Actress Rebecca Balding started her career on stage in Chicago. She ended her career in the early 2000s after an impressive list of film and TV credits. She is best known for her recurring roles on the shows “Soap” and “Charmed,” but she was also considered an early “scream queen” after acting in two horror flicks. She met her husband on the set of one of those films.

James L. Conway is a writer-director. He met Balding on the set of the movie “The Boogens.” They were married in 1981. They have two daughters, Sarah and Kathleen.

Conway recently announced some unfortunate news in a statement. Balding died on July 18, 2022, at the age of 73. The cause of death was ovarian cancer.

Balding was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. She went to college at the University of Kansas where she studied acting. Then she moved to Chicago to act on stage. She won multiple awards for her performances as a theater actor. 

Eventually, Balding decided to try acting on screen instead of on stage. She moved to Los Angeles and ended up having a very successful career. Besides the roles already mentioned, her credits include guest spots on “ER,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Home Improvement,” “Family Ties,” “Our House,” “Hotel,” “Cagney & Lacey,” “The Bionic Woman” and “Starsky and Hutch” just to name a few.

Conway once reminisced to People magazine about when he first met Balding. He said, “I was casting the film ‘The Boogens.’ Rebecca came in to audition. We chatted, she read and when she left, I turned to the associate producer and said, ‘I could marry that girl.’” Sounds like love at first sight, and it must have been mutual.

Conway added, “Somehow she got cast. The first week of shooting we went out. That Saturday night, she proposed. And four weeks later, while still shooting, we got married. Of course, no one thought it would last. That was 41 years ago.” Sometimes when you know you know.

After retiring from acting, Balding started an Etsy store called “Becky’s Bauble Boutique.”

Balding is survived by her husband, her daughters and her grandchildren.

Watch the video below to learn more about her life and her career.