Runyon Corman also made appearances in the classic comedies “Ghostbusters” and “Up The Creek,” both released in 1984.

Jennifer Runyon Corman, Charles in Charge actress, dies at 65

Runyon Corman also made appearances in the classic comedies "Ghostbusters" and "Up The Creek," both released in 1984.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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March 8, 2026 11:05 p.m. ET

Jennifer Runyon Corman in 'Ghostbusters' (1984). Credit:

Jennifer Runyon Corman, best known for her role as Gwendolyn Pierce on the classic sitcom *Charles in Charge*, died on March 6 at the age of 65.

Runyon Corman's friend Erin Murphy, who starred as the young Tabitha Stephens on *Bewitched*, confirmed that the actress "passed away after a brief battle with cancer" in a Sunday Facebook post.

"Some people you just know you’ll be friends with before you even meet. She was a special lady. I’ll miss you Jenn. My thoughts are with your family and beautiful children ," she wrote.

A post from Runyon Corman's own Facebook account announced her death first before going private on Sunday.

"This past Friday our beloved Jennifer passed away, it was a long and arduous journey that ended with her surrounded by her family," read the post, per ABC7.

Jennifer Runyon Corman in Los Angeles in 2019.

Albert L. Ortega/Getty

Willie Aames, who played core *Charles in Charge *cast member Buddy Lembeck across the series' five-season run on CBS, mourned his costar with a post to his own Facebook on Sunday. Over several photos of himself with Runyon Corman throughout the years, Aames wrote, "Jenn was more than a friend. She was my dear dear friend, muse, and encourager. We shared family Christmas’s together, vacations, weekends, lunches and dinners together… We did shows together, but most of all- we LAUGHED."

Aames called Runyon Corman his "rock," noting that watching the actress "slip away these last few months was one of the hardest times of my life… I can still hear your voice so clearly. No one will ever be able to fill the massive hole that’s been left in our hearts… ever."

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Runyon Corman was born Jennifer Runyon in Chicago on June 1, 1960. The daughter of famed DJ, radio announcer, and sometime TV star James "Jim" Runyon, Jennifer took no time following in her dad's footsteps when securing her first screen role in the 1980 slasher *To All a Goodnight*.

She then cut her teeth as Sally Frame, a character played before her by Julie Philips and after her by Dawn Benz, on the NBC soap *Another World*. Her most memorable roles came in the handful of years that followed, as Gwendolyn Pierce on *Charles in Charge*, Heather Merriweather in *Up The Creek*, and a female student who participates in a psychokinetic test in *Ghostbusters*.

“When I got the part I was so excited," Runyon explained in a 2014 interview reflecting back on her time working with *Charles in Charge* costar Scott Baio, whom she called "great.. he ended up becoming like a brother to me."

Runyon married basketball coach Todd Corman in 1991, later welcoming two children: a son, Wyatt, and a daughter, Bayley. In a 2016 interview, Runyon Corman explained that she "left the business to raise my kids, and we left Hollywood, and we moved to Idaho and Oregon," but returned to take care of her own parents in recent years.

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