Port Charles- Daytime Soap Operas- News, polls, Kelly Monaco

Kruger is no stranger to daytime television. She got her soap start on The Young and the Restless, where she played Mackenzie Browning from 2002 to 2003 and again from 2018 to 2019. She has also appeared on The Bold and the Beautiful as Eva. Her primetime credits include Criminal Minds, Entourage, and Hallmark movies like A Very Corgi Christmas.

“I am so excited to be joining the show!” Kruger tells TV Insider. “It’s a literal dream come true to finally get to work with Frank Valentini [executive producer] and Mark Teschner [casting director] after all these years! Daytime has a very special place in my heart, and I have always wanted to work with the actors and writers on this show. I truly believe the level of talent and work they put out is the absolute best.”

Serena, previously played by Carly Schroeder, is the biological daughter of Scott Baldwin (Kin Shriner) and the late Dominique Stanton (Shell Danielson). Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) served as their surrogate because Dominique was dying from an inoperable brain tumor, and she passed away before Serena was born. Scott and Lucy named Serena after Dominique’s family estate, Serenity. Soon afterward, Scott left town with his infant daughter and a substantial inheritance from Dominique’s will.

In 1997, Serena’s story moved to the GH spin-off, Port Charles, where Scott returned to town with his daughter. Serena’s childhood was marked by plenty of drama, including multiple kidnappings and a bout of temporary blindness that required a corneal transplant. She was last seen on-screen in 2017 at the Metro Court Hotel, where she joined Scott and Lucy in mourning the late Lee Baldwin, Scott’s father and Serena’s grandfather.

Although Serena has remained off-screen since then, she has not been forgotten. In 2022, Scott revealed that he needed to travel to the Faroe Islands, where Serena had been arrested after an altercation with dolphin hunters.

Serena also has ties to several current Port Charles residents. In addition to Lucy, Cody Bell (Josh Kelly) is Dominique’s biological son, making him Serena’s half-brother.

Beyond her return to daytime, Kruger already has a full plate outside of Port Charles. She has built a thriving social media presence as a content creator and become one of TikTok‘s top beauty influencers. She was named TikTok Shop’s Beauty Creator of the Year in 2025. She is also the mother of daughters Everleigh Jolie, 6, and Gemma Wynter, 4, whom she shares with ex Darin Brooks (Wyatt Spencer, The Bold and the Beautiful).

Kruger begins filming on Monday, June 8, and will make her first appearance in July. She is eager to begin her new chapter in Port Charles.

“I’m honored and excited to be stepping into this role,” Kruger enthuses. “I cannot wait for the fans to meet Serena!”

Executive Producer Frank Valentini adds, “I am excited to have Kelly Kruger join the cast of General Hospital. She’s a terrific actor and we look forward to working with her.”

Michael Easton Looks Back at Caleb & Livvie’s Vampy ‘Port Charles’ Romance

Bringing Caleb Morley to life required an actor who could be equally convincing as a romantic lead and a tortured soul. That challenge ultimately fell to Michael Easton, who had previously appeared on Days of Our Lives as Tanner Scofield from 1991-92 and was building a successful primetime résumé when Port Charles came calling.

“Most of my life, I haven’t had any sort of plan, but I have been blessed with some good fortune and on occasion a bit of serendipity,” Easton tells Swooon. “In this case, the SAG strike in 2000 was in its fourth or fifth month, and I was waiting to see if the show I had been working on — Total Recall 2070 — was going to get picked up for a second season when [casting director] Mark Teschner, who I had known for years and I have great respect for, called and asked if I wanted to come down and do a 10-week arc on Port Charles.”

Easton was intrigued, but completely in the dark about what part he’d be playing. “The only stipulation to my casting was the storyline and the character were very secretive and would only be revealed to me after I signed my contract to play the part,” he shares. “Which has never happened to me before, but I figured, it’s a soap opera, the guy’s a doctor, lawyer, or a cop. How hard could it be? So, I signed my contract and went to a meeting with the executive producer, Julie [Hanan] Carruthers, and the head writers, Barbara Esensten and Jim Harmon.”

