PASSINGS

Actress played gossipy nurse on ‘General Hospital’

Shell Kepler, 49, the actress who for years played gossipy nurse Amy Vining on the television soap opera “General Hospital,” died Friday at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. The cause of death was not announced.

Kepler’s busybody character on “General Hospital” was a fan favorite and enjoyed a long run, from 1979 to 2002.

She also appeared in the 1982 Joan Collins film “Homework,” and a couple of episodes of the situation comedy “Three’s Company.”

A native of Ohio, she moved to California with her family when she was 10. She recalled in 1994 that she didn’t have a driver’s license when she began trying out for film roles.

“I managed to get my girlfriends to drive me to auditions because I wasn’t old enough to drive,” she said. “I was a rather ambitious kid.”

In addition to her television work, she was a businesswoman marketing clothing on the former Home Shopping Club.

In a 1994 interview with the Associated Press, she said her “Lacy Afternoon” collection had sales topping $20 million for that year alone.

She moved to Oregon after her television career ended and became involved in charity fundraising.

Danish designer created products for U.S.-based Dansk

Jens Quistgaard, 88, a celebrated Danish industrial designer who created popular designs for the Dansk brand of tableware, died Jan. 4 at his home in Vordingborg, Denmark, the New York Times reported. The cause of death was not announced.

Founded in 1954 by Ted Nierenberg, an American entrepreneur, Dansk was based in Great Neck, N.Y., and became known for making sophisticated European designs that were affordable to American consumers.

That same year, Nierenberg visited a Copenhagen museum and saw some hand-forged flatware made by Quistgaard. Nierenberg found the designer and convinced him that his hand-made creations could be mass-produced.

According to the Times, Quistgaard designed for Dansk from the firm’s inception until the mid- 1980s.

He was known for his fluid lines and for using a variety of materials, including wood, metal, glass, stainless steel and ceramics.

He was best known for his salad bowls and cutting boards of teak, as well as stainless-steel flatware that was an affordable alternative to sterling silver.

Born in Denmark, the largely self-taught Quistgaard got his only formal training from his father, a well-known sculptor.

During World War II, Quistgaard was a member of the Danish underground.

– From Times Wire Reports