As "Penny Hughes" on daytime TV's As the World Turns (1956) from 1956-1968, popular stage and soap actress Rosemary Prinz, the pretty lady with the distinctive mole, was the reigning Susan Lucci of her day. Born in New York City, her father was a classical musician who was a part of the New York String Quartet and, at one time, played cello for the legendary conductor, Arturo Toscanini. A position somewhere in the arts seemed destined for Rosemary. A gifted child, she graduated from high school at age 16 and went directly into summer stock, finding her first role in a 1947 production of "Dream Girls" and continuing on with "Dear Ruth" and "Kiss and Tell". She later toured with theater troupes, including The Vagabond Players. Trained for the theatre by Sanford Meisner, she made her New York/Broadway debut as a girl scout in "The Grey-Eyed People" at the Martin Beck Theatre in 1952. Two years later, she appeared as "Amy" in her first TV soap program entitled First Love (1954). Two years after that, she copped the role of "Penny Hughes" and the rest is soap opera history. After her run on "As the World Turns", soap creator Agnes Nixon used Rosemary's popularity to launch La force du destin (1970). Although primarily known for her soapy dramatics, Rosemary has been a formidable theatre performer and is now primarily dedicated to the stage. From dinner theatre to Broadway, her singing skills have been utilized quite frequently with showy roles in "Paint Your Wagon", "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "Kiss Me Kate", "Annie Get Your Gun", "Applause", "Mame", "Gypsy" and "I Do! I Do!". Four times, she has played opera diva Maria Callas in "Master Class". She has also added stature to such classics as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "The Glass Menagerie", "A Long Day's Journey Into Night" and a Broadway production of "Tribute", with Jack Lemmon in 1978. Other soaps she has graced over the years have included How to Survive a Marriage (1974) and Ryan's Hope (1975), in addition to revisiting her old alma mater, As the World Turns (1956), from time to time. In her 70s, she is still an active performer.
