I would like to know what happened to Zina Bethune of The Nurses.
—Louise S., Alabama
Zina Bethune has always had a passion for both acting and dance. She was just 15 when she starred in the 1960s TV series The Nurses and was already being groomed to be a star ballerina, which unfortunately was not to be, so she continued acting. After the TV show, she appeared in Who's That Knocking on My Door? and the daytime soap Love of Life, moving from New York to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. Her life was altered in her early teens, when disabilities began affecting her legs, feet and back. Rather than being discouraged, she overcame them and began working with disabled children. "I realized how dance transcends all the supposed limitations," explains Bethune, who was born with the spine disease scoliosis and suffers from hip and glandular problems. In 1980, she started Bethune Theatredanse, where she adapts screenplays and plays as multi-media experiences. "I try to utilize all the art forms I care about in my work," says Bethune, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband of 27 years. Since 1982, she has led a dance and drama outreach program called Infinite Dreams that has worked with more than 1,000 disabled children. She has performed for presidents and traveled all over the world with this group. "I guess there are reasons I have had so many illnesses, because it led me down a road perhaps I would not have traveled, and it's been extraordinarily rewarding."
