For almost a decade, Lee Lawson served up coffee and doled out advice as the loveable Bea Reardon, matriarch of the Reardon clan and owner of friendly eatery Company, on the longtime CBS soap, Guiding Light. Now comes word that the actress has passed away.
Lee Lawson — A Tribute
The news of her passing was shared by her daughter, Leslie Bova, on her Facebook page. She revealed that her mother had fought both cancer and COVID-19, but wasn’t specific as to her mother’s cause of death.
“When I first started GL we still had prompters,” Ellen Dolan, who played Bea’s daughter Maureen Reardon Bauer on GL from 1982-86, shares with Soap Hub. “They were pretty worthless because the print was a light grey and it was on yellow paper. And never had the rewrites. Lee used to wear one contact so that she could read the prompter and left the other contact out so she could see the actors. I was constantly amazed that she didn’t tip over on set.
“I ran into her one day just a few years ago on Broadway,” recalls Dolan. “She actually looked the same as she did in the ’80s when we worked together. My condolences to her family. She was a good one. May she rest now.”
“I would just love to reiterate what I am very sure others have said: she was a fine, fine actor and a joy to work with, with a happy heart, and beautiful smile and great spirit,” said Harley Jane Kozak, who played Bea’s daughter-in-law, Annabelle on GL, to Soap Hub. “I was lucky to connect with her decades after working with her, very briefly, and I suspect she was happy until the end of her days.”
“Lee was a sweet angel,” former GL co-star Michael O’Leary (Rick Bauer) tells Soap Hub. “What you saw was who she was. She was gracious at all times. Lee was the mom of moms on GL. She was always so deferential and available to talk. A huge loss for kindness in this world.”
Lawson was born on October 14, 1941, in New York City, New York — the perfect location for the future actress on both stage and screen. Her Broadway debut would happen in the mid-60s, in the comedy Cactus Flower, where she took over the role of Toni from Brenda Vaccaro. Also in the show was the legendary Lauren Bacall.
Other productions in the 1960s would soon follow, including the titular character in Agatha Sue, I Love You, which unfortunately only had five performances and My Daughter, Your Son which went a few months and had Robert Alda and Vivian Vance in the cast.
In the 1970s, she was in the revival of The Plough and the Stars alongside Christopher Walken (ex-Mike, GL) but it would be the show An American Millionaire that had to have brought her much joy. In addition to Austin Pendleton and Paul Sorvino, the cast also included Joseph Bova, her husband since 1970. That marriage would endure until his death on March 12, 2006.
Her last time on the Broadway stage happened in 1979, with the show Teibele and Her Demon. which lasted a couple of weeks and also starred future Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus). But of course, it was her work on soaps that brought Lee Lawson to the attention of daytime fans.
Her first soap role was on Love of Life as Barbara Sterling in 1965. In 1979, she was the second actress to take on the role of One Life to Live’s Wanda Wolek. In 1981, she would was cast in the role she was most famous for playing — Bea Reardon on Guiding Light. She appeared on the show up until 1990 when Bea appeared on video tape wishing daughter Chelsea (Kassie DePaiva) and Johnny Bauer (James Goodwin) well-wishes on their wedding day.
Lawson also guested on plenty of primetime programs, including New York Television Theatre, NET Playhouse, Maude, Kojak, Equal Justice, and Reasonable Doubts — as well as the TV movie Mason about a boy genius who constantly befuddles his parents and sister.
On the personal side, Lee Lawson leaves behind her children, Leslie, Chris, and Gaby, as well as her grandchildren Gianna, Wilder, and Sterling. Soap Hub sends condolences to them all, as well as her friends, former co-stars, and fans at this difficult time.
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