What sounded like a routine daytime role quickly turned into something far more unexpected, something that hadn’t been done on daytime before. “When they told me that the character was a twin — one a priest, the other a vampire, but in the end of the story they’ll be revealed to be the same person — my first reaction, to be honest, was to excuse myself, say I was going to the bathroom and make a run for the parking lot,” he recalls. “This was, in my mind, so ambitious for any show, let alone a soap. I had immediate doubts about my own ability to even play the part. I mean, it was a challenge for Fight Club, and they had Brad Pitt, David Fincher, and a hundred million dollars.”

Despite his initial hesitation, the creative team’s enthusiasm soon proved contagious. “The more I listened to Jim and Barbara, the more impressed I was with how outside the box they were thinking, and Julie had this amazing confidence in her ability to make their vision a reality on the screen,” Easton explains. “By the time they were done, I was a dreamer, too. I really came to understand on Port Charles that the writers are the real stars on daytime, and when you get those good words, and you don’t make a mess of them, sometimes you can make something beautiful.”

Once he committed to the role, Easton turned his attention to the task of creating two distinct personalities. “I don’t want to give away the whole bag of tricks, but there was softness to Father Michael’s voice, and he was a ‘listener,’ so he always waited for people to stop talking before he spoke,” Easton shares. “On the other hand, time was always hanging over Caleb — the sun was rising, the sun was setting — so he couldn’t wait for people to finish and would often talk over them.”

The storyline represented a leap of faith, not just for Easton, but for the entire cast, who had signed on to the General Hospital spinoff in 1997. Among his first costars were Julie Pinson, who played Eve Lambert, and Thorsten Kaye [Ridge Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful], who played Ian Thornhart. “I remember they were kind and really lovely,” Easton reflects. “Looking back, I realize what a difficult position the entire cast had been put in, in that their show had been one thing for a number of years, and suddenly it was going to be something different. I imagine they could have had the attitude that, ‘This is not what I signed up for,’ but instead they embraced it and did this amazing work, and they deserve all the credit for the show’s success.”

If the vampire mythology drew viewers in, it was Caleb’s romance with Livvie Locke that kept them invested. Easton reveals that he never did a chemistry read with Monaco before they were paired. “Poor Kelly was just stuck with me,” he muses. “Trial by fire. Live without a net. They introduced us, we shook hands, and then they said, ‘Now put your fangs in and go roll around on those silk sheets together.'”

Both actors committed fully to grounding the fantastical premise in emotional reality. “It was a fun sandbox to play in,” Easton notes. “For the most part, no one can say, ‘A vampire wouldn’t do that.’ So, you have freedom to create. That being said, it had to be grounded in truth. We had to make it real. We had to be all in, all the time. It could never be irreverent. Fortunately for us, we had wonderful scripts that we could pour our souls into.”

Easton says his bond with Monaco was strengthened by an immediate sense of comfort between them. “I just remember always feeling safe with Kelly,” he explains. “There was something unspoken from the very first scene. We trusted each other. I wish I had better words to explain it, but more than anything, I think that got us through the storm. When you look into Kelly’s eyes, you can get lost with her, and I think that’s what I tried to do every day. Block out all the outside noise and just be in the moment and invite in all the raw feelings that come with that and, hopefully, along the way, do justice to a really well-written story.”

It didn’t take long for viewers to embrace the doomed romance, one that still looms large in their hearts. That intensity was by design, according to Easton. “I realize that Caleb was intended to be the villain of the arc, but early on it occurred to me that he only existed to be in love with this one woman, Olivia, and anybody who tried to stop him, in his mind, they were the villain,” he points out. “It was Caleb and Livvie against the world, and they were willing to die for one another, which made it something of a tragic love story. It was a very simple concept, but it was grounded in affection, desire, romance, obsession, and passion, and I think those are some of the emotions and sentiments that people enjoy watching on daytime television.”

Even after Caleb’s story appeared to come to an end at the conclusion of the arc on August 31, 2001, Easton’s connection to Port Charles — and the people behind it — was far from over. “Knife in the heart. I was dead. Never thought I’d be back,” he says. “Again, a bit of fortunate happenstance. I went to work on Mutant X and got a call one day in Toronto from Julie, and she said, ‘When you’re done there, how would you feel about playing a rock star [Stephen Clay]?’ I told her, ‘I knew there was a reason I didn’t throw out my leather pants.'”

