Colleen Zenk Pinter
Encyclopedia
Daytime career
She is best known for her role as fashionista-heroine-turned-evil-bitch-cougar-mother-from-hell Barbara RyanBarbara Ryan
For the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 passenger, see that articleBarbara Ann Coleman is a fictional character on the American soap opera As the World Turns...
on the daytime drama 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...
, a role she began portraying in September 1978.
For much of Zenk's run on the show, her character, Barbara, was tormented by her criminal ex-husband, James Stenbeck
James Stenbeck
James Stenbeck is a fictional character on CBS's daytime drama As the World Turns. He has been portrayed by Anthony Herrera on and off seven times from February 1, 1980 to September 10, 2009...
(played by Anthony Herrera
Anthony Herrera
Anthony Herrera was an American actor.-Career:Among roles in various movies, he is most known—and most hated—for his role as the evil James Stenbeck on the soap opera As the World Turns, a role he has played off and on from 1980 to 1984, from 1986 to 1989, in 1996, from 1997 to 1999, in 2001 and...
). For a brief period in the mid-1980s, the character of Barbara was taken in a different direction by then-head writer, Douglas Marland
Douglas Marland
Douglas Marland was an American actor and writer of soap operas.-Career:He began his soap opera career as an actor, appearing on the Irna Phillips series The Brighter Day and As the World Turns. He also did odd jobs on the side as a director for small theatre groups...
, and became a romantic vixen. But for the most part, Barbara was a beleaguered heroine who faced one trial and tribulation after another. In 2001, then-head writer Hogan Sheffer
Hogan Sheffer
Hogan Sheffer is an American Daytime Emmy-winning screenwriter. During the WGA strike, he chose financial core status with the WGA and continued working.-Personal life:...
took the character in a drastically different direction after the character suffered burns in a fire (as well as deceit by then-husband Craig Montgomery
Craig Montgomery
Craig Bryant Montgomery is a fictional character on the soap opera As The World Turns.-Actor history:Since the character of Craig Montgomery was introduced in January 1982, he has been portrayed by four actors in total...
). As a result, the character became a villainess.
Sheffer was quoted in an August 2006 interview in industry magazine Soap Opera Digest
Soap Opera Digest
Soap Opera Digest is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional information...
that he wanted to give Zenk, who he felt was a capable actress, more to do than just pour coffee. Viewers were impressed that Zenk, who so consistently played the heroine, was so believable as a villainess, and so were critics; she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 2001 and 2002. She was named Best Villain by Soap Opera Digest in 2003. In 2011, she was nominated for a third time for a Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actress category.
As a long-running player on the show, Zenk was prominently featured during the show's 50th anniversary episode in April 2006.
Zenk remained the show's women-you-love-to-hate-yet-really-love in the show's last year. Finally finding happiness and marrying for the 9th time as the show came to an end in September 2010.
Theatrical roles
In 1980, Zenk co-starred alongside musical theatre legends Chita Rivera and Donald O'Connor in the sequel to "Bye, Bye, Birdie" titled "Bring Back Birdie", the biggest, most expensive flop to ever hit Broadway at the time. She was featured, singing and dancing with Albert Finney and Carol Burnett, in the movie musical "Annie" directed by the late, great John Huston.In July 2005, Zenk starred as Dolly Levi in a tour of Hello Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
at the Academy Theater in Meadville
Meadville
Meadville refers to places in the United States of America:*Meadville, Missouri*Meadville, Mississippi*Meadville, Pennsylvania...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and the Poconos Playhouse in the summer of 2005. Due to overwhelming audience response she was asked to reprise the role for a November 2005 run at the Bucks County Playhouse
Bucks County Playhouse
The Bucks County Playhouse is the State Theater of Pennsylvania, and is located in New Hope, Pennsylvania.When the Hope Mills burnt in 1790, the grist mills were rebuilt as the New Hope Mills by Benjamin Parry. ....
in New Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope, formerly known as Coryell's Ferry, is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 2,528 at the 2010 census. The borough lies on the west bank of the Delaware River at its confluence with Aquetong Creek. A two-lane bridge carries automobile and foot traffic across the...
.
In June 2007,three weeks after her initial three surgeries for Oral Cancer, in the 50th anniversary production at Little Theatre on the Square of Chicago, she starred as Phyllis Stone in Stephen Sondheim's "FOLLIES". Recovering from tongue reconstruction and on heavy pain medication for radiation burning and side effects, Zenk sang and danced with the 35 piece orchestra and brought down the house.
In April 2011, only 4 months after more cancer surgery to her tongue, she debuted her one-woman show "Colleen Zenk: LIVE" at Bob Egan's New Hope, to great critical acclaim. She will be featured in the new Off-Broadway show from the Araca Group, "Odyssey, the epic musical" at the American Theatre of Actors, October 21–30. Then, the long-awaited NY debut of her one-woman show "Still Sassy" will open at Feinstein's at the Regency, October 30 & November 6, 2011.
Personal life
She was born in Barrington, Illinois, studied drama at The Catholic University of AmericaThe Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
and performed there in 2006 to raise funds for drama scholarships.
In 1987, she married actor Mark Pinter
Mark Pinter
Mark Pinter is an American actor probably best known for his numerous roles in daytime soap operas.-Education:Pinter received his Master of Fine Arts from the Hilberry Repertory Theatre of Wayne State University.-Acting:...
, whom she met on the set of ATWT. Together, they raised 6 children (four from previous marriages and two from their union). They made their home in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
. Her step-daughter, Siri, is the "significant other" of Carson Daly
Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly is an American television host. He is the host of NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, a late-night talk show that began airing on January 7, 2002. Before his role as host of that program, Daly was a VJ on MTV's TRL, and a DJ for the Southern California based radio station KROQ-FM...
. The couple's son was born on March 16, 2009.
In May 2010, it was announced that Zenk was suing for divorce. The divorce was finalized in August 2010.
Cancer diagnosis
In 2007, Zenk was diagnosed with oral cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Through a series of four surgeries including brachytherapy radiation, Zenk's stage II cancer was treated. In October 2007, Zenk appeared on CBS's The Early Show to publicize the risk factors of oral cancer and to stress early screening. Colleen has partnered with The Oral Cancer Foundation to do additional interviews in print and TV media as well as produce public service TV announcements (PSA) on the importance of early detection. In January 2008 Zenk's oral cancer was integrated into As the World Turns story line, with her character Barbara Ryan receiving the same diagnosis. This happened as the Oral Cancer Foundation was looking for low cost ways to inform the American public about the risks from oral cancers. While a difficult role to play having just come out of treatment for the disease herself, she and the producers of ATWT agreed to the storyline. In spring of 2008, CBS donated approximately $500,000 in airtime minutes on their national affiliates for the PSA to play. In November 2008, her cancer returned. She had neck dissection surgery to remove 22 lymph nodes and then underwent five weeks of daily IMRT radiation ending in late February 2009. Like the character of Barbara Ryan, Zenk is also now cancer free. Hollywood, Health and Society honored her and "As The World Turns" for her courageous, truthful storyline. More surgery in late 2010 turned out to be a scare, pathology negative. She is now in remission.