Kim Zimmer
Encyclopedia
Kim Zimmer is an American
actress. She is known for her role as Echo DiSavoy
on One Life to Live
and best known for her role as Reva Shayne
on Guiding Light
.
in 1978.
In 1979, she was tapped to replace Kathleen Turner
as Nola Dancy Aldrich on The Doctors. (Ironically, in 1981 she appeared in the film Body Heat
, co-starring with Turner, in a plot that addressed similarities in their appearance.) After The Doctors was canceled in 1982, she had a brief return to One Life to Live
from February through November 1983 as Echo DiSavoy
. On August 17, 2010, it was announced that after a twenty-seven year absence, Zimmer would reprise the role of Echo, effective October 1. Zimmer will be featured in a story along with former Guiding Light co-star Jerry verDorn (Clint Buchanan
), Robin Strasser
(Dorian Cramer) and Erika Slezak
(Viki Lord). She reprised the role on October 1, 2010.
Later in 1983, Zimmer was cast in the role for which she is best known, the character of Reva Shayne
on the television
soap opera
Guiding Light
.
Zimmer left Guiding Light
in July 1990 and moved to the West Coast
for five years, during which she played Jodie DeWitt Walker on Santa Barbara
from 1992 to 1993.
In 1995, Zimmer appeared in an episode of Seinfeld
(The Diplomat's Club
), as Mr. Pitt's attorney who suspects Elaine & Jerry of trying to kill Mr. Pitt.
Zimmer returned to Guiding Light
in April 1995 and portrayed Reva until the show's conclusion in September 2009. Her character's pairing with Robert Newman
's Josh Lewis became very popular and the couple has developed into a supercouple
and the cornerstone of the soap. Josh asked Reva if she was ready to go home with him and she was credited for reading the last line on Guiding Light to Josh, "Always."
Zimmer has also appeared in several episodic television programs, including Designing Women
, MacGyver
, Models, Inc.
, and Babylon 5
(episode "And Now For a Word
", year 1995). She also appeared in several made-for-television movies.
Zimmer frequently returns to Michigan to participate in Michigan's oldest regional summer stock theatre at Augusta's
Barn Theatre.
In 2011, it was announced that Zimmer would be cast in the Off-Broadway international hit Love, Loss, and What I Wore.
for her work on Guiding Light.
. Zimmer graduated from Forest Hills Central High School
in Ada Township, MI, which is just East of Grand Rapids. She then studied at Hope College
in Holland, Michigan
and at American Conservatory Theater
in San Francisco. She is married to actor/director A.C. Weary, and they have three children: Rachel, Max, and Jake Weary
. Her son, Jake
, is also an actor; he appeared on As the World Turns
as Luke Snyder
in 2005 as well as various guest roles, including a role on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. She resides in Montclair, NJ.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress. She is known for her role as Echo DiSavoy
Echo DiSavoy
Echo DiSavoy is a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. She was portrayed by Kim Zimmer from March to October 1983...
on One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
and best known for her role as Reva Shayne
Reva Shayne
Reva Shayne O'Neill is a fictional character on the long-running CBS daytime soap opera Guiding Light played by emmy-award winner Kim Zimmer from November 28, 1983 to July 1990...
on Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
.
Career
Zimmer's career began with stage work; an early television role was her portrayal of the character of Bonnie Harmon on One Life to LiveOne Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
in 1978.
In 1979, she was tapped to replace Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner
Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...
as Nola Dancy Aldrich on The Doctors. (Ironically, in 1981 she appeared in the film Body Heat
Body Heat
Body Heat is a 1981 American neo-noir film written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan. It stars William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J.A. Preston, and Mickey Rourke. The film is inspired by Double Indemnity....
, co-starring with Turner, in a plot that addressed similarities in their appearance.) After The Doctors was canceled in 1982, she had a brief return to One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
from February through November 1983 as Echo DiSavoy
Echo DiSavoy
Echo DiSavoy is a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. She was portrayed by Kim Zimmer from March to October 1983...
. On August 17, 2010, it was announced that after a twenty-seven year absence, Zimmer would reprise the role of Echo, effective October 1. Zimmer will be featured in a story along with former Guiding Light co-star Jerry verDorn (Clint Buchanan
Clint Buchanan
Clinton "Clint" Buchanan is a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live.-Casting:The role was originated in September 10, 1979 by actor Clint Ritchie, portraying the role nearly continuously through December 30, 1999. Ritchie reappeared in the 2003 and 2004. Actor Jerry...
), Robin Strasser
Robin Strasser
Robin Strasser is an American actress.Strasser is best known for her Daytime Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Dr. Dorian Lord on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. Strasser stepped into the role in March 1979, first appearing Friday, April 13, 1979 and left in 1987, returning from...
(Dorian Cramer) and Erika Slezak
Erika Slezak
Erika Alma Hermina Slezak is an American actress, best known for her role as Victoria Lord on the American daytime soap opera One Life to Live...
(Viki Lord). She reprised the role on October 1, 2010.
Later in 1983, Zimmer was cast in the role for which she is best known, the character of Reva Shayne
Reva Shayne
Reva Shayne O'Neill is a fictional character on the long-running CBS daytime soap opera Guiding Light played by emmy-award winner Kim Zimmer from November 28, 1983 to July 1990...
on the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
.
Zimmer left Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
in July 1990 and moved to the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
for five years, during which she played Jodie DeWitt Walker on Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara (TV series)
Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...
from 1992 to 1993.
