Elizabeth Harrower, veteran actress and soap opera writer, died Dec. 10 at her home in Valley Village, Calif., of cancer. She was 85.
Born in Alameda, Calif., she was educated in Berkeley and Los Angeles. She appeared in "Becky Sharp," the first feature-length color film, in 1935. Later pics included "Plymouth Adventure," "Teacher's Pet," "The Sterile Cuckoo," "Cat Ballou," "Towering Inferno" and "True Grit."
Harrower appeared in hundreds of episodes of live and filmed TV dramas, including "The Twilight Zone," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Gunsmoke" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
A longtime radio actress and member of Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, she became a soap opera writer in the 1970s, working seven years with Bill Bell's Emmy-nominated team for "The Young and the Restless."
In 1979 she was head writer for "Days of Our Lives." Harrower later worked on Peacock soap "Generations." In 2003, while taking chemotherapy, she returned to "The Young and the Restless" as an actress, portraying Charlotte Ramsey for 18 episodes.
She is survived by her daughter, soap actress Susan Seaforth Hayes.
Contact Variety Staff at
news@variety.com