More than two decades later, Easton still reflects on how unexpectedly meaningful that period became. “Prior to Port Charles, I had done five or six series that all lasted one season,” he explains. “You go on location and grow close to people for a year, and then the show ends, and you never see them again. So, by the time I got to Prospect Studios, I was probably a little remote, detached. In a way, I didn’t want to get close to anyone, but the entire cast and crew were so kind and talented and gracious, I couldn’t help myself.”

But what he remembers most clearly is the sense of unity on set. “The hours were crazy, and they didn’t have much in the way of a budget, but a cool energy circulated around that studio for the next year or so, and it really felt like we all came together and we were part of something bigger than ourselves,” he reflects. “We contributed to a shared vision, and they are memories I won’t soon forget. I feel very blessed to have been a part of Port Charles.”

Here’s When Baez Returns to ‘Boston Blue’

Boston Blue shows Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) in his new home of Boston. He moved there to be closer to his son, Sean Reagan (Mika Amonsen, formerly played by Andrew Terraciano in Blue Bloods), who is now a rookie cop. The Reagan duo has become close friends with the Silver family, led by matriarch Mae Silver (Gloria Reuben), the Boston District Attorney. Her family is full of law enforcement officers, just like the Reagans in New York.

The Boston Blue series premiere finally made Danny and Baez a couple after fans waited years for that on Blue Bloods. Danny and Baez are trying to make their long-distance relationship work now that Danny has permanently moved to Boston and Baez still wants to live at home in New York.

Boston Blue has been renewed for Season 2, and it has two more months of episodes before Season 1 ends on May 22. The next episode of Boston Blue is Season 1 Episode 14, “Blood Chemistry,” airing on Friday, April 10, at 10/9c on CBS. Baez returns the following week in Season 1 episode 15, “For Those Who Weren’t Heard.”

Here’s the logline for the next Baez episode: “When a Brooklyn homicide leads to a dangerous cross?city case, Danny and Lena reunite with Danny’s former NYPD partner Maria Baez to uncover the truth and protect a vulnerable victim. Meanwhile, separate investigations test personal loyalties and moral boundaries as the team confronts difficult family dynamics.”

Marisa Ramirez Guest Stars on Boston Blue 4/17/26

Cady McClain and Jon Lindstrom Settle Divorce

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Cady and Jon informed the court of the deal this week.

The former couple wed on February 14, 2014, and separated on December 11, 2023. They did not have any children.

According to the settlement, Cady and Jon both waived their right to collect spousal support. The actress will keep her furniture, personal property, and all assets in her possession and in her name. Jon will walk away with all property in his possession and his separate assets. They're now just waiting on sign-off from the judge to make it final.

Cady and Jon announced their split on April 27, 2024, via a joint statement, saying, “We are taking this opportunity to make a short statement about our relationship status. It may be obvious to some based on our posts that we’ve taken some time apart. After serious consideration, we have decided that our goals have been taking us in different directions and to end our marriage."

Jon Lindstrom Breaks Down His ‘General Hospital’ Return as Kevin Collins

For the actor, who is currently playing Joey Armstrong on Beyond the Gates, it was a matter of working out his schedule. “It’s just been difficult to find the time,” explains Lindstrom, who shoots the new CBS soap in Atlanta.

Looking back, Lindstrom says the decision to trade Port Charles for Fairmont Crest wasn’t a tough one. “In all fairness to me, it had whittled down to about one or two shows a month, so Kevin had been fairly inactive for a long time,” he points out. “I haven’t seen him have a really active story since the show Port Charles, or unless Ryan [Chamberlain, Kevin’s twin] was around, so it was kind of a no-brainer.”

Still, he knew taking the job on BTG would impact his GH appearances. “When I called Frank [Valentini, GH’s executive producer] to tell him that I would be going to do Beyond the Gates on Election Day 2024, he asked me, ‘Can you do both?’” relays Lindstrom. “I said, ‘Well, technically, yes, because I’m not under contract. The only stickler is that they’re 2,000 miles apart.’ So, there were just logistical problems along the way over the last year where they would reach out every now and again and ask if I was available for one episode or another episode in the middle of a week, and that’s impossible for me to do from out here because Gates takes up a lot of my time.”

