Eileen Fulton, the actress who changed the landscape of daytime television, has passed away at the age of 91.
Her family confirmed that she died on July 14 in Asheville, North Carolina, after a period of declining health.
Fulton made television history with her role as Lisa Miller on CBS’ As the World Turns, a character she portrayed from May 1960 until the show ended in September 2010.
Originally introduced as a temporary “nice girl” character meant for another actress, Lisa quickly evolved into soap opera’s first “vixen”, a persona that Fulton made unforgettable.
Her legacy earned her a place in the Soap Opera Hall of Fame in 1998 and a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
Born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty on September 13, 1933, in Asheville, Fulton was the daughter of a Methodist minister and a public school teacher.
After graduating from Greensboro College in 1956 with a degree in music, she moved to New York City to pursue acting, an ambition fully supported by her parents.
She trained under some of the most respected names in the arts, including Sanford Meisner, Lee Strasberg, and dancer Martha Graham.
Fulton made her film debut in Girl of the Night in 1960 and went on to perform in major stage productions.
At one point, while working on the live broadcast of As the World Turns, she was also performing on Broadway in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and off-Broadway in The Fantasticks.
Beyond acting, Fulton was also a writer and performer.
She sang in cabaret shows across New York and Los Angeles for many years. In 1970, she co-wrote her first autobiography How My World Turns, followed by another in 1995 titled As My World Still Turns.
She also authored several murder-mystery novels, including one simply titled Soap Opera.
After retiring in 2019, she settled in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Fulton is survived by her brother, Charles Furman McLarty, her niece Katherine Morris and her children, and her sister-in-law Chris Page McLarty.
