Nurse Barbara Jean has been a fan favorite since 1977.
Jackie Zeman is a soap legend
Jacklyn Zeman was born on March 6, 1953, to Richard and Rita Zeman who are Jewish. She passed away on May 10, 2023, at age 70. The actress was often referred to as Jackie Zeman and was well known for her role as Barbara Jean Spencer on the ABC soap General Hospital. She originated the character in 1977 and remained until 2001. She returned from 2002–2010 and returned in 2013 as recurring. Zeman is considered to be a daytime legend and in 2022 she celebrates 45 years as Nurse Bobbie.
Jackie Zeman: Other roles
Jackie has not been as busy outside of General Hospital as some of her peers but she does have other roles and interests to her credit. In 1972 she was a Playboy Bunny at the Playboy Mansion and during the 1990s she was the spokesperson for Excedrine pain reliever in television ads. Zeman currently has a signature line of jewelry that is sold on the Home Shopping Network.
In 1976 the actress portrayed a character named Bobbi on The Edge of Night and from 1976–77 she was Lana McClain on One Life to Live. In 1977 she had a role in the film The Day the Music Died as Samantha and portrayed Jane Washburn in 1982’s National Lampoon’s Class Reunion. She was in 2017 as Mo in Misguided. She was also currently portraying Sofia Madison in The Bay.
Nurse Bobbie Spencer’s life in Port Charles
Bobbie and her brother Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) were raised in the impoverished waterfront district of Port Charles and at one time she was a prostitute who came to town as a nurse Bobbie fell for Scott Baldwin (Kin Shriner) and brought Luke to PC to seduce Scott’s wife Laura Webber (Genie Francis). She next fell for mobster Roy DiLucca who was shot and died in her arms. She fell in love with Dr. Noah Drake (Rick Springfield) and later married Jake Myers (Sam Behrens).
Bobbie’s next husband was DL Brock ( David Groh) and she was accused of his murder. She then married Tony Jones (Brad Maul) who had an affair with her daughter Caroline (Carly) Benson (now Laura Wright). She and Tony divorced and he later died. Bobbie was fired along with Monica Quartermaine in September 2020 by Cyrus Renault ( Jeff Kober)
Not long ago Bobbie did private duty for Florence Grey ( Anne Collings) the mother of Renault and Martin Grey (Michael E Knight). Although Monica was reinstated as she gave the chief of staff duties to Dr. Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) and Dr. Terry Randolph to share. Nothing has been said about Bobbie returning to work at the hospital so she is basically a support to her family at this time. She recently assisted Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) in setting up the 2023 Nurses Ball.
Jackie Zeman’s personal life
Zeman has been married three times first to Murray Kaufman, from September 16, 1979, to 1981. Her second marriage was to Steve Gribbin and lasted only one year from 1985 to 1986. She married her third husband, Glenn Gorden, on February 14, 1988, and they remained together until June 21, 2007. Zeman has two daughters with Gorden, and they are Cassidy Zee Gorden (born September 16, 1990) and Lacey Rose Gorden (born July 15, 1992).
The actress has shared that she was a close friend of the late Shell Kepler (Nurse Amy Vining) and delivered the eulogy at her funeral. Zeman was also close to the late Anna Lee (Lila Quartermaine), whom she described as being beautiful with a bawdy sense of humor. Jackie Zeman’s years as Bobbie Spencer on General Hospital were legendary and her fans as well as cast mates are mourning the news of her untimely death. At this time no cause for her demise has been given.
