Who is Harry Bernsen?: Jeanne Cooper’s Ex-husband

By | September 15, 2023
Who is Harry Bernsen?: Jeanne Cooper's Ex-husband

Harry Bernsen was an American citizen

Harry Bernsen was a native of the United States of America, born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 14, 1925. He was a movie producer recognized for movies like Take a Hard Ride (1975), Three the Hard Way, and Fool’s Parade (1971). Harry Bernsen was also well known for being the husband of famous American actress Wilma Jeanne Cooper. The couple got married in the year 1954, but unfortunately, the marriage came to an end in the year 1977. During their marriage, they produced three children: Corbin Bernsen, Collin, and Caren. 

Harry served in the Marines, and later diverted into movie production

Harry Bernsen served in World War II with the Marines before attending acting school in Los Angeles. However, according to a Sherman press release, he determined he would be a better producer than an actor and began by producing regional plays.

Bernsen later assumed the manager position at the Jaffe Agency, where he collaborated with people like Jim Hutton and Arthur Hiller. As an agent, manager, and even a publicist, Bernsen guided his clients through projects while donning “many hats,” according to Sherman.

Harry Bernsen was a television, stage, and film producer known for a few movies we enjoyed. He contributed to the making of Fools’ Parade (1971), a film about three prisoners who had served 40 years in a West Virginia jail who were freed in 1935 and wanted to use the $25,000 they had earned while incarcerated to start a legal company. However, a dishonest correctional officer working closely with the local banker had other ideas.

Harry Bernsen also contributed to Three the Hard Way (1974). This movie depicts Three martial arts experts in a blaxploitation movie to stop white supremacists from contaminating the U.S. water supply with a poison that exclusively harms black people.

Another product of his work is the movie Take a Hard Ride (1975), where a Ranch owner, Morgan, unexpectedly passes away after selling his cattle in town, and his foreman, Pike, is forced to bring the salary to Sonora despite the dangerous trek while being pursued by several unsavory figures who want the money.

Harry Bernsen had three children with Jeanne Cooper

Harry Bernsen and his former wife gave birth to three lovely children: Corbin Bernson, who was their first child, born on September 7, 1954; Collin Bernsen, who was born March 30, 1958; and their daughter, Caren Bernsen, born August 17, 1960. 

The couple’s son, Corbin Bernson, became a well-known actor and film director. He played the roles of Dr. Alan Feinstone in The Dentist; Arnold Becker, a divorce lawyer on the NBC drama series L.A. Law; Henry Spencer, a retired police detective on the USA Network comedy-drama series Psych; and Roger Dorn in the movies Major League, Major League II, and Major League: Back to the Minors. 

Along with The Resident, General Hospital, and Cuts, he occasionally made frequent cameos there and on The Young and the Restless. Harry Bernson’s son, Corbin Bernson, was married to Brenda Cooper from 1983 until 1987. Since 1988, Bernsen has been wed to British actress Amanda Pays. 

Finley, Oliver, Angus, and Henry are their four boys. 2019 saw Pays and Bernsen relocate to upstate New York’s Hudson Valley, where he works on local-shootable film and television projects. With 9,000 globes, Bernsen boasts one of the world’s most significant collections of snow globes.

Who was Harry Bernsen’s ex-wife, Jeanne Cooper?

Harry Bernson’s wife, the famous American actress Wilma Jeanne Cooper, was born on October 25, 1928, and died on May 8, 2013. She is best known for playing Katherine Chancellor on the CBS serial opera The Young and the Restless (1973–2013). She was one of the longest-running performers in American soap operas at the time of her death, having played Katherine for more than 40 years. In the 1950s and 1960s, Cooper also had several recurring parts on episodic television shows and movies.

Albert Troy Cooper and his wife, the former Sildeth Evelyn Moore, welcomed their youngest child, Jeanne, into the world in Taft, California. The family spent considerable time in Kern County, initially in Taft until 1942 and subsequently in Bakersfield. Her father survived for several more decades until he passed away on April 11, 1986. Her mother passed away on August 21, 1944, before Jeanne graduated from Taft Union High School.

Harry Bernson’s wife, Wilma Jeanne Cooper, had an illness in 2013 and fell unwell immediately after a round of advertising for the Y&R 40th anniversary. On May 8, 2013, she passed away at a hospital in Los Angeles. Cooper had been a heavy smoker for most of her adult life and had chronic obstructive lung disease in addition to the infection. Her last Y&R episode, which aired on May 3, 2013, was recorded on March 26, 2013, the same day of the show’s 40th anniversary. Her son Corbin Bernsen announced her passing on Twitter on the day of her death, saying that his Mom passed away that morning and she was fearless and at ease.