Connie Izay
A smiling young white woman with long dark hair
Connie Ruscetti, later Izay, from the 1947 yearbook of Hopewell High School in Pennsylvania
Born
Constance Blanche Ruscetti

November 29, 1928
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
DiedAugust 21, 1982
Los Angeles, California
Occupation(s)Nurse, actress, technical advisor
Known forWork on medical television programs, including M*A*S*H and Marcus Welby M.D.
SpouseVictor Izay

Constance "Connie" Ruscetti Izay (November 29, 1928 – August 21, 1982) was an American nurse, actress, and technical advisor on television programs, including M*A*S*H and Marcus Welby, M.D.

Early life and education

Constance Blanche Ruscetti was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joseph Ruscetti and Rose Palazzi Ruscetti. She graduated from Hopewell High School in Aliquippa in 1947,[1] and trained as a nurse at Sewickley Valley Hospital. In her twenties, she moved to Albuquerque with her parents.[2]

Career

Izay was a registered nurse. She worked as a nurse educator in the Virgin Islands for two years,[2][3] and was employed at the Lovelace Clinic in New Mexico, where she helped with medical testing for the first American astronauts.[4]

Izay was also active in community theater in Albuquerque.[3][5] She married a theatre director, and moved to Los Angeles with him. She sometimes worked as a studio nurse, and sometimes played nurses in medical television programs. She was "Nurse Connie" in three episodes of M*A*S*H, and played a nurse in Man from Atlantis and Marcus Welby, M.D.[6] "Though she's never seen a shrapnel wound in her life, Izay is now regularly called upon to bandage simulated war wounds on the Korean front," noted a 1980 profile.[4] She was also a medical technical advisor on several television shows, especially Marcus Welby and M*A*S*H, but also an episode of Bonanza that involved a kitchen-table surgery to remove a bullet.[7] She was "on the set at all times",[8] read scripts for medical errors, highlighted terminology actors might need help to pronounce correctly, and showed actors how to hold medical equipment.[4][6]

Beyond the technical aspects of her work, she tried to improve how nurses were portrayed on television. "I recall many a day when she'd come home elated because she and Loretta (Swit) had instigated change in the image that the nurses would present in the series," recalled her husband in 1983.[9]

Personal life and legacy

Ruscetti married actor Victor Izay in 1955.[2] They had three children, Gregory, Victoria, and Stephen.[10] She died from breast cancer in 1982, in Los Angeles, at the age of 53.[11] The 1983 M*A*S*H episode "As Time Goes By", the last episode filmed for the series,[12] and the second-to-last episode aired, was dedicated to her memory.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Hopewell High School, The Viking (1947 yearbook): 31; via Ancestry.
  2. 1 2 3 "Victor Izay to Claim Connie Ruscetti as Bride". The Albuquerque Tribune. 1955-08-31. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "'Moon is Blue' Opens Tonight in Old Town". Albuquerque Journal. 1958-07-24. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 Murrill, Mary Beth (1980-02-17). "Showbiz: Expertise Leads to Advisor Role". Scrantonian Tribune. p. 83. Retrieved 2023-10-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "'Harvey'". Albuquerque Journal. 1955-09-11. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 Scott, Vernon (1972-05-15). "Registered Nurse Briefs Dr. Welby on What to Do". Simpson's Leader-Times. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Labonté, Richard (1980-03-01). "Experts keep TV factual". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 41. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "'Marcus Welby' in Fifth Season". York Daily Record. 1973-08-04. p. 52. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "New Series Top Rated; KIVA-TV Becomes Satellite". Albuquerque Journal. 1983-09-22. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Wilks, Flo (1965-05-23). "Victor Izay Returns to Present New 'Tales of Horror' Performance". Albuquerque Journal. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Connie Izay, TV medical show adviser". Fort Lauderdale News. 1982-08-28. p. 30. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "M-A-S-H Films Final Scene, Says Goodbye After 11 Years" Gamecock (January 17, 1983): 3.
  13. ↑ Kleiner, Dick (1983-10-30). "Ask TV Scout". The News Tribune. p. 125. Retrieved 2023-10-10 – via Newspapers.com.
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