Rena was born in Arcadia, California, to Susan (Franzblau), a psychology professor, and Martin Sofer, who was a Conservative Jewish Rabbi. She moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when her parents divorced. She was discovered at age 15 by a New York talent agent and started modeling before turning to acting. She appeared on Another World (1964) for a short time and then went to Loving (1983), where she played Rockie McKenzie for 3 years. She made her first mark on television when she joined fellow ABC-soap General Hospital (1963) as savvy record promoter Lois Cerullo. Not only did her portrayal win her a vast amount of fans, she also won a ‘Best Supporting Actress’ Daytime Emmy and network executives considered creating a spin-off series based on Lois and her on-screen husband Ned. It was on General Hospital she met Wally Kurth, her on-screen spouse who became her real-life husband and father to her daughter Rosabel Rosalind Kurth. In the mid-’90s, Sofer made the leap to primetime, guest starring in a number of series before appropriately landing a regular part on primetime soap Melrose Place (1992) which turned to be the series’ final season. Starring and recurring roles on the sitcom Just Shoot Me! (1997) and the dramedy Ed (2000) widened her exposure. A string of flop series followed (Oh, Grow Up (1999); The Chronicle (2001); Coupling (2003) and Blind Justice (2005), but Sofer proved she had staying power and scored roles on the big screen in movies with Ben Stiller (Keeping the Faith (2000)) and Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic (2000). After taking a brief hiatus to give birth to a daughter with her second husband, TV director Sanford Bookstaver, she returned to the small screen in 2006 with recurring roles in two hit shows 24 (2001) and Heroes (2006), as the long-suffering wife to two shady characters, a power broker and an aspiring politician, respectively. In 2010, she tackled a season-long story arc as Margaret Allison Hart, an attorney with a hidden agenda on NCIS (2003). In 2013 she returned to her daytime roots, taking on the role of enigmatic jewelry designer Quinn Fuller on The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) receiving rave reviews.
Rena Sofer
Movies
Traffic
An intertwined drama about the United States’ war on drugs, seen through the eyes of a once conservative judge, now newly-appointed drug czar, his heroin-addicted daughter, two DEA agents, a jailed drug kingpin’s wife, and a Mexican cop who begins to question his boss’s motives.
Fun Facts
Her father was a Conservative rabbi.
She was married to Wally Kurth who plays her husband on General Hospital (1963).
Gave birth to a girl - Rosabel Rosalind Kurth. She weighed 7 lbs, 10 ounces. She was 20 1/2 inches with black hair and blue eyes. Her middle name comes from the recently deceased Rosalind Cash, whom both Rena and her (then) husband absolutely adored. [September 1996]
Announced her engagement to director/producer Sanford Bookstaver. [September 2002]
Her wedding to Sanford Bookstaver was featured in the February 2004 issue of InStyle Magazine.
Attended high school with actor Gene Gabriel.
Daughter, Avalon Leone Bookstaver was born in Los Angeles at 5 a.m. on Aug. 5, 2005 and weighed in at 8 lbs. 14 oz
She is of Russian Jewish descent.
Expecting her second child, her first with husband Sanford Bookstaver, due August 2005. [March 2005]
Born on the same date as Lucy Liu.
Quotes
I find that when you do yoga, you don't crave unhealthy food. But I try to always let myself eat whatever I want. I have dessert or chocolate every day, but I'll only have a few bites. I try to have a little bit of cereal in the morning, and then I always try to have protein for dinner, too. But I eat pasta and stuff like that.
Everybody asks, 'How do you do it?' And I'm like, 'Well, I'm recurring on both shows, so the reality is, I can do both shows.' And that's the best position to be in. And 'Heroes' just asked me to come back and do more. So once I stop airing on '24' for a little while, I'll be on 'Heroes,' and then I'll be back on '24.'
When I buy clothes, I like to buy them in outfits so I know they go together. I like a very simple, natural style. I never like to be the attention getter; I like to come under the radar and be cool about my look, very classic and stylish. I'm not into fads.
I'm a character actress. It doesn't mean I can't do leading roles; I don't think of myself as a leading lady.
There are many actors who, whatever they do, they pretty much play themselves.
I knew my boyfriend was going to ask me to marry him. And I was sure the ring was going to be exceptional, and I bought him a Rolex Explorer. And I engraved 'yes' on it. And when he proposed, I gave him the watch.
I've been very lucky as an actor. I have worked all the time. Some shows I do, they get cancelled. Some, they're critically acclaimed, and then they get cancelled. And some, I'm in the last season of this or that. But I can't complain about my career.
I'm one of those few actresses who works all the time, and even though I haven't done a show that literally puts me on some kind of map - as in, that's how I'm known and that's how I'll always be known - I'm very lucky.
For a clean makeup finish, I use Cle de Peau translucent pressed powder.
I think '24' is a more mature audience, whereas 'Heroes' is a little bit younger. But I have to say, neither one is child friendly. My daughter doesn't get to watch either show!
I think that when Michelle Pfeiffer goes out, she's exactly what I aspire to be - she always looks beautiful and sexy, but she never looks like she's trying to be the center of attention.