.

She and her sister travelled throughout Europe in a bus, before she settled in Paris, France. She became a model, and was soon appearing in major American and European fashion spreads. While in Paris, she also landed her first film role (as a Swedish au pair) in Deadly Trap, starring Faye Dunaway and Frank Langella. Her next film role was as Jeanne Moreau's rival for her character's younger lover in the film, Chere Louise.

Larson made her New York stage debut off-Broadway in Mayo Simon's two-person play These Men (1980), and went on to perform in numerous other off-Broadway and regional productions, including Terrence McNally's It's Only a Play (1982). She made her Broadway debut in Death and the King's Horseman (1987). In addition to performing, Larson produced the cabaret revue Serious Bizness (1983).

In 1986, Larson made her daytime television debut as TV columnist Judith Clayton on As the World Turns. In 1988, she briefly played a character on One Life to Live before landing the role of Opal on All My Children.

In June 2006, after approximately 17 years on contract at All My Children, Larson was taken out of the show's opening credits and downgraded to recurring status in order to make room for the show's recent influx of new and returning characters.