Rena Sherel Sofer (born December 2, 1968)[1] is an American actress, known for her appearances in daytime television, episodic guest appearances, and made-for-television movies. In 1995, Sofer received a Daytime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Lois Cerullo in the soap opera General Hospital. She reprised the role of Lois in October 2023. From 2013 to 2022, she played Quinn Fuller on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
Early life
Sofer was born in Arcadia, California, the daughter of Susan Sofer (née Franzblau), a psychology professor, and Martin Sofer, an Orthodox rabbi.
[2]
Sofer first played Lois Marie Cerullo on General Hospital. Her first appearance was in 1993 as a band manager. However, her first high-profile role was as Rocky McKenzie on the daytime soap opera Loving (1988–1991).
Sofer is perhaps best known for her role as Lois Cerullo on General Hospital (December 15, 1993 – September 24, 1996). She later returned as a guest star (February 7–17, 1997; September 30 – October 2, 1997). Her portrayal of the outrageous Lois won Sofer a Daytime Emmy Award in 1995 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
In May 2013, it was announced that Sofer would join the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, in a newly created role of Quinn Fuller; her first episode aired on July 12.[6] After nine years on the canvas, Sofer opted to end her run in the role of Quinn; she last aired on August 29, 2022.[7]
On September 14, 2023, People announced Sofer would reprise the role of Lois on General Hospital after a 26-year absence.[8]
She played the P.E. teacher Ms. Desjarden in the television film adaptation of Carrie in 2002. She starred in the television movie Always and Forever which aired October 24, 2009, on the Hallmark Channel. She has been doing TV movies since 1992, when she starred as Andrea Larson in the television movie Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style.
Sofer and her General Hospital co-star Wally Kurth, who played her onscreen love interest, became involved as their characters' storyline progressed. In 1995, the actors were married and had a daughter, Rosabel Rosalind Kurth. In 1997, Sofer and Kurth divorced.
Sofer married television director and producer Sanford Bookstaver in 2003. On August 5, 2005, Sofer gave birth to her second daughter, her first with Bookstaver, in Los Angeles. Sofer and Bookstaver eventually divorced in 2017. In 2019, Sofer announced they had reconciled and in April announced their engagement, and they later remarried in 2024.[13]
^"Rena Sofer", Oh, Grow Up, WCHS. Accessed September 22, 2011. "Born in Arcadia, California, Rena moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, following her parents' divorce, and later to North Bergen, New Jersey, where she finished high school."
^Lipton, Michael A. "Heart Condition: For Rena Sofer, Checking into General Hospital Meant Finding a Healing Love with Costar Wally Kurth", People, October 31, 1994. Accessed September 22, 2011. "Neither parent remarried, and today Sofer maintains close relations with both her father, who presides at Temple Beth El in North Bergen, N.J., and her mother, a professor of developmental psychology at the University of North Carolina in Fayetteville.... She took a drama class during her senior year at North Bergen High School and then, after less than a semester at Montclair State College, took acting lessons in New York."
