Jill Jacobson (May 21, 1954 – December 8, 2024) was an American actress of film, television, primetime soap opera, stage, and standup, best known for her television performances.

Early life and education

Jill Jacobson was born on May 21, 1954, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

. Her father was Harry Jacobson, a doctor, and her mother was Carol Toplitz Jacobson Hornstein. She grew up in Beaumont and

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Jacobson later attended

The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Science degree A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Radio, Television and Film/ Performance.

Career

After graduation, Jacobson moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. She started her career in the 1970s, portraying the titular character in ''

Nurse Sherri ''Nurse Sherri'' (also known as ''The Possession of Nurse Sherri'' and ''Black Voodoo'' as well as ''Beyond the Living'', ''Hospital of Terror'', ''Killer's Curse'', and ''Hands of Death'') is a 1977 American supernatural horror film directed by ...

'' in 1977. Jacobson's credits include ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'', '' Hung'', ''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, respe ...

'', ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

'', ''

The New Gidget ''The New Gidget'' is an American sitcom sequel to the original 1965–66 sitcom '' Gidget''. It aired in syndication from September 15, 1986, to May 12, 1988. The series was produced by original ''Gidget'' series producer Harry Ackerman and wa ...

'', ''

Arliss Arliss may refer to: * Arliss (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Arliss (surname), a list of people with the surname * ''Arliss'' (TV series), stylized as ''Arli$$'', a sitcom airing on HBO ...

'', ''

Party Down ''Party Down'' is an American sitcom created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge, and Paul Rudd that premiered on the Starz network in the United States on March 20, 2009. The series follows a group of caterers in ...

'', ''

Harper Valley PTA "Harper Valley PTA" is a country song written by Tom T. Hall, which in 1968 became a major international hit single for country singer Jeannie C. Riley. Riley's record, her debut, sold over six million copies as a single, and it made her the fi ...

'', '' The Devlin Connection'', ''

Crazy Like a Fox Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...

'', ''

Falcon Crest ''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera created by Earl Hamner Jr. that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Cha ...

'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''

Quantum Leap Quantum leap or ''variation'', may refer to: In general * Quantum leap (physics), also known as quantum jump, a transition between quantum states ** Atomic electron transition, a key example of the physics phenomenon * Paradigm shift, a sudden ch ...

'', ''

Who's the Boss? ''Who's the Boss?'' is an American sitcom television series created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, that aired on ABC from September 20, 1984, to April 25, 1992, with a total of 196 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. It was produce ...

'', ''

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news presenter, news anch ...

,'' '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,'' '' Splash'', '' Bad Georgia Road'', '' Forbidden Love'', '' Baby Sister,'' ''

Policewoman Centerfold ''Policewoman Centerfold'' is a 1983 television movie starring Melody Anderson and Ed Marinaro, loosely based on the story of police officer Barbara Schantz who posed for ''Playboy'' magazine in 1982.(17 October 1983)Picks and Pans Review: Polic ...

, ,'' ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate w ...

,'' and '' The Fix''. Her last appearance was in the series ''Etheria'' in 2020. She will appear posthumously on the TV show ''Merrily'', set to be released in 2025. In addition to acting, Jacobson also performed stand-up comedy routines and appeared on stage at

The Improv The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s. History Originally, it was a 50-seat single venue (whic ...

in Los Angeles,

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

, and

The Laugh Factory Laugh Factory is a chain of comedy clubs in the United States. The chain is owned by Laugh Factory Inc., and the founder and current chief executive is Jamie Masada. Endurance record The Laugh Factory keeps track of an endurance record for ...

. She also worked as an executive producer, on ' and on the 2014 short ''Mic Whore,'' which she wrote. For her work on the film ''Last Look'', Jacobson was the recipient of the 2014 Scare-A-Con Film Festival Award in the Best Supporting Actress category.

Personal life and death

In September 2024, several months before her death, Jacobson revealed that she had been suffering from

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include dysphagia, difficulty in swallowing and weigh ...

for more than two years, which "kind of took erout of the game for a while". She had previously volunteered as a national spokesperson for the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

. She died after a long illness at a hospital in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

, on December 8, 2024, at the age of 70.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

* * *
Jill Jacobson
at

TV Insider ''TV Guide'' is an American biweekly magazine that provides television program listings information as well as television-related news, celebrity interviews and gossip, film reviews, crossword puzzles, and, in some issues, horoscopes. The print ...

Jill Jacobson
on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

Jill Jacobson
at

Entertainment.ie ''Entertainment.ie'' is an Irish web company based in Dublin. The company provides news and reviews of programs and films for TV and the cinema. It also provides information on upcoming comedies, festivals, theater shows and music in Ireland, ...

*
Jill Jacobson
at * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobson, Jill 1954 births 2024 deaths University of Texas at Austin alumni People from Beaumont, Texas Actresses from Dallas Deaths from esophageal cancer in California Film producers from Texas 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Jewish American actresses American television actresses American soap opera actresses American film actresses American stage actresses American stand-up comedians