Genie Kahn, who combined a sharp mind, a sarcastic wit and a big heart, passed away in her sleep early Sunday morning Feb. 15th, two weeks short of her 74th birthday. She was suffering from breast cancer, along with the multiple sclerosis that plagued her for many years.

Eugenie Lee had a multifaceted career as a Hollywood stage manager and, later, story analyst. She then switched gears and became a licensed marriage and family therapist. In her final stretch, she combined her two areas of expertise, coaching actors and other aspiring Hollywood professionals to correct self-defeating behavior and achieve their potential.

She and arts journalist Tom Jacobs had a 38-year-long romantic relationship, which took them from Los Angeles to California’s Central Coast, where they lived since 1994. She died at their home in the lush green Leisure Village retirement community in Camarillo.

Musical to the core, she spent several seasons as a member of the Santa Barbara Choral Society, singing in performances of such masterpieces as Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem. She was also an enthusiastic amateur pianist who, during her college years, spent more time in the University of Southern California’s practice rooms than she did studying for her classes.

She was born in Chicago on Feb. 28, 1952, quite premature: She spent her first months of life in an incubator. Her birth name was Eugenie Lee Goldberg; it was changed to Kahn when her mother divorced Julius Goldberg and married affable attorney Richard Kahn when Genie was 5. She remained close to both fathers until their deaths.

Genie grew up in the upscale Chicago suburb of Highland Park, where she formed a circle of friends she would remain close to for her entire life. Artistic as well as athletic, she eagerly participated in her high school’s impressive theater and music offerings, and happily spent her summers at Camp Northland in Ely, Minnesota, on the Canadian border.

She moved to California after high school, ultimately earning a graduate degree in psychology from USC. During this period, she endured a short-lived marriage to an emotionally troubled cellist, and entered into a clinical depression that, by her own account, robbed her of much of her spirit for a decade or more. (These were the days before modern antidepressants.)

Fortunately, she found a creative counterweight to the gloom: The world of television comedy. She held a series of jobs for the production company of Henry Winkler (aka The Fonz) and John Rich, a legendary director who was a key part of the creative team for both “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “All in the Family.” Being surrounded by funny people helped restore her own often-wicked sense of humor.

By 1994, when Tom got a once-in-a-lifetime offer to write about the arts for the daily newspaper in Santa Barbara, she was ready to leave Hollywood. She enrolled at Antioch University, earned a second master’s degree in psychology, and began work as a therapist. Among her many duties, she led groups of domestic violence perpetrators in court-mandated counseling.

Looking for something lighter, she eventually shifted to serving as a life coach for actors and writers (both aspiring and working). The testimonials she received in her final days from a number of these clients—most of which had the theme “You changed my life”—showed how much of an impact she made, and how deeply her work was appreciated.

Genie’s many passions included, in no particular order, cats, the music of Chopin, milkshakes, figure skating, engrossing novels, crisp tacos, Broadway musicals (her favorites included “Carousel,” “West Side Story” and “Company”), the TV series “The West Wing” and “Suits,” and the many sad sagas of the Kennedy family. She requested cremation and no memorial service, but contributions can be made in her name to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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