Eileen Fulton, the actress who portrayed scheming villainess Lisa Miller on the CBS soap opera “As the World Turns” for nearly five decades, died July 14 in Asheville, North Carolina, following a period of declining health. She was 91.
Margaret Elizabeth McLarty was born in Asheville on September 13, 1933, to a Methodist minister and a public school teacher. Over time, Fulton went from her roots as a minister’s daughter to become one of the most recognized figures in daytime television. After earning a bachelor’s degree in music from Greensboro College in 1956, she moved to New York City to begin her acting career.
While in New York, Fulton trained with acclaimed acting teachers Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg at the Neighborhood Playhouse, and also expanded her skills by taking dance classes with Martha Graham. She adopted her stage name and worked modeling jobs to support herself before landing her breakthrough film role in “Girl of the Night” in 1960.
That same year, Fulton joined “As the World Turns” in what was originally intended as a three-month summer storyline. The character of Lisa was initially conceived as a sweet girl next door, but Fulton had different plans. She decided to give Lisa a more complex background and motivations that would transform the character into one of daytime television’s first prominent antagonists.
Fulton’s portrayal of Lisa Miller became legendary in soap opera history. The character went through eight marriages during the show’s run, with actor Nicolas Coster playing two of her husbands at different times. Three marriages ended in divorce, four ended with the husband’s death, and one was annulled. By the series’ conclusion in 2010, Lisa’s full name had become Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi Chedwyn.
Fulton’s portrayal secured her place as one of American television’s longest-tenured soap opera actors, with her run lasting from May 1960 until the final episode aired on September 17, 2010. She briefly left the series three times during this period, including once to star in her own primetime spinoff, “Our Private World,” which aired on Wednesday and Friday nights on CBS in 1965 before being canceled after four months.
Fulton’s impact on daytime television extended beyond her acting. She was one of the first soap actors to employ her own publicist and bodyguard, the latter being necessary to protect her from viewers who disapproved of Lisa’s scheming behavior. Her dedication to maintaining Lisa’s romantic appeal led her to negotiate a contract clause in the 1970s guaranteeing she would never have to play a grandmother, though she eventually relented on this restriction.
During the early 1960s, when “As the World Turns” was broadcast live, Fulton managed an extraordinary schedule. She would work mornings on the soap opera, rush to Broadway for matinee performances of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” at the Billy Rose Theater, then appear downtown at the Sullivan Street Playhouse for evening performances of “The Fantasticks.”
Her impact on daytime television brought her widespread acclaim. In 1998, Fulton was honored with induction into the Soap Opera Hall of Fame, and in 2004, she received the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her sole Emmy nomination came in 1988 for Outstanding Supporting Actress.
Beyond soap opera acting, Fulton maintained a diverse artistic career. She performed cabaret acts for several years in venues across New York City and Los Angeles. She authored multiple books, including two autobiographies: “How My World Turns” in 1970 and “As My World Still Turns” in 1995, which coincided with her 35th anniversary on the show. In the late 1980s, she published six murder mystery novels and later wrote “Soap Opera: A Novel” in 1999.
Fulton told the Los Angeles Times in 2000 that she was a “diva darling” behind the scenes. She recalled confronting a producer during the live broadcast era when he refused to reveal whether Lisa was responsible for a murder storyline, demonstrating the leverage she wielded as one of the show’s central figures.
Fulton retired from acting in 2019 and relocated to Black Mountain, North Carolina. She was married and divorced three times in real life, contrasting with her character’s eight marriages. Her family announced her death through Groce Funeral Home in North Carolina.
Fulton is survived by her brother, Charles Furman McLarty; her niece, Katherine Morris and her children Everly and Easton Morris; and her sister-in-law Chris Page McLarty.
