Jill Jacobson, 70, has died following a “long illness”.
The actor, most famous for her role in Star Trek: The Next Generation, had recently recovered from oesophageal cancer after suffering with the disease for over two and a half years.
Jacobson died on 8 December at Culver West Health Center in Culver City, California, according to her close friend and publicist Dan Harary, who told the Hollywood Reporter.
“Beautiful, energetic, and positive to the end, she will be deeply missed by numerous relatives, friends, and her beloved dogs Benny and Kowalski,” he said.
The star first shot to fame for her role as Erin Jones, a morally dubious character, on Falcon Crest in 1985. She starred in the show for 21 episodes, eventually leaving in 1987.
She then went on to appear on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Vanessa in the episode “The Royale” in 1989 and as Chalan Aroya in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Broken Link” in 1996.
After being diagnosed with cancer, Jacobson went on to volunteer as a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society and received numerous awards for her work.
“What I went through was pretty intense. You can’t function, you just can’t function,” she said at the time.
“And now I’m so grateful, I just want to keep going, I want to help people. It makes you want to help people.”
Her final project, a TV show called Merrily, is currently under production and is set to be released next year, according to TMZ.
Jacobson’s other credits include American sitcoms Who’s the Boss?, Party Down, The New Gadget, and House of Usher. According to her IMDB, the star also had some executive producer credits including on short film Mic Whore and on the 2005 film, The Circle.
“Jill’s comic timing was brilliant,” Caryn Richman, Jacobson’s The New Gidget co-star said. “And her enthusiasm and love of life made our time together on set joyful.”
Jacobson was born in Texas, and was married to Waitress! and Murphy Brown actor Paul Dorman after a ceremony in 2001. The pair shared three children together.
