Eileen Fulton, soap actress who starred in 'As the World Turns' for 50 years, dies at 91

USA Today

21-07-2025

Eileen Fulton, a daytime television star who helped define the soap opera "As the World Turns," has died. She was 91.
Fulton, who pulled off the rare feat of remaining on the same soap for half a century, died July 14 in Asheville, North Carolina, according to an announcement from her family. Her death followed "a period of declining health."
USA TODAY has reached out to Fulton's rep for comment.
Born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty, the Daytime Emmy winner swapped her given title for a stage name and her North Carolina roots for the scrappy New York acting scene in the 1950s. Studying under some of the most notable acting coaches of the time, she notched her big break in 1960 when she was cast as Lisa Miller on CBS' "As the World Turns."
Fulton portrayed big-haired villainess Lisa for a whopping 50 years, seeing the character through eight marriages and countless scandals, and becoming one of the longest-running soap stars along the way. She exited and re-entered the show several times throughout her run, a common trope in soap television, but ultimately returned to see the show off for its final episode in 2010.
Said to be as full of spunk and panache as her character, Fulton told the Los Angeles Times in 2000 that she was a "diva darling" behind the scenes.
Once, when a producer refused to tell her whether Lisa was responsible for a murder written into the show, Fulton recalled saying: "We're live – don't forget. And if you don't tell me, I'll make up your mind for you on the air."
In a seeming foreshadowing to its later cancellation, Fulton told the LA Times of the show: "I hope we don't fold, and I hope I don't get canned. But I do think if anything should happen, what would I do? My life would change radically. I would have to stop buying so many clothes."
Ultimately, she went on to spend 10 more years as Lisa and no doubt decades more in the soap cannon as an example of enduring success in an oft-volatile genre.
Her portrayal of Lisa earned her a spot in the Soap Opera Hall of Fame in 1998 and a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
Throughout her career, she also dabbled in other artistic pursuits, performing as a singer in a cabaret act for several years and authoring two autobiographies and a series of mystery novels.