In 1995, Zimmer appeared in an episode of Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
(The Diplomat's Club
The Diplomat's Club
"The Diplomat's Club" is the 108th episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 22nd episode for the 6th season. It aired on May 4, 1995.-Plot:...
), as Mr. Pitt's attorney who suspects Elaine & Jerry of trying to kill Mr. Pitt.
Zimmer returned to Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
in April 1995 and portrayed Reva until the show's conclusion in September 2009. Her character's pairing with Robert Newman
Robert Newman (actor)
Robert Newman is an American screen actor.- Guiding Light :Newman is best known for his role as Joshua Lewis on the American soap opera Guiding Light, a role he played from 1981 to 1984, and again from 1986 to 1991, and 1993 to Guiding Light series finale in September 2009.The character of Josh...
's Josh Lewis became very popular and the couple has developed into a supercouple
Supercouple
A supercouple or super couple is a popular or financially wealthy pairing that intrigues and fascinates the public in an intense or even obsessive fashion...
and the cornerstone of the soap. Josh asked Reva if she was ready to go home with him and she was credited for reading the last line on Guiding Light to Josh, "Always."
Zimmer has also appeared in several episodic television programs, including Designing Women
Designing Women
Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer...
, MacGyver
MacGyver
MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
, Models, Inc.
Models, Inc.
Models Inc. is an American prime time soap opera that aired on the Fox television network during the 1994-1995 television season. It is the third series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. The series was created by Charles Pratt, Jr. and Frank South, and executive produced by Aaron Spelling,...
, and Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
(episode "And Now For a Word
And Now For a Word
"And Now For a Word" is an episode from the second season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5. The documentary format used in this episode was later revisited for the fourth season episode "The Illusion of Truth".-Synopsis:...
", year 1995). She also appeared in several made-for-television movies.
Zimmer frequently returns to Michigan to participate in Michigan's oldest regional summer stock theatre at Augusta's
Augusta, Michigan
Augusta is a village in Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 899 at the 2000 census. The village is mostly within Ross Township, though a small portion extends south into Charleston Township....
Barn Theatre.
In 2011, it was announced that Zimmer would be cast in the Off-Broadway international hit Love, Loss, and What I Wore.
Awards
Zimmer has won four Daytime Emmy awards, including the 2006 honor, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is an award which has been given every year at the Daytime Emmys ceremony since 1974...
for her work on Guiding Light.
Personal life
Zimmer was born in Grand Rapids, MichiganGrand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
. Zimmer graduated from Forest Hills Central High School
Forest Hills Central High School
Forest Hills Central High School is located in Ada Township, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is one of three high schools in the Forest Hills Public Schools system...
in Ada Township, MI, which is just East of Grand Rapids. She then studied at Hope College
Hope College
Hope College is a medium-sized , private, residential liberal arts college located in downtown Holland, Michigan, a few miles from Lake Michigan. It was opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled...
in Holland, Michigan
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
and at American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...
in San Francisco. She is married to actor/director A.C. Weary, and they have three children: Rachel, Max, and Jake Weary
Jake Weary
Jake Weary is an American actor, singer and musician.-Movie career:After an initial guest role on his mother's show, Guiding Light in 2002, he was cast as Luke Snyder on the television soap opera As the World Turns....
. Her son, Jake
Jake Weary
Jake Weary is an American actor, singer and musician.-Movie career:After an initial guest role on his mother's show, Guiding Light in 2002, he was cast as Luke Snyder on the television soap opera As the World Turns....
, is also an actor; he appeared on As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
as Luke Snyder
Luke Snyder
Luciano Eduardo "Luke" Snyder is a fictional character from the American daytime drama As the World Turns. He was most recently portrayed by actor Van Hansis....
in 2005 as well as various guest roles, including a role on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. She resides in Montclair, NJ.
Filmography
- 1979-82: The Doctors as Nola Dancy Aldrich #3
- 1981: Body Heat as Mary Ann
- 1983/2010–Present: One Life to LiveOne Life to LiveOne Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
as Echo DiSavoyEcho DiSavoyEcho DiSavoy is a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. She was portrayed by Kim Zimmer from March to October 1983...
(Role: March to October 1983, October 1, 2010–Present) - 1983-90/95-09: Guiding LightGuiding LightGuiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
as Reva Shayne Lewis(: November 28, 1983 - August 1990, April 14, 1995 - September 18, 2009) - 1989-90: MacGyver as Police Lt. Kate Murphy (3 episodes)
- 1989: Designing Women as Mavis (1 episode)
- 1989: Trenchcoat in Paradise as Claire Hollander
- 1991: Keeping Secrets as Maureen
- 1991: Hell Hath No Fury as Marlene
- 1992-93: Santa Barbara as Jodie Walker (31 episodes)
- 1992: FBI: The Untold Stories as Barbara Oswald (1 episode)
- 1994-95: Models Inc. as Joan (6 episodes)
- 1994: The Disappearance of Vonnie as Vonnie Kaczmarek Rickman
- 1995: Seinfeld as Lenore Walker (1 episode)
- 1995: Babylon 5 as Cynthia Torqueman (1 episode)
- 1995: University Hospital as Dr. Karen Hale (1 episode)
- 2006: Perl oder Pica as Nico
- 2008: The Van Pelt Family as Janet Van Pelt
- 2010: Freshman Father as Dean Frost