Cindi Rinehart Obituary, ‘Queen of Soaps’ Cindi Rinehart Passes Away On Northwest Afternoon
By Rachel Davis
After a brief battle with cancer, Cindi Rinehart, known to viewers as the “Queen of Soaps” on Northwest Afternoon, died away quietly on Tuesday morning. She was seventy-five years old.
For 24 years, Cindi co-hosted Northwest Afternoon on KOMO 4. Following Cindi’s takeover, Northwest Afternoon returned to its well-known format.
Fans have been watching Cindi for decades in order to stay up to date on all soap operas. At one point, she provided her opinion with her trademark sass, wit, and comedy while keeping track of ten. Interviews with newsmakers, musicians, celebrities, and other individuals came after the soap opera news.
Interviews with President Jimmy Carter, Peter Jennings, Sen. Barack Obama, Dolly Parton, and other celebrities were featured on the show.
Cindi, a Manchester, Washington resident, was dealing with a number of health problems. In a recent interview with KOMO News, she expressed her gratitude to the medical staff at Saint Michael Medical Center in Silverdale for keeping her alive despite her recent diagnosis of throat cancer, stroke, aphasia, and heart failure.
Despite her reputation as the Queen of Soaps, Cindi’s most memorable interview was with news woman and talk show icon Barbara Walters.
“We helped her daughter move,” Cindi said in a 2017 interview with Seattle Refined. “And because she was moving here, and she asked us not to say exactly who she was or anything and we did that. We moved her and that’s how we met.”
Walters and Cindi grew close, and Walters offered Cindi an interview when Northwest Afternoon aired a show from New York City. Rinehart questioned her about how she managed to get her interview subjects to be so genuine.
