Denise Pence
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Denise Pence (born March 3, 1949) is an American
actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
. Pence may be best known to television audiences for her role as Katie Parker on the
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
''
Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...
''. Pence was born in South Dakota, and raised in El Paso, Texas. Pence pursued her BFA at the
University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is a public art school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants a high school diploma, in addition to both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina Sc ...
. In 1970 while living temporarily at The Rehearsal Club (New York) and attending a Martha Graham Summer Program, she auditioned for ''The Rothschilds'' and put her studies on hold. Pence received an Honors BA in Communications from
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
in 2000.


Career

Pence landed a role in the
Michael Kidd Michael Kidd (August 12, 1915 – December 23, 2007) was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and who staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, s ...
production of '' The Rothschilds'' was the first swing for the original Broadway company of Follies, directed by Hal Prince & Michael Bennett and '' Pippin'', directed by
Bob Fosse Robert Louis Fosse (; June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American choreographer, dancer, filmmaker, and stage director. Known for his work on stage and screen, he is arguably the most influential figure in the field of jazz dance in th ...
. Giving notice in Pippin, Pence got her first dramatic role as “Connie” in Come Blow Your Horn at the Carousel DT in Ohio which almost immediately led to her audition for Guiding Light. Pence and husband Steven Boockvor were inspirations for the characters of Al and Kristine in ''
A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is cent ...
'' She also appeared in the film version of ''
Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...
'' directed by
Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical Social issue, social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects acces ...
, and appeared briefly in ''Threesome'', a movie of the week for
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
. She subsequently went on to appear as “Irma” in ''
Irma La Douce ''Irma la Douce'' (, "Irma the Sweet") is a 1963 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond, based on the 1956 French stage musical of the same name by Marguerite Monnot and Al ...
'' at the now defunct Darien Dinner Theater and “Lina Lamont” in Singing In The Rain at Northshore Theater, RI. As a member of the now-defunct Articulate Theatre Company, she worked with a variety of new playwrights.


''Guiding Light''

Pence may be best known for her role as Katie Parker on the
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
''
Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...
''. Pence appeared on the show as a contract player from June 1977 through April 1985. Pence released a series of videos on YouTube discussing her time in the role of Katie and her thoughts about how various writers and producers approached the role of Katie in the show.


Other projects

Pence produced VintAGE: Celebrating Women Artists Over 40 for the Women in Arts & Media Coalition and Union Women @ Work: Inspiration in Motion for Equity's Equal Employment Opportunity Committee, both in New York. Her work as an Officer and later Chair for The Rehearsal Club Alumnae Association, has served to launch the writing of a new musical, "Good Girls Only," written by Charles Leipart, the gathering of 25 original voices for a memoir book, "Cinderellas of West 53rd Street” and led the organization to incorporation in 2019.


References


External links


Theater by the SeaThe Rehearsal Club Alumnae Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pence, Denise 1949 births Living people American musical theatre actresses American soap opera actresses Fordham University alumni Actresses from El Paso, Texas People from Rapid City, South Dakota University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni 21st-century American women Actresses from South Dakota