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Eileen Fulton

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Eileen Fulton
Fulton in 1965
Born
Margaret Elizabeth McLarty

(1933-09-13) September 13, 1933 (age 91)
Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1960–present
Spouse(s)Bill Cochrane (1957) (divorced)
Danny Fortunato (1971–1980) (divorced)
Rick McMorrow (1989) (divorced)

Eileen Fulton (born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty; September 13, 1933)[1] is an American actress. She is known for her television role as Lisa Grimaldi on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, which she played almost continuously for 50 years (with two notable interruptions) from May 18, 1960, until the show's ending on September 17, 2010.

Early life

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Fulton was born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty in Asheville, North Carolina on September 13, 1933. Her father was a Methodist minister and she is descended from a long line of clergymen.[1] Her father moved the family to various churches while she was growing up. When she was two years old, Fulton interrupted church services by performing the song "Shortnin' Bread."[2]

She attended Greensboro College, studying music and dramatics. During her college years, she won Best Actress awards for her performances in Candide and Thirteen Clocks.[3] She majored in music. After graduation, her father found her a job working with a local church choir, but she wanted to move to New York.[2][4]

Career

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Fulton made her professional acting debut in the play The Lost Colony in Manteo, North Carolina. She moved to New York in 1956 and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She supported herself with a variety of jobs, including selling hats at Macy's and modeling. She posed for photos that were used on the cover of True Confessions magazine.[3] Fulton played Lisa Bailey in the drama film Girl of the Night (1960), co-starring with Anne Francis.[5]

She was cast as Lisa Grimaldi (then known as Lisa Miller) on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, first airing May 16, 1960. Fulton originated the role. In her early years on the show, the character of Lisa was married to Dr. Bob Hughes (Don Hastings). That romance eventually failed, but she went on to have seven more marriages.[6]

The character and actress were, in Fulton's first decades on As the World Turns, very popular (to the point where, in the late 1960s, Fulton had to hire a publicist, the first soap actress to do so). The character became hated after a simple sequence where Lisa hired a maid to clean the house and went gallivanting about town. When mother-in-law Nancy complimented Lisa on what a nice home she made for her son Bob, the audience became furious, stopping Fulton on the street and slapping her.[7][8]

In the 1960s, she also took theater roles. She appeared in Abe Lincoln in Illinois with Hal Holbrook.[1] Fulton replaced Melinda Dillon as Honey in the orginal Broadway production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?[9][10] She also starred Off-Broadway as Luisa in The Fantasticks.[10] Fulton would perform in the live broadcast of As the World Turns, then be on stage for the matinee performance of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? There was only a 30-minute window between the time ATWT concluded its live broadcast at 2:00 pm, and the beginning of the first act of Virginia Woolf. She had time to travel from CBS' studios to the Billy Rose Theatre and get into costume because her character did not appear on stage for the first 20 minutes. Fulton would be back onstage by evening, performing in The Fantasticks.[11]

Her other theater credits include Many Loves, Any Wednesday, Sabrina Fair, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Nite Club Confidential, Plaza Suite, It Had To be You, The Owl and the Pussycat, Goodbye Charlie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.[12][1][3]

Fulton left As the World Turns for several months in 1964 and the role of Lisa was recast with actress Pamela King.[6] In 1965, Irna Phillips, the head writer of ATWT, created a primetime spin-off series, Our Private World, focused on the character of Lisa. The spin-off lasted from May 5 to September 10, 1965 before being cancelled. Fulton took several months off before returning to As the World Turns in May 1966.[3][6] CBS hired a bodyguard to escort her to and from the studio due to overzealous fans.[3]

In the late 1960s, after her onscreen son was aged from age 12 to 19, Fulton insisted it be written into her contract that her character could not become a grandmother. She feared that the perception of her as a grandmother, instead of a glamorous and vital woman, would cause the writers to kill off her character. (This had been done when Barbara Berjer, who was playing one of Lisa's rivals, Claire Shea, became a grandmother).[13][14]

She left ATWT again in April 1983 and the role of Lisa was recast with Betsy von Furstenberg. Fulton returned eighteen months later, first airing on August 3, 1984.[6] She agreed to return when she was promised to have six months on the show, followed by six months off, a more glamorous storyline and time off for singing and acting appearances.[4] Fans, believing that the "granny clause" as it had become known, was still in effect (which it was not), sent Fulton so much threatening "hate mail" when Lisa's onscreen daughter-in-law, Margo, had a miscarriage in 1986, that she again had to have a bodyguard.[13]

Fulton was prominently featured in a May 2000 show marking costar Don Hastings and her 40th anniversaries on the show, as well as in April 2006, during the show's 50th-anniversary episode; from January 2008 to August 2008, she was seen in at least two episodes per week. Her appearances dropped off after that time, though she was again featured in a two-part tribute episode in May 2010, celebrating her 50th year on the show. She remained on the show through its cancellation, appearing in the final episode in September 2010.[11]

Other work

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Fulton has written two memoirs, How My World Turns and As My World Still Turns. She also wrote a mystery novel, called Soap Opera, loosely based on her experiences on As the World Turns and six murder mystery novels, including Take One for Murder, about soap-opera star Nina and her detective boyfriend Dino. Fulton is also a singer, and has performed a number of cabaret and nightclub acts, in addition to her acting.[15]

Personal

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Fulton is a 1956 graduate of Greensboro College and was granted an honorary doctorate in 2005, on the 50th anniversary of her college graduation. She was the commencement speaker at Greensboro College's graduation ceremony that year.

In September 1998, she was inducted into the Soap Opera Hall of Fame. Fulton has also appeared in five independent films, which earned her the Achievement in Television and Film Award at the Independent Filmmakers Award ceremony. In 2003, she was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the TV Academy during the 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

Fulton was married three times, all ending in divorce, including to landscape architect Rick McMorrow for three months in 1989.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "About the Actors: Eileen Fulton". Soap Central. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Hill, Michael E. (June 2, 1990). "Eileen Fulton". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e Rout, Nancy E.; Buckley, Ellen (1992). The Soap Opera Book: Who's Who in Daytime Drama. Todd Publications. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-915344-23-9.
  4. ^ a b Stoneman, Donnell (April 7, 1992). "How Her World Changes\ Soap Actress Eileen Fulton Learns Her College Town Has Evolved, Too". Greensboro News and Record. Archived from the original on September 13, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  5. ^ "Girl of the Night". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "Who's Who in Oakdale: Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi". Soap Central. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  7. ^ Schemering, Christopher (1987). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. New York: Ballentine. p. 31. ISBN 0345-35344-7.
  8. ^ Glave, Judie (May 23, 1995). "Actress Eileen Fulton Happy That 'World Turns' Fans Hate Her". The Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  9. ^ "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Playbill. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Gans, Andrew (February 14, 2011). "Soap Star Eileen Fulton Will Offer Blame It on My Youth in April". Playbill. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Logan, Michael (September 13, 2010). "Eileen Fulton Says Farewell to As the World Turns". TV Guide. Archived from the original on April 14, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  12. ^ "Performer Bios: Eileen Fulton". Feinstein's at Loews Regency. Archived from the original on May 28, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  13. ^ a b "ATWT's Eileen Fulton divulges the true nature of the infamous Granny Clause for Lisa!". michaelfairmantv.com. September 18, 2010. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  14. ^ "Soap Opera Diva Gets Her Due". CBS News. September 22, 1998. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  15. ^ "Eileen Fulton Web Site".
  16. ^ Lansden, Pamela (October 9, 1989). "Take One". People. Archived from the original on February 3, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
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