Rest In Peace Ms McKinsey. A true legend in this business who did things her way. My condolences to her family.

This ran in SOD only about one month ago:

Damn. A true legend has been extinguished. If you never saw Beverlee act, click on YouTube and watch clips