She has been in shows like “Yours, Mine, and Ours” and “The Young and the Restless.” She was born in Wales.
Tim Matheson, her ex-husband and former co-star, confirmed the sad news in a touching tribute.
She told them, “It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of Jennifer Leak’s death.”
“She was not only my screen sister in ‘Yours, Mine, and Ours,’ but also my beloved first wife.”
Jennifer was an amazing woman. She was strong, beautiful, and very smart. I’m very sorry for her husband of 47 years, James D’Auria, and all of their many friends.
She passed away on March 18 at her home in Florida after a long battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disease.
The brain condition makes it hard to walk, keep your balance, move your eyes, and swallow.
Brave Jennifer had been a part of a number of studies that tried to find ways to fight the disease.
The actress was born in Cardiff, but she moved to Los Angeles to become an actress.
In the 1968 movie Yours, Mine, and Ours, she played Lucille Ball’s daughter for the first time.
After that, the star was in Hawaii Five-0, Nero Wolfe, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
She got a part on the soap opera Bright Promise in 1971. After that, she was a star on The Young and the Restless, Another World, Guiding Light, and One Life to Live.
She married James D’Auria six years after getting divorced from Tim, who played the West Wing, in 1971.
Jennifer stopped acting in 1992 and then worked for a real estate company as a sales agent.