Darlene Conley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Darlene Conley
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | July 18, 1934 |
| Died | January 14, 2007 (aged 72) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
|
| Years active | 1954–2006 |
| Spouse(s) | Bill Woodson (1959–1966) (divorced) Kurt Hensch (1970–1981) (divorced) |
| Children | 1 |
Darlene Conley (born July 18, 1934 – died January 14, 2007) was an American actress. She worked in movies and TV shows for fifty years! She was most famous for playing a character named Sally Spectra on the TV show The Bold and the Beautiful. Darlene played Sally from 1989 until she passed away eighteen years later. Her character, Sally, is so well-known that she is the only soap opera character to have a wax figure at Madame Tussaud's museums in Amsterdam and Las Vegas!
Contents
Discovering Darlene Conley's Life and Acting Career
Darlene Conley was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her parents were Melba and Raymond Conley. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Darlene worked with a traveling theater group called the Chicago Uptown Circuit Players and Playwrights Company.
She got a small role in the famous movie The Birds in 1963. After that, she had other small parts in movies like Valley of the Dolls and Lady Sings the Blues. Darlene also appeared in an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and on Little House on the Prairie in 1981.
Darlene's Roles in Daytime Television
Darlene Conley became very well-known for her roles in daytime TV shows, often called soap operas. She played a character named Rose DeVille on The Young and the Restless. She also had many other small roles on different soap operas throughout the 1980s.
- On Days of Our Lives in 1983, she played Edith Hopkins, a tough but good-hearted prison warden.
- From 1984 to 1988, she was Trixie on General Hospital, an old friend of Ruby's who worked at Kelly's.
Her role as Rose De Ville again inspired a TV producer named William J. Bell. He decided to cast her as the lively fashion boss Sally Spectra on his newer show, The Bold and the Beautiful. For her amazing work, Darlene was nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress. An Emmy is a special award for excellence in television.
Darlene was good friends with several actors from The Bold and the Beautiful. This included Fabio, who appeared on the show many times to celebrate Sally's birthday. She was also friends with comedian Phyllis Diller, who played Sally's friend, Gladys Pope, on the show.
Darlene Conley's Later Years and Passing
In 2004, Darlene became ill after a fall where she broke some bones. She got better and returned to work, though she often sat during her scenes.
In the fall of 2006, news came out that Darlene had surgery and was getting treatment for stomach cancer. Darlene Conley passed away on January 14, 2007. The Bold and the Beautiful aired a special show to remember her. Actor John McCook presented the tribute, which showed many of Darlene's most memorable moments on the show.
The Legacy of Sally Spectra
Even after Darlene Conley's passing, the character of Sally Spectra is still a part of The Bold and the Beautiful. The show explained Sally's absence by having her son, CJ, tell his father that Sally had gone on a permanent vacation to St. Tropez. The head writer, Brad Bell, said that Sally is "bigger than life" and will always be remembered.
In late 2007, Sally decided to sell her fashion company. Nick Marone and Jackie Marone bought Spectra and ran the business. In 2017, the show brought back many of the original Sally Spectra's storylines to introduce a new, younger character. This new character, also named Sally, is the niece of the original Sally Spectra. The younger Sally relaunched the Spectra fashion line. The show also brought back the character of CJ for several episodes.
Darlene Conley's Filmography
Here are some of the movies Darlene Conley appeared in:
- The Birds (1963) – Waitress
- Valley of the Dolls (1967) – Nurse in Sanitarium
- Faces (1968) – Billy Mae
- Captain Milkshake (1970) – Mrs. Hamilton
- Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
- Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
- Play It as It Lays (1972) – Kate's Nurse
- Gentle Savage (1973) – Mac Moody
- Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979) – Mrs. Claus
- Tough Guys (1986) – Gladys Ripps
- The Oz Kids (1996) - Mombi
