Judith McConnell

Judith McConnell is an American actress, best known for her role as Sophia Wayne Capwell on the TV series Santa Barbara, on which she appeared from 1984 to 1993.

Early life and education McConnell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended Carnegie Mellon University. She was Miss Pennsylvania for 1965 and competed in the 1966 Miss America pageant.

Career McConnell started her acting career in an episode of Judd, for the Defense (1967). Around the same time, she played Yeoman Tankris in Star Trek episode "Wolf in the Fold" (also 1967). She also appeared in two episodes of Get Smart, including "The King Lives?" (January 1968) as Princess Marta and later played short-term recurring roles on The Beverly Hillbillies (1969) as a bank secretary and Green Acres (as Eb's girlfriend) in the 1970-71 season. McConnell played Betsy Nicholls in an episode of Dragnet (1970) and appeared twice in the TV series Mannix.

From June 1973 to September 1975, McConnell played Nurse Augusta McLeod on General Hospital. Her character murdered longtime GH villain Phil Brewer which aired December 6, 1974 after he threatened her in regards to her unborn child fathered by the married Dr. Peter Taylor. Moving to New York, McConnell took on the role of scheming Valerie Conway on As the World Turns from 1976 to 1979, and later played socialite Miranda Bishop on Another World. A brief role as spy Eva Vasquez on One Life to Live came about in 1983, after which she moved back to Los Angeles to replace Rosemary Forsyth on Santa Barbara in the role of Dominic who turned out to be long-believed dead Sophia Capwell.

After Santa Barbara ended, McConnell guest-starred on numerous television series and appeared in some commercials and films. She appeared in the Sliders episode (5.15) "To Catch a Slider" (1999), in commercials for IKEA and Walgreens, in The Weather Man (2005), and as the elderly auctioneer in The Purge: Anarchy.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 1986 Soap Opera Digest Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress: Daytime Santa Barbara