Even so, GH found a way to make a visit work. “To their credit, they came to me and said, ‘What if we stack a bunch of shows up over a couple of days? Will that be worth your while to make the trip out?’” he shares. “And the short answer is, ‘Yes, of course.’ Besides, I think Genie [Francis, Laura Collins] is getting tired of talking to a disembodied Kevin on the phone.”

Returning to the soap he first joined in 1993 carried emotional weight for Lindstrom. “I love those people,” he says. “I love all of them. So many great things in my life are a direct result of my association with General Hospital. Coming back, the beautiful thing is a lot of people don’t know you’re coming back, so they see you in the hallway, and they’re really happy to see you. It was like, ‘My God, Jon, how long has it been?’ And then you walk on the stage, and they can’t believe that they’re actually seeing you, so it’s great. It’s like coming back to see old friends and a great reunion around it.”

Among those reunions, reconnecting with Francis was a standout. “I love working with Genie, and she and Jonathan [Frakes, her husband] have become really close friends,” he notes. “I hadn’t seen them in over a year, so to be able to just sit down and hang out in the dressing room with Genie and catch up and talk about life and how things are, I was really excited to do that. I also ran into Maurice [Benard, Sonny Corinthos], and we had a little bit of work together. I love Mo.”

Once back on set, slipping back into character as Kevin proved effortless. “Like putting on a comfortable old suit,” Lindstrom reports. “It did feel like going back to my hometown. I haven’t lived in my hometown since 1978, but I still have that feeling whenever I step off the plane into the Medford, Oregon, terminal. It’s like, ‘Wow, I’m home. This feels really familiar.’ And it’s a good feeling. They say you can’t go home again. I don’t know if that’s true.”

Story-wise, Kevin will quickly get caught up to speed about Laura turning to Sonny for help in the wake of Professor Henry Dalton’s (Daniel Goddard) death. “Genie, who never slouches, never walks through a scene, is just terrific in this story,” he praises. “Kevin doesn’t love her relationship with Sonny, but he also understands it. Being the shrink that he is, he understands the value of human connection.”

While Kevin’s return will be impactful, Lindstrom is also energized by his work on BTG. “I’m absolutely loving it,” he declares. “Michele Val Jean [BTG’s creator] has written really great characters for me in the past — she wrote all the great Ryan and Kevin stuff back in the day — so when she came to me and said, ‘Oh, by the way, I threw your name out to the network, and they approved you,’ I was stunned. I haven’t had a character this good, this layered, this interesting, this much fun to play since I played Ryan Chamberlain the first time around.”

And in a twist that amuses him, Joey resembles a GH fave. “I was with Michele at the GH Emmy party, and we were talking to Maurice, and Mo goes, ‘So what’s this character that you do?’” Lindstrom recalls. “And Michele laughs and goes, ‘He’s you. He’s the Sonny of the DMV.’ And I said, ‘I think Joey has a much better sense of humor than Sonny Corinthos.’”

Part of the thrill of being on BTG, he adds, is working with a clean slate. “One of the reasons I really love doing this show is because it’s new,” he says. “It’s because of that energy of everyone wanting it to work and be seen and enjoyed by a lot of people. It’s hard to get a show off the ground, but that energy and focus of trying to find the rhythm of something that doesn’t know its rhythm yet is hard to beat. And to have that feeling at this time of my career and my life is such a gift to me. Boy, I’ll tell you, Mick Jagger was right when he said, ‘Do what you love, it keeps you young.’ I get up every morning ready to go to work. I want to go to work. I want to be a part of this, and it’s really wonderful.”

Outside of acting, Lindstrom is juggling multiple creative projects. His next book, Hollywood Payback, will be released on April 14, 2026, and he’s the host of a new pilot, The Bible on Trial, but he’d be open to another appearance in Port Charles. “It all comes down to scheduling,” he says. “I’ll do GH anytime. I just don’t know if we can work it out. I’m busier than I’ve ever been, and I thought I’d be retired by now!”

