Draft:Jayne Bentzen
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Jayne Bentzen | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 15, 1951 Evansville, Indiana, USA |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, Philanthropist |
| Known for | |
| Spouse | Benedict Silverman (m. 1989) |
Jayne Bentzen (born August 15, 1951, in Evansville, Indiana) is an American actress, model, and philanthropist. As an actress, she is best known for her portrayal of Nicole Drake Cavanaugh on the CBS/ABC daytime show The Edge of Night (1978–1981). Bentzen is also the founder and head of the Benedict Silverman Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to implementing science-based reading instruction in public schools.
Early life
[edit]Bentzen was born in Evansville, Indiana, as the youngest child of Irvin and Marigail Bentzen. Her father was a lieutenant colonel in the army during World War II and an executive with the Chrysler corporation.[1] Her mother was a grade school teacher and a Title One program administrator. During Bentzen's childhood, her family relocated to Ohio and later to Michigan.[2]
Acting career
[edit]From an early age, Bentzen performed in local theater productions such as Anne Frank, The Glass Menagerie, and A School for Scandal. She attended Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and apprenticed in summer stock theater. Upon graduating high school, Bentzen moved to Los Angeles, where she studied acting with Lee Strasberg while working as a model.[3] Represented by the Nina Blanchard agency, Bentzen was featured in several high-profile advertising campaigns, magazine spreads, and television commercials.
In 1974, Bentzen moved to New York City where she continued to model. At this time, she was represented by the Eileen Ford Agency and Pauline Agency in Paris. A founding member of the Actors Production Company, Bentzen performed in numerous theater productions, including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?, and A Hatful of Rain. In 1978 Bentzen was cast as Nicole Travis Drake Cavanaugh in the crime-mystery melodrama The Edge of Night. Her portrayal of Nicole, a character coming to terms with the death of her husband, attorney Adam Drake (played by Donald May), who later married Miles Cavanaugh (Joel Crothers), was praised by critics, with one newspaper noting that she "provided viewers with a refreshing interpretation of the role."[4] Bentzen remained in the role until 1981.[5] Bentzen's other notable roles include Amy Rollings in A Breed Apart (1984), and Julie in Blood Rage (1987).
Philanthropic work
[edit]In 1989, Bentzen married Benedict Silverman, a real estate investor and collector of German expressionist art, Art Nouveau furniture, as well as Tiffany lamps and glass.[6] On a visit to his alma mater, the University of Florida, Silverman was introduced to Dr. Nora Hoover, Professor of Language and Literacy at the University of Florida's College of Education.[7] Hoover was the founder of Reading Rescue (later renamed Reading Go!), a reading instruction program based on the five pillars of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The program uses a multi-sensory and multimodal approach in one-on-one and small group lessons to help struggling readers in first through third grade. In developing the program, Hoover also designed a training sequence for school staff who may have no background in teaching reading. Silverman and Bentzen were drawn to Hoover's project, which offered an alternative to the whole language approach, the predominant literacy method of the period. In 2010, they formed the Benedict Silverman Foundation with the goal of supporting Hoover's program. Bentzen is the foundation's president and director.
The Foundation began its work with a focus on schools located in New York City. Following Hoover's model, foundation staff trained elementary school teachers and paraprofessionals to be effective Reading Go! tutors through group instruction and observation. When site visits were no longer possible due to Covid, the foundation's academic director, Dr. Katie Pace Miles, formed an alliance with CUNY and began instructing teachers-in-training in Reading Go! and connecting them with elementary students.[8]
This approach has since been adopted by other American universities. With the foundation's support, Miles's non-profit, the Reading Institute, continues to bring science-based reading instruction to New York city schools. In 2023, mayor Eric Adams mandated this approach for all NYC schools, and the governor of New York State followed suit in 2024 with a statewide initiative.
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1978-81 | The Edge of Night | Nicole Travis Cavanaugh |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | A Breed Apart | Amy Rollings |
| 1987 | Blood Rage | Julie |
References
[edit]- ^ "Irvin L. Bentzen". Evansville Courier and Press. May 4, 2006. p. 8.
- ^ Berry, Marilou (September 9, 1973). "Back Home Again...". Evansville Press. p. 34.
- ^ "Jayne Bentzen". Sunday News. April 16, 1978. p. 102.
- ^ Worsham, Doris (September 14, 1980). "Jayne Bentzen Wins Viewer Approval". Oakland Tribune.
- ^ "Edge' Cast Exits". Hickory Daily Record. March 20, 1981. p. 35.
- ^ Duncan, Alastair (1989). Fin de Siecle Masterpieces from the Silverman Collection. New York: Abbeville Press.
- ^ Hoover, Nora (1994). Reading Rescue for Elementary Readers: An Early Literacy Intervention Program 1993-1994 End-of-pilot Year Report (Tech. Report No. 1). Gainesville, FL.: University of Florida.
- ^ Pace Miles, Katharine; Fletcher, Andrew (2023). "Improving Vulnerable Populations' Emergent Reading Outcomes by Training Preservice Teachers in an Evidence- Based Program". Journal of Research in Childhood Education.