Eileen Fulton
| Eileen Fulton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Margaret Elizabeth McLarty September 13, 1933 Asheville, North Carolina, United States |
| Residence | New York City |
| Years active | 1960-present |
| Spouse(s) | Bill Cochrane (1957) (Divorced) Danny Fortunato (1971-1980) (Divorced) Rick McMorrow (1989) (Divorced) |
Eileen Fulton (born September 13, 1933), is an American actress.
Fulton was born as Margaret Elizabeth McLarty in Asheville, North Carolina and is known for her television role as Lisa Grimaldi on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, a role that she played almost continuously for 50 years (with two notable interruptions) from May 18, 1960 until the show's ending on September 17, 2010. Along with actor Don Hastings, Fulton is one of the longest-serving actors in an American soap opera.
The character of Lisa Grimaldi had a storied history, having been married eight times, divorced three times and widowed four times (with her most recent marriage annulled) making her full name Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi Chedwyn.
Fulton's portrayal of Lisa created the strongest prototype of its time for the daytime vixen. 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 hires 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. CBS had to hire a bodyguard to escort her to and from the studio. Despite her popularity, Fulton's run has not been without controversy. During 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.) Fans, believing that the "granny clause" as it became 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 had to hire a bodyguard.
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