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Bobbie Faye Ferguson, Actress and Mother of ‘Conners’ Star Jay R. Ferguson, Dies at 78
Bobbie Faye Ferguson, an actress and the mother of The Conners star Jay R. Ferguson, has died. She was 78.

Bobbie Faye Ferguson, Actress and Mother of ‘Conners’ Star Jay R. Ferguson, Dies at 78

Bobbie Faye FergusonCourtesy of Jay R. Ferguson

Bobbie Faye Ferguson, an actress and the mother of The Conners star Jay R. Ferguson, has died. She was 78.

A resident of Sherman Oaks, Ferguson died June 25 of natural causes, it was announced Friday by her son’s reps at Industry Entertainment.

Born on Oct. 10, 1943, in Memphis, Tennesse, Bobbie Faye was raised in Eudora, Arkansas. She graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, taught speech and debate at Skyline High School in Dallas and was one of the founding members and an acting teacher at the KD Studio.

She moved to Los Angeles and worked as a model and actress, appearing on such shows as The Dukes of Hazzard, The Fall Guy, Dallas, Designing Women, Remington Steele and Evening Shade, where her son portrayed Taylor Newton, son of Burt Reynolds and Marilu Henner’s characters.

She also taught at the Actor’s Lab in Los Angeles.

In the mid-’90s, Ferguson was appointed by President Clinton to launch NASA’s multimedia program in Washington, and she served as a spokesperson for the organization for seven years. Later, she was hired as a consultant on space-related films like Clint Eastwood’s Space Cowboys (2000) and Werner Herzog’s Wild Blue Yonder (2005).

Jay R. Ferguson, who plays the love interest of Sara Gilbert’s Darlene on ABC’s The Conners, also is known for his 2010-15 turn as Stan Rizzo on Mad Men.

In addition to her son, survivors include her daughter-in-law, three grandsons, two brothers, a sister-in-law and nieces and nephews. Donations can be made in her name to the Los Angeles Mission.