ATWT: LISA MEMORIES
hor...@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
In celebration of upcoming wedding of Lisa Mitchell and
Eduardo Grimaldi, I would like to see those FOL's out there discuss
their favorite memories of Oakdale's legendary diva and original queen
of the soap opera bitches.
Eileen Fulton originated the role of Lisa back in 1960.
She was born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty on September 13, 1933 in Asheville,
North Carolina. Eileen arrived in New York in 1956 with twin desires; to
make it as a singer and as an actress. The minister's daughter had just
graduated from Greensboro College, where she had recieved a Best Actress
award for her performances in 'Candide' and Thurber's 'Thirteen Clocks'.
While Fulton studied her craft, she worked at Macy's selling hats and
occasionally modeled for photos used to illustrate stories in 'True
Confessions'. After a few theatre gigs and a co-starring role
opposite Anne Francis in the film 'Girl of the Night', in which she
would forever be identified.
Fulton had auditioned for a soap part on 'The Brighter
Day'(ironically as a minister's daughter), but producers though her
better cast as Bob Hughes' social climbing girlfriend on 'As the World
Turns". Her stint as Lisa Miller was supposed to be temporary, but
the writers became intrigued by the charm and energy Fulton brought to
the role, and began to develop the character. When the devious Lisa
had Bob Hughes(Don Hastings) and his family under her thumb, outraged
mail poured into CBS. By the time Lisa had taken up with shoe
salesman Bruce Elliot(James Pritchett, who later played Dr. Matt
Powers on 'The Doctors' from 1963 to 1982), Fulton had to hire a
security guard to protect her from the overenthusiastic, sometimes
violent fans as she made her way to the studio.
Meanwhile the actress was making inroads in her theater
career, starring in the off-Broadway musical production of 'The
Fantastiks', the drama 'Abe Lincoln in Illinois', and as Honey in the
matinee company of 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' opposite
Henderson Forsythe, her ATWT co-star. Fulton left the soap to
concentrate more fully on her stage career but was lured back in 1965
to star in a prime-time spin-off of ATWT entitled 'Our Private World'.
Fulton played a variation on the Bette Davis character in 'Beyond the
Forest'(A twelve o'clock girl in a nine o'clock town), a girl who
pined away for fun and freedom in Chicago. Unfortunately, Lisa's stay
in Chicago was relagated to a summer's run, and the actress returned
to ATWT for ten weeks tie up stories begun on 'Our Private World'.
(More on 'Our Private World, her co-star Nicolas Coster, will be posted
on RATS in the next few days) She then took a year's sabbatical from the
show to sing in various night clubs and returned to the show on
January 16, 1967, as a new glamorous Lisa.
Although Lisa has been put through some wild situations(three
dozen lovers, six marriages, murder trials, rapes, amnesia, a Mexican
mudslide, and a phantom fetus), audiences have always been transfixed
by Fulton's refreshing originality and enormous vitality, and, in
recent years, her flamboyant comedy style. One of her biggest fans,
the late Bette Davis called her "absolutely the most chic,
best-looking put-together woman I've ever seen." Since 1974 she has
appeared in a series of one-woman shows in the country's most
prestigious nightclubs. After twenty years on ATWT and two offscreen
divorces, Fulton in 1983 decided to leave the show to strike out on
her own and quickly starred in a series of stage productions. In a
burst of publicity, she again returned to Oakdale in the summer of
1984 as Lisa discovered the body of her fifth husband, thus setting
off another season of murder, mystery, and melodrama written by the
late great Doug Marland. Since then Eileen personally experienced a short
marriage which ended in divorce while Lisa experienced a short
marriage which ended in the murder of her last husband, Earl Mitchell.
History will be made in the next few days as Eileen will be marrying
her co-star Nicholas Coster for the second time in thirty years.
What are your favorite storylines of Lisa's colorful past?
Bill
"...As the world turns, we know the bleakness of winter, the promise
of spring, the fullness of summer, and the harvest of autumn... the
cycle of life is completed... What is true of nature is also true of
[people]. [They] too [have] a cycle."
