Onscreen, they were bitter rivals, at times, and also, uneasy allies. But off-screen Jess Walton and the late Jeanne Cooper were the best of pals. Walton recently paid tribute to her late co-star and also her own real-life beloved mother.
Jess Walton Recalls Two Important Women
In an Instagram post, Walton showed herself sitting by a portrait of Cooper that was drawn by YR’s long-time makeup artist, Daytime Emmy-winner Patti Denney. “Here is the beautiful portrait of our Jeanne, hanging on my wall!” Walton shared. “So proud to have it….thanks, Patti …!!!”
Walton and Cooper first started working together in 1987 when the former Capitol star assumed the role of Jill Foster Abbott from Brenda Dickson. While Kay and Jill were normally at each other’s throats, they teamed up against upstart Nina (Tricia Cast), who was pregnant with Phillip Chancellor’s (Thom Bierdz) child, the man now known as Chance (Donny Boaz).
Cooper and Walton worked together for decades. In fact, Cooper’s last scene on YR was with Walton in 2013. Kay’s final word to Jill was “Goodnight.”
Walton also took to social media to pay tribute to her late mother in an Instagram on the occasion of a special day. “Today would have been my mom’s birthday,” Walton wrote in a post honoring her mom. “Oh how I miss you, mama ❤️.”
Cooper and Walton each won Daytime Emmys for their work on YR. Walton has two statuettes. The first one she won in 1991 in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress. She won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1997. Meanwhile, Cooper was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Daytime Emmy in 2004.
Four years later, in 2008, she won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor for a storyline in which Kay told Jill that she had kidnapped her son after his birth. That storyline was later altered when Kay’s memory of baby-swiping turned out to be false. Check out Walton’s posts below. The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. Check local listings for air times.
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