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Lady Jane on GENERAL HOSPITAL — Everything You Need to Know

Jax’s mother, Lady Jane Jacks, hasn’t been on GENERAL HOSPITAL, in years as the character’s death was mentioned in the April 3, 2017 episode of the soap to reflect the real-life passing of her portrayer, Barbara Tarbuck in December of 2016. But who was Lady Jane?

The character of Lady Jane was introduced to GH in 1996 as the mother of Jasper “Jax” Jacks. She and her husband, John Jacks, had a loving marriage and they raised their sons Jasper and Jerry Jacks in a life of adventure. However, even though Jerry turned to evil, she still loved her son. In fact, even after Jerry had plastic surgery to disguise his appearance, Lady Jane was the only one to recognize him at Jax’s wedding and realize immediately that he was her child.

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Lady Jane loved both her sons, no matter what they got up to!ABC/Adam Larkey

Lady Jane was also very supportive of Jax’s relationship with Carly Benson, believing she was the best woman for her son. So she was naturally quite disappointed when she learned that the couple had divorced after years of marriage.

The last time Lady Jane was seen in Port Charles was in January of 2010 when she attended her granddaughter, Josslyn’s, christening. In the spring of 2011, Jax declared his intention to take Joss to visit her grandmother in Australia. Sadly, Jax admitted that his mother was ill in early 2017, and in April, he returned to Port Charles again to break the news that Lady Jane had died. He assured Josslyn that she died peacefully in her sleep and he was by her side the whole time so she was never alone. He also gave Joss a letter from her grandmother, but the young woman wasn’t ready to read it yet and put it aside for later.

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Lady Jane was thrilled by the birth of her granddaughter, Josslyn.Ron Tom/ABC via Getty Images

Lady Jane’s portrayer, Barbara Tarbuck, died on Dec. 27 at the age of 74 from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a degenerative brain disorder. “She was the kindest, warmest person, and it was always a joy to be around her,” recalled on-screen son Ingo Rademacher (Jax). “Was hoping we would have many more years of great scenes with her. My thoughts go out to her family, her daughter who she talked about often. I will miss you, Mom.”

Tarbuck began her career as a little girl in radio before appearing on numerous television series including primetime sudsers DALLAS, KNOTS LANDING, FALCON CREST, and DYNASTY. On stage, she acted in plays by Harold Pinter, David Mamet, and Neil Simon. And on the big screen, Tarbuck could be seen in films such as Short Circuit, Curly Sue, and Walking Tall. More recently, she was seen as Mother Superior Claudia in AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM.

Take a look back at Tarbuck’s acting career in our special gallery below featuring just some of the many roles she played during her life.

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