‘DWTS’ Season 1 Winner Kelly Monaco Makes Rare Appearance at 20th Anniversary Show

The Dancing With the Stars 20th anniversary special episode honored the beloved competition show, with Tom Bergeron returning to guest judge alongside DWTS favs Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough.

In addition to all six of the original pro dancers returning to perform, viewers looked back on the show’s history, along with highlights and most memorable moments. The episode also included a heartfelt tribute to the DWTS contestants who have passed, along with plenty of familiar faces and a few surprises.

But a big shock for many was in the audience, as Season 1 Winner Kelly Monaco was spotted cheering next to Season 6 winner Kristi Yamaguchi.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), one fan posted a picture of Monaco with the caption: “Guys, I just about jumped outta my seat!!!!!! Look who it is!”

Monaco, best known for her role as Sam McCall on General Hospital, competed in the inaugural season of DWTS back in 2005 with professional partner Alec Mazo. The duo shared the show’s first “journey arc” success as they started a bit rough, but their steady improvement led to landing the coveted Mirrorball trophy.

Monaco returned for DWTS All-Stars in 2012, again partnered with Mazo, but was eliminated before the finals.

In 2024, her character Sam McCall was killed off on General Hospital after appearing on the ABC daytime soap for 21 years. Sam died from a complication following a liver donation to Lulu Spencer. The actress is said to have been “blindsided” by the decision to write her out of the show, according to sources. Since first appearing in 2003, Monaco had filmed more than 2,200 episodes of General Hospital.

After her exit from General Hospital, she announced the podcast Bad Bunnies with actress and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler in March 2025. However, in July 2025, Moakler revealed that the podcast was not happening as Monaco was “dealing with some personal things.” Instead, Moakler moved forward with a new podcast called Wicked Awesome alongside Claudia Jordan.

She has since kept a low profile, so fans were especially pleased to see her at the outing.

Fans responded to the X post in delight, confusing a few folks who were out of the loop.

“Bc we rarely see Kelly, like ever. She doesn’t post on socials either so it was a surprise for me,” said another.

Monaco credits DWTS with allowing fans to see her for the first time other than Sam. “I swear to you, from the first airing of Dancing With the Stars, almost overnight, it was a switch in support, because then I wasn’t Sam,” said Monaco. “Breaking the fourth wall, sometimes that works out badly for people, but for me, it worked in my favor, and I think I was able to gain some respect from the audience, and they didn’t think I was, like, this trashy whore who was sleeping with her stepfather.”

‘Matlock’ Introduces Olympia’s Mother With ‘Fresh Prince’ Alum Vernee Watson

Watson will play Olympia’s (Skye P. Marshall) mother, Celeste, in the episode. CBS has just shared the logline for the episode, airing on Thursday, December 4, at 9/8c. Celeste will be involved in the case of the week.

Here’s the description for Matlock Season 2 Episode 7, “Prior Bad Acts”: “Olympia works to repair her relationship with her family after she takes on a case involving her mother’s new husband. Also, Matty and Olympia receive a shocking piece of information.”

Olympia’s family has become a central part of Matlock‘s second season. Now that Olympia is in on Matty’s (Kathy Bates) secret investigation into corruption at Jacobson Moore, the pair is working together to try to keep Olympia’s ex-husband, Julian (Jason Ritter), out of prison for the part he played in burying the Wellbrexa study that confirmed the addictive nature of opioids. He’s the one who did the burying, by order of his father, Senior, the managing partner of the law firm. But in Matlock Season 2 Episode 5, Senior denied any knowledge of the existence of the Wellbrexa study.

Olympia’s father died before the events of Matlock, and her grief over that loss has been incorporated throughout the show, especially in Season 1, when she thought she lost the recording of one of his final voicemails to her.

Bringing Olympia’s mother into the fold will reveal more about the character, who’s having a tough time living under the weight of the lies she has to tell to keep Matty’s secret a secret and protect her family. That’s even harder when that lying involves gaslighting Julian, as seen in Episode 5.

Next up on Matlock is Season 2 Episode 6, entitled “Harm Reduction,” in which Matty and Olympia continue to test the boundaries of their friendship while helping a group of nuns, and Olympia and Sarah (Leah Lewis) become roped into secretive activities within the firm.

