‘Guiding Light’ Star Lee Lawson and ‘Criminal Minds’ Actor John Zderko Die
Lee Lawson, best known for playing Bea Reardon on the long-running CBS soap opera Guiding Light, has died. She was 80.
The news of Lawson’s death was confirmed in a Facebook post from her daughter, which stated, “My Mother died. May 22, 2022. You fought Cancer & COVID-19 like a champ. Rest, you brilliant woman. Thank you, mom. R.I.P.”
Born on October 14, 1941, in New York City, Lawson got her big break in showbusiness on the CBS soap Love of Life in 1965, where she played the character Barbara Sterling. She also appeared in the ABC soap One Life to Live in 1979 before landing her major role on Guiding Light as the owner and operator of a 7th Street boarding house.
Lawson starred in the show from 1981 to 1990, appearing in more than 50 episodes. The beloved soap was the second-longest-running drama in American television history, with 72 years of radio and television runs.
Her last on-screen appearance came alongside Mark Harmon and Marlee Matlin in the 1991 TV series Reasonable Doubts.
Actor John Zderko, who appeared in series such as Criminal Minds and The Mentalist, has also died. He was 60.
Zderko passed away on Thursday (May 15) following complications from his cancer treatment, his friend and fellow actor Charley Koontz (Community) told The Hollywood Reporter.
A graduate of UC Irvine, Zderko broke into acting later in life, having first built a successful business career. After taking acting classes at UCLA, he eventually quit his day job to pursue acting full-time. He started out on stage before appearing in several short films in the early 2000s and eventually landed his first significant on-screen appearance in a 2012 episode of The Mentalist.
He would go on to feature in bit parts in various hit TV series, including Criminal Minds, Dirty John, 9-1-1: Lone Star, and Bosch: Legacy. His most recent role came in the 2022 film Breaking starring John Boyega and the late Michael K. Williams.
