Rebecca Balding, the American actress best known for her roles on Soap and Charmed shows, died on July 18, 2022, following a battle with ovarian cancer. The news was broke in a statement from her husband, writer-director James L. Conway. She died in Park City, Utah, at the age of 73.
Balding was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. She attended the University of Kansas. She had the role of Carol David, mother of Jodie Dallas’ child, on Soap, appearing in 19 episodes from 1978 through 1980. Balding played Corky Crandall in 1979 in the sitcom Makin’ It and the original female reporter Carla Mardigian during the first three episodes of the inaugural 1977 drama series Lou Grant starring Ed Asner before they wrote that character out for a different female reporter.
In 1980 she starred in the pilot of the sitcom Mr. and Mrs. and Mr., which never progressed as a series. That same year she again appeared with Asner, playing his daughter Julie, in the classic Christmas TV film, The Gathering. Also, in 1977, Balding played Amy Franklin in Deadly Game, a movie that starred Andy Griffith and James Cromwell. In 1996, she made a guest appearance on 7th Heaven as Ellen, the mother of Matt’s new girlfriend, Tia.
Balding played the recurring character Elise Rothman, a newspaper editor-in-chief and the boss of Phoebe Halliwell (played by Alyssa Milano). In 1998, Balding guest starred as Aunt Jackie in the season one episode “The Fourth Sister” of Charmed and later returned to the show during its fourth season in 2002 under a different role. She played the role until the show’s eighth and final season in 2006.
Balding was married to television producer James L. Conway, whom she met while auditioning for a part in the 1981 horror movie The Boogens, which Conway directed and in which Balding ultimately starred.
Balding died on July 18, 2022, at 73, after suffering from ovarian cancer.