PATACCNTNT
she was between husbands, and got stranded on a driving trip at some
spooky inn someplace. There was a mysterious rich man (ala "Rebecca's"
Max DeWinter)
named Hadley and he had a spooky housekeeper (like "R"'s Mrs. Danvers).
The reason I remember it so clearly is that for the first week of the
story Lisa had a cold and I thought that for once someone on a soap
doesn't have some fatal mystery illness, just a plain cold. I think it
turned out Hadley thought he had killed his wife (a "Rebecca" type) but it
turned out the housekeeper did it because she was jealous. This is
probably a pretty obscure story line but it was the first I had seen of a
"gothic" nature outside of Dark Shadows.
hor...@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
In celebration of upcoming wedding of Lisa Mitchell and
Eduardo Grimaldi, I would like to see those FOL's out there discuss
their favorite memories of Oakdale's legendary diva and original queen
of the soap opera bitches.
Our Private World
Eileen Fulton was daytime's brightest star in the mid '60s,
and so it was natural that her chararcter was chosen to be spun-off
'As the World Turns' as the central character of a new CBS prime-time
serial. 'Our Private World', titled 'The Woman Lisa' in development,
was designed to compete with the enormously popular ABC soap 'Peyton
Place'. Created by Irna Phillips and William J. Bell, the show was
written by Robert J. Shaw and directed by Tom Donovan. It dramatized
the adventures of Lisa Miller Hughes in Chicago after her unhappy life
in the small town of Oakdale.
In Lisa's last scene on ATWT she was boarding a train to
Chicago; the opening scene of 'Our Private World' saw her on the
train which was pulling into Chicago, as she dumped her wedding ring
into an ashtray. Lisa moved in with a middle-class family, got a job
in the admitting room of a local hospital, and became involved with
the socially prominent Eldridge family of Lake Forest, a Chicago
suburb. At the onset storylines for both shows were interwoven, but
as more characters were introduced, the focus of the new show moved
away from Lisa. The twice-a-week serial - seen Wednesday and Friday
at different times, which may have confused viewers - concluded with
another major character, Sandy Larson, facing a murder charge. Fulton
returned to ATWT for ten weeks to wrap up her storyline, as Lisa
married the wealthy John Eldridge. The show aired from May 5, 1965
until September 10, 1965.
Here is a list of the original cast.
Lisa Hughes Eileen Fulton
John Eldridge Nicolas Coster (the current Eduardo Grimaldi)
Helen Eldridge Geraldine Fitzgerald
Tom Eldridge Sam Groom
Eve Eldridge Julienne Marie
Dr. Tony Larson David O'Brien
Sandy Larson Sandra Smith
Franny Martin Pamela Murphy
Brad Robertson Robert Drivas
Dick Robertson Ken Tobey
Pat Catherine Dunn
Sgt. Clark Michael Strong
Bonnie Larson
hor...@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu writes:
(good stuff edited)
> Although Lisa has been put through some wild situations(three
> dozen lovers, six marriages, murder trials, rapes, amnesia, a Mexican
I don't remember Lisa being on trial for murder or being raped. Could
someone fill me in?
(more good stuff edited)
Thanks, Bill, for the excellent bio on Eileen Fulton!
BonBon
My opinions are my own and do not represent those of NMSU.
Leslie Rampey
Hi --
I remember when Lisa was married to Whit McColl (although
Eileen Fulton was not playing Lisa during all this time). Whit
was played by the guy who played Flint McCullough on "Wagon
Train" whose real name is escaping me -- Robert Horton, maybe?
The name Whit McColl always sounded to me like it was supposed
to be reminiscent of Flint McCullough.
Anyway, I thought he was kind of cool although he did not
really have the soap acting style down. I read somewhere that
after "Wagon Train" he did dinner theatre a lot, and that was
what his style was like. He sort of spiced stuff up. What
was funny was that Tom really couldn't stand him.
Well, that's my 2 cents of Lisa memories.
Leslie
hor...@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
LISA MEMORIES
In celebration of upcoming wedding of Lisa Mitchell and
Eduardo Grimaldi, I would like to see those FOL's out there discuss
their favorite memories of Oakdale's legendary diva and original queen
of the soap opera bitches.
Eileen Fulton 1960 - 1964 She originated the role of Lisa
Miller Hughes.
Pamela King 1964 She briefly took over the role from
Fulton when Eileen left the soap to
concentrate more fully on her stage
career.
Eileen Fulton 1965-66 She was lured back to star in ATWT
spin-off, Our Private World
and returned to ATWT for ten weeks to wrap
up her storyline(after Private World's
cancelation) with Lisa's marriage to John
Eldridge.
Eileen Fulton 1967-1983 Eileen took a year sabbatical from the
show to sing in various nightclubs and
returned on 1/17/67. After 20 years and
disatisfied with her back-burner storylines,
she decided to strike out on her own.
Betsy von Furstenberg 1983-4 Replaced Eileen Fulton when Lisa
returned from Europe as Mrs. Whit
McColl.
Eileen Fulton 1984-present Fulton again returned to the role as
Lisa McColl discovers the dead body
of her husband. This time Fulton
changed her contract which allowed
Tom to have children and Lisa to
go through menopause. Previously,
Fulton had stipulated that Lisa
couldn't become a grandmother.
Screen actress Jane Powell and soap legend Maeve McGuire(Nicole Travis
Drake from The Edge of Night) substituted for Eileen during the early
nineties when Fulton was hopitalized a few times for surgery.
hor...@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
LISA MEMORIES
In celebration of upcoming wedding of Lisa Mitchell and
Eduardo Grimaldi, I would like to see those FOL's out there discuss
their favorite memories of Oakdale's legendary diva and original queen
of the soap opera bitches.
Bennett Hadley in Norwich
Someone sent this to me a few days ago:
"I think one of my favorite Lisa memories was from the mid
70's. I think she was between husbands, and got stranded on a driving
trip at some spooky inn someplace. There was a mysterious rich man
(ala 'Rebecca's' Max DeWinter) named Hadley and he had a spooky
housekeeper (like 'Rebecca's' Mrs. Danvers). The reason I remember
it so clearly is that for the first week of the story, Lisa had a cold
and I thought that for once someone on a soap doesn't have some fatal
mystery illness, just a plain cold. I think it turned out that Hadley
thought he had killed his wife (a 'Rebecca' type) but it probably a
pretty obscure storeline but it was the first I had seen of a gothic
nature outside of Dark Shadow."
-name unknown
Oh yes, I remember that gothic storyline. The year was 1979
and the late Doug Marland was brought in briefly as part of the ATWT
writing team anonymously. Gothic storylines were his trademark. Lisa
owned the Wade Bookstore at this time and was divorced from Grant
Colman. She met a wealthy visitor to Oakdale named Bennett Hadley.
They fell in love overnight and he asked her to come to Norwich where
he was the proprietor of the Willows Inn. There he proposed to Lisa
and they were engaged. But he seemed to always be so obsessed with
his former wife Ruth who he thought abandoned their marriage and was always
so jealous when other men were around Lisa. Hadley's eccentric housekeeper,
Hesher Pierce was secretly in love with her boss. She would do anything
to come between Bennett and Lisa. She told them the lie that Ruth had run off
with her brother Martin-who instead turned out to be institutionalized in
an isylum. Hadley's friend, country Dr. Henry Bickford and his tall,
dark, and handsome nephew Derek(much to Bennett's extreme jealousy) would
come often to the Willows for dinner. That was until Derek started
investigating Lisa's suspicions about Hesther Pierce and turned up dead in a
mysterious car accident. Eventually Lisa suspected Hesther of
murdering Derek and the mystery all came together when Lisa dug up
Ruth Hadley's body in the Willow's basement. Ex-hubby Grant showed up
just in time to rescue Lisa from this nightmere.