Sarah was introduced to Senior through an awkward encounter with her mother and stepdad in Episode 5. In that scene, Sarah’s mom let slip that her daughter had recently taken on her first case. What Senior doesn’t yet know is that she wasn’t allowed to take on that client.

Could he find out and use that information against her, which gets her and Olympia — now a partner at the firm under her ex-father-in-law — roped into those secret activities at work? Parents, they really make a mess of things sometimes.

Watson was recently seen in Shrinking Season 2 as Gaby’s (Jessica Williams) mother, Phyllis, and plays Stella Henry on General Hospital. Watson also starred in Bob Hearts Abishola as Gloria.

She played Will’s mom, Viola “Vy” Smith, in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and appeared in Peacock‘s Bel-Air spinoff as Janice. This was a new character and an homage to her time on the original series as opposed to a reprisal of her previous role.

Vernee Watson Guest Stars in Matlock 12/4/25

Marisa Ramirez Guest Stars on Boston Blue 11/21/25

Beloved ‘Falcon Crest’ Star Susan Sullivan Launches New Soap Opera

For nearly a decade (1981-1989), Susan Sullivan (Another World) entertained audiences as Maggie Channing on CBS primetime soap Falcon Crest. Now, she’s channeling that experience into a brand-new YouTube series, teaming up with longtime friends to create a modern soap for today’s viewers.

Sullivan revealed the project on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Creating a soap opera for seniors with some old actor friends on YouTube under the title… What Friends Do: The Old & The Restless…Come along for the ride, we’d love have to have you!”

The series, created by Smartphone Theater, is described as: “After a lifetime on and off the stage, four friends navigate their twilight years in an upscale independent living community where the cameras have stopped rolling, yet the drama continues.”

The web-series stars Sullivan as Bevy, alongside her Falcon Crest co-star David Selby (Dark Shadows) as Max . It also features Kathryn Leigh Scott (Dark Shadows) as Ruth, and Granville Van Dusen (The Young & The Restless, Port Charles) as Al.

What Friends Do: The Old & The Restless was written by Connell Cowan and Sullivan, directed by Asaad Kelada (The Facts of Life), and produced by Todd Felderstein.

Pat Crowley Dies: ‘Please Don’t Eat The Daisies’ Star With 100-Plus Credits Was 91

Her son, Jon Hookstratten, and EVP at Sony Pictures, said his mother died of natural causes.

Crowley had more than 100 film and TV credits from 1950 to the early 2010s but probably is best known for toplining Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, the 1965-67 NBC series based on the 1960 movie starring Doris Day. She starred opposite Mark Miller as Joan Nash, a newspaper columnist who pooh-poohed the era’s traditional “housewife” tropes and didn’t care who knew it. Housework? No thanks. Cooking for the family? Nah. Joan slept till through mornings — in the same bed as her husband, a first for TV — and did her own thing.

The show — which also featured a massive sheepdog named Ladadig — wasn’t a big hit, not making the year-end Top 30 in the three-network universe, but was popular in reruns in the 1970s.

Before that, Crowley had guested on dozens of TV series ranging from Suspense, The Untouchables and Rawhide to Gunsmoke, Bonanza and Maverick. She also co-starred with Burgess Meredith and Robert Sterling in “Printer’s Devil,” an hourlong 1963 episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone.

After Daisies, she continued to guest on numerous popular TV shows well into the 2000s including The Rockford Files, Columbo, Hawaii Five-O, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Hotel, Friends, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Frasier, Charmed and Murder, She Wrote. Crowley also played Mary Scanlon in more than 250 episodes of the daytime drama Port Charles, 60-plus of Generations and on other soaps including The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital and primetime’s Falcon Crest.

Born on September 17, 1933, in Olyphant, PA, Crowley moved to New York City and studied at the High School of the Performing Arts before beginning her career on stage and in modeling. Hollywood took notice and in 1954 she won the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year after performances in Forever Female opposite Ginger Rogers and William Holden and in the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis film Money From Home.

Through the 1950s and ’60s, Crowley also appeared in a number of features films including the musical Red Garters, The Square Jungle and Douglas Sirk’s There’s Always Tomorrow. She appeared alongside such stars as Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Tony Curtis and Rosemary Clooney, transitioning easily among comedy, drama and musical roles.

Crowley’s last film appearance was Mont Reve in 2012, capping a career that bridged the golden age of Hollywood and modern television.

Along with her son Jon and his wife Marion, she is survived by her husband, Andy Friendly; daugher Ann Osher (Robert), five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Lynn Hamilton Dies: ‘The Waltons’ & ‘Sanford And Son’ Actress Was 95

Carson added that she “transitioned peacefully” on Thursday, surrounded by her “grandchildren, loved ones and caregivers.”

“With profound gratitude and admiration, we celebrate the extraordinary life of iconic actress Alzenia ‘Lynn’ Hamilton-Jenkins, whose remarkable legacy continues to uplift and inspire. Her illustrious career, spanning over five decades, has left an indelible mark on the world of entertainment, motivating audiences across the globe through her work as a model, stage, film, and television actress,” he wrote, in part.

Born on April 25, 1930 in Yazoo City, MS and raised in Chicago, Hamilton graduated from the Goodman School of Drama, being the sole Black actor among her peers. She soon gained experience performing with a South Side theater company, per The Hollywood Reporter, and translated that burgeoning skillset to Broadway for four plays from the late ’50s to early ’60s. Her experience on stage included productions of Shakespeare’s works and a world tour of adaptations of The Miracle Worker and The Skin of Our Teeth as a member of President John F. Kennedy’s cultural exchange program. In 1966, she joined the Seattle Repertory Theatre.

Among her TV credits are episodes of Gunsmoke, The Bill Cosby Show, Hawaii Five-O, Ironside, The Young and the Restless, Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files, Roots: The Next Generations, Days of Our Lives, The Jesse Owens Story (TV movie), The Golden Girls, 227, Sunset Beach, Moesha, Port Charles, NYPD Blue, The Practice and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Her most significant arcs in television include her role as practical Nurse Donna Harris, Redd Foxx’s onscreen fiancée on NBC’s sitcom Sanford and Sun; Verdie Foster on CBS’ historical drama The Waltons and Vivian Potter on NBC sudser Generations. She also starred as ex-con Cissie Johnson on the early ’90s syndicated nighttime soap Dangerous Women. Hamilton also reprised her character from The Waltons for holiday-themed TV movies released in 1993 and 1997.

Hamilton was married to poet and playwright Frank S. Jenkins (Driving While Black in Beverly Hills) from 1964 until his death in 2014, and the two frequently collaborated together on various theater productions, including Nobody: The Bert Williams Story.

‘Days of Our Lives’: Michael Dietz on His Surprise Soap Return After 20-Year Hiatus

Dietz started his daytime career on Port Charles as Joe Scanlon in 1997 but has since moved behind the scenes as a producer of reality television, so other than a brief appearance on 9-1-1 in 2022, performing hasn’t been on his radar. As a result, the idea of stepping back in front of the camera was somewhat daunting.

“For the last, 15 years, since my soap days, I have had a recurring dream probably once every couple of months, that I’m on a set and I completely forget my line, and I’m pulling up the script, and it’s a minute before the scene, and I’m panicking,” Michael Dietz says. “So, after I said yes, I started going, ‘Oh, no. Am I going to be able to learn my lines?’ I jumped in as quickly as possible into the scripts when I got them, and it all came back, but I was still very nervous.”

Getting a warm welcome from the cast provided reassurance, as did seeing a familiar face in the studio. “The greatest joy is I went in and, of course, everybody was beyond lovely,” Dietz reports. “And when I got on set, Scott [McKinsey], the director, came out, and he was one of my last directors I worked with on Port Charles. He gave me a big hug, and I said, ‘I’m a little nervous.’ I had my scene with Mary Beth [Evans, Kayla Johnson], and she was so lovely. After, Scott said something over the speaker on the stage, like, ‘Welcome home, pal.’ Then it all kind of melted away.”

That he’s been cast as a medical professional yet again wasn’t lost on the actor. “What is it with me and doctors?” he muses. “Ironically, my daughter’s graduating from Duke in a month, and she wants to go to UCLA for her Master’s and PhD. She wants ‘doctor’ at the end of her name, so the big joke is I’ve played one on TV, and my daughter will be one.”

Though Dietz has appeared on multiple soaps, he admits he wasn’t as familiar with the Salem crew. “Probably a lot of [the cast] was like, ‘Oh, who’s this new guy that just got this part?’ ” he notes. “I’m like, ‘Oh, no, no, man, I used to do this back in the day.’ I feel so old now. I’m a little bit grayer now.”

But the adrenaline rush from performing quickly came back to him after his first day on set. “I called my wife [Paige Rowland, ex-Kit Montgomery, All My Children] on the way home, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God! That was so much fun,’ ” he recalls. “I totally got bit again. I mean, realistically, it had been maybe 20 years since I did scenes like that in front of the camera. I did a gig on Passions [as Jake in 2007] and Bold and the Beautiful [as Dr. Mark Maclaine from 2002-05], but to go back to that when you basically don’t do it for 20 years is a really strange experience. It was awesome, though. Everybody was just really nice and made me feel super comfortable.”

Dietz’s path to producing began 25 years ago, when he started developing programs and pitching ideas to networks. “I ended up selling a scripted show to NBC that got greenlit for pilot, and we thought it was going to go to series,” he recalls. “And I was like, ‘Oh, this is so easy.’”

When that didn’t pan out as planned, a friend who was working on Big Brother urged Dietz to consider pivoting to reality TV. “Big Brother was one of my favorite shows,” Michael Dietz shares. “I watched it religiously with my wife and daughter, and he was the guy that was coming up with the games and the challenges. I was like, ‘That is the coolest job I’ve ever heard of in my life.’ And he ended up getting me an interview with Big Brother. My resumé had nothing in the unscripted world, but I went in as a fan of the show with a ton of ideas. And the guy at the time that was hiring was like, ‘Look, I have people with tons of experience on their resumés, but I love what you’ve come in with and your approach.’ A week and a half later, I got the call that I was coming on as a producer for Big Brother, and I have been working ever since.”

Dietz has found great success behind the camera and has served as co-executive producer on a string of high-profile shows, including House of Villains, Generation Gap, and Love Island USA. He’s looking to add even more credits to his impressive list of hits. “I’m still pitching and selling a lot of my own shows,” he relays. “I’ve got seven shows in some stage of development. We have one with Reese Witherspoon‘s company [Hello Sunshine], a show that we just started taking out pitching. I have one at Fox. I have one with Sony. And then my wife, since we’ve been empty nesting for four years now, came on and the two of us have put together shows, and we’re pitching. I can’t think of how many pitches we had in the last few months between Hulu, Netflix, NBC, all the places. So that’s been really amazing for us.”

Though his plate is full on the production side, Dietz wouldn’t mind flexing his acting muscles from time to time. “I could see doing it if stuff like this came up every now and then,” he states. “Before Days, I would have said no. I felt like I had closed that chapter and moved on. But then I had that experience, and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no reason I have to close this. This is fantastic.’ So, I would definitely have a conversation, and I am 100 percent open now to explore possibilities that come up in this space again.”

Jon Lindstrom’s Novel ‘Hollywood Hustle’ To Be Adapted By AETH Entertainment

Hollywood Hustle follows a fallen Hollywood star fighting for redemption when the cost of fame turns deadly.

“From the opening pages, Hollywood Hustle grabs you and doesn’t let go — it’s a natural fit for an electrifying cinematic experience,” AETH CEO Eric Woods said.

“So much of my career has been spent in and around the film industry, and I wanted Hollywood Hustle to capture the look and feel of that world behind the camera that most people don’t see,” said Lindstrom in a statement to Deadline. “I’ve had the chance to play so many great characters imagined by other writers. It’s going to be a thrill to see the characters I created come to life on the screen.”

The deal was brokered by Gilbertson Entertainment and Independent Artist Group, who represent Lindstrom, along with Liza Royce Associates. AETH is represented by Gersh.

Lindstrom is a four-time Daytime Emmy nominee for his work on General Hospital and As the World Turns. He played twin brothers Dr. Kevin Collins and Ryan Chamberlain on ABC’s General Hospital. He recently joined the cast of the CBS/Paramount+ soap Beyond the Gates. He also starred on Bosch and True Detective.

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