Soap Opera star Jennifer Leak passes away at 76

The East Hampton Star reported that actress Jennifer Leak, who starred in soap operas and the 1968 film Yours, Mine, and Ours, passed away on March 18 in her Jupiter, Florida, home. She was seventy-six.

Seven years before her passing, the actress's rare neurological condition progressive supranuclear palsy was identified, according to The East Hampton Star.

Leak was born in Cardiff, Wales, on September 28, 1947. She spent her early years living in several cities, including Toronto, Jerusalem, Halifax, England, and Hertfordshire, England. 

After making an appearance in the Mike Nichols-directed pilot of the Canadian television series Wojeck, she started her career in Canada at the age of 17.

She was then chosen for the role of The Graduate by Nichols, but her immigration status prevented her from attending the play.

Leak afterwards relocated to Los Angeles, where she was chosen to play Lucille Ball's daughter in the 1968 film Yours, Mine, and Ours in a matter of months. Leak met Tim Matheson, her first husband, on the set.

The comedy about a mixed family of eighteen children starred the ex-couple as step-siblings. 

Matheson, 76, wrote a memorial to her on Facebook after her passing.

“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of Jennifer Leak’s passing. She wasn’t just my screen sister in ‘Yours, Mine and Ours,’ but also my beloved first wife,” wrote Matheson. “Jennifer was a remarkable woman, strong, lovely, and incredibly talented. My deepest condolences go out to her husband of 47 years, James D’Auria, and their multitude of friends.”

The former couple married in 1968 and divorced in 1971.