Louise Shaffer
| Louise Shaffer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 5, 1942 Woodbridge, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Spouse(s) | Toby Tompkins Roger Crews |
Louise Shaffer (born July 5, 1942) is an American actress, script writer, and author.
Shaffer was born in Woodbridge, Connecticut, where she showed an interest in acting early on in her life. After finishing high school, she attended Connecticut College for Women, then Yale Drama School. Shaffer is a coloratura soprano was trained at Juilliard.
Throughout her life, Shaffer has appeared in numerous soap operas, including Search for Tomorrow where she played two separate roles; that of scheming Emily Rogers Hunter (1967–1968) and powerful businesswoman Stephanie Wilkins#2 (1984–1986), Hidden Faces (1968–1969), and Where the Heart Is (in which she played Allison Hathaway Archer Jessup) through the show's entire 3 1⁄2-year run. From 1975 to 1976, she was praised for her performance on The Edge of Night (where she played split personality Serena Faraday/Josie) who shot and killed her estranged husband Mark on the courthouse steps then was defended on an insanity plea. During the trial, the character's split personality was revealed, having been a victim of child abuse years before. Her "Edge of Night" stint as Serena/Josie is considered to be one of that mystery soap opera's best storylines.
In September 1977, Louise began her most recognized role was that of powerful journalism magnate Rae Woodard on Ryan's Hope, a role she played for 6 1/2 years, and then reprised for the show's finale in 1989. Her role of Rae saw her become a very wealthy widow within only a few months (during which time she had an affair with Roger Coleridge while her much older husband Bill was fighting for his life in the hospital) to stealing Frank Ryan away from his true love, Jillian Coleridge, to having an affair with her illegitimate daughter Kimberly's ex-boyfriend, Michael Pavel, and pulling a gun on them when she found them together and claiming she killed Michael to prevent Kim from being sent to prison. When Rae's old lover, Hollis Kirkland, was introduced onto the show, she briefly became the show's leading lady during the time when the show was nicknamed "Kirkland's Hope" because of the back-burner status of the Ryans. Following the ending of this storyline, Rae began a plot against Frank Ryan with the introduction of Judith Chapman as Charlotte Greer, whose father Neil MacCurtain was out to avenge an old vendetta against Ryan matriarch Maeve. It turned out that Rae had no idea of what the MacCurtains were up to, and ended up being stabbed when trying to stop Neil from going forward with his revenge.
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