Lisa de Cazotte, Prolific Soap Producer, Has Passed Away

Lisa de Cazotte, who until recently was supervising producer at The Young and the Restless, has passed away at the age of 58.

Lisa de Cazotte Passes Away

A Fordham University grad, de Cazotte began her career in the soap industry as an intern at One Life to Live in 1983 as Lisa Hesser. She became a protege of renowned soap producer Paul Rauch when he was executive producing One Life to Live and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a coordinating producer.

When Rauch made the move to the west coast to take over Santa Barbara in 1991, she accompanied him, garnering a producer title until the show ended its run in 1993. While there, she befriended actress Nancy Lee Grahn, who played Julia on the soap (now Alexis on General Hospital).

Their friendship remained close, with de Cazotte serving as one of a few godmothers to Grahn’s beloved daughter, Kate.

After Santa Barbara, she moved to New York and became coordinating producer of All My Children — being a part of the team that won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Drama in 1994. When that stint ended, she headed back out west to be a supervising producer on Sunset Beach. In 1999, she was tapped to take the top spot at a new soap called Passions.

Finding Her Own Love Story

She met her match in producer Antoine de Cazotte and the two married on November 9, 2002. He worked on many incredible movies as a producer, including the Oscar-winning film, The Artist.

She stayed with Passions for its entire run and after it folded, she moved over to helm General Hospital: Night Shift for SOAPNet. When that wrapped, she moved back east to work at her old stomping grounds — All My Children.

Then it was back out west to be co-executive producer at Days of our Lives until 2015, where she earned her first two Outstanding Drama Emmys in 2013 and 2015. The soap world would call on her again when she was reunited with former Santa Barbara co-worker, Steve Kent, at The Young and the Restless, where she won her third Daytime Emmy in 2019.

She stepped away from her supervising producer duties to deal with her illness but passed away on December 7. In addition to her husband Antoine, her survivors include brothers Michael Patrick Smith, Robert Terence Smith, and Brian Charles Smith as well as nieces and nephews Robert Terence Smith, Jr., Christine Smith, Bridget Smith, Sean Smith and Brian Smith and 16 additional nieces and nephews in France, as well as numerous friends and colleagues by whom she was loved and respected. She was predeceased by her parents. Soap Hub sends condolences to her husband, past and present coworkers, family, and friends.