From, http://soapoperadigest.com/news/breaking/

Soap Icon Dies

Jacqueline Courtney (ex-Pat, OLTL et al), best known to viewers as ANOTHER WORLD's über-popular Alice, passed away on December 20 of metastatic melanoma. "Any letter that she wrote to people recently ended with, 'Stay out of the sun. Wear sunscreen,' " her daughter, Jennifer, tells Digest. "She was very healthy her whole life and then suddenly everything just started snowballing. She went really quickly. She had just turned 64, so she was still pretty young." Jennifer reports that her beloved mother still kept up with the goings-on in daytime. "She still read Soap Opera Weekly. She loved her Soap Opera Weekly!"

Terrible news! A daytime icon who was unjustly ignored for years, Hope she didn't suffer too much.

how terrible. Melanoma sucks.

This is such terribly sad news! I always hoped we'd see her again on OLTL, if only for a short stint. May she rest in perfect peace. My heart goes out to her family. A daytime legend, no ifs, ands, or buts about that.

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This is absolutely saddening. I knew she still kept up with soaps given her letter war against striking back at Paul Rauch back in 2004 yet I don't believe she ever did daytime after 1989 despite being a major star whose age is on par with that of Deidre Hall and Jess Walton. May she rest in peace.

Oooh, I wish I caught those letters.

I wasn't too familiar with her work, but I've no doubt heard the name. R.I.P, Miss Courtney.

Definitely stay out of the sun! A tiny bit of sun is good, but ALWAYS wear sunscreen. At the least, do it for your looks... but, most importantly, your health!

Edited December 29, 201014 yr by Pine Charles

R.I.P. Ms. Courtney, you definitely made your mark in daytime.

Was her ex-husband Carl Desiderio any relation to Judith Light's husband and fellow OLTL actor, Robert Desiderio?

RIP to a true daytime legend.

A certified soap legend, her Pat Ashley is the reason I started turning the channel to OLTL during AW commercials ... and saw a lot I liked. AW so badly botched her return in the 80s. Oh, 64 is so young. RIP, Jacquie!

What a terrible loss. Jacqueline Courtney was such a distinctive presence, those model looks with that husky voice. She was in soaps starting in her early teens, and then hit the big time with AW, helping to lift the show from ratings doldrums. She, Rauch, and George Reinholt basically were the first scandal story of the soap press. Then she and Reinholt brought a million viewers to OLTL when the show was going through problems.

It's a shame that she is basically forgotten and that her return to AW did not work out.

I really loved her return in 1989 when she and Rachel talked about Steve and how they always think of him.

We have so few legends left for daytime...

Terrible news. I loved her as Pat Ashley. May she rest in peace.

I've only seen a small portion of her work on daytime but she was clearly of a different breed than today's leading ladies. For all the [!@#$%^&*] talked about her - by Harding Lemay who had his valid reasons for wanting to overhaul AW, by OLTL historians who know that one of the executive producers sought to use her to supplant Erika Slezak - whatever the backstage skullduggery, all I ever saw onscreen was a classy, strong modern woman who commanded attention and had an incredible voice. So brava to her, and she is daytime royalty - she will be missed.

A very fun little scene near the end of this with Pat after Viki gave birth to Kevin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBr5LmgbGHc

A very moving scene with Rachel at AW's 25th anniversary.