Jennifer Harmon, Actress on Broadway and ‘One Life to Live,’ Dies at 82

Jennifer Harmon, a prolific actress who maintained a presence on Broadway for nearly five decades and achieved television fame on the soap opera One Life to Live, has died at the age of 82.

Her family announced that Harmon passed away on May 9, 2026, in New York City.

Harmon established a diverse career that spanned the American stage and television, appearing in 21 Broadway productions over the course of her professional life.

She made her Broadway debut in 1965 in a revival of You Can’t Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. Before the end of the 1960s, she returned to the stage in revivals of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, along with six other plays.

Throughout her theater career, Harmon worked in productions featuring the writing of several prominent playwrights, including Tennessee Williams, Noël Coward, Edward Albee, Neil Simon, Lillian Hellman, Wendy Wasserstein and Jon Robin Baitz.

Her extensive Broadway credits include:

• The School for Scandal, appearing in productions nearly 30 years apart
• Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit in 1987
• Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig from 1993 to 1994
• Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes in 1997
• Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea in 1998
• David Hare’s Amy’s View in 1999
• Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party (2000-01) and Barefoot in the Park (2006)
• Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie in 2005
• Edward Albee’s Seascape from 2005 to 2006
• Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities from 2011 to 2012

Beyond her stage work, Harmon was widely recognized for her roles in television daytime dramas. She served as the lead actress in the NBC soap opera How to Survive a Marriage from 1974 to 1975.

From 1976 to 1978, she portrayed the antagonist Cathy Craig Lord on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. Harmon was the fifth actress to play the role of Cathy. Her performance, which included a storyline where her character kidnapped Viki Lord’s baby, earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1978.

Harmon returned to One Life to Live in 1991, though in a different capacity, playing an attorney for Victoria Lord across multiple episodes. That same year, she appeared as Jean Weatherill on Guiding Light, and in 1995, she played Lucretia Jones on the ABC soap opera Loving.

Her television career extended into primetime and episodic dramas. Harmon guest-starred in series such as Law & Order, The Good Wife, Oz, Homicide: Life on the Street, St. Elsewhere, Dallas, Barnaby Jones, Madigan, The Cosby Mysteries, and Rescue Me.

In addition to her screen and stage work, Harmon appeared in 21 episodes of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater during its run from January 1974 to December 1982.

Within the theater industry, Harmon was also known for her versatility and reliability, having served as an understudy for established performers including Stockard Channing, Jessica Lange, and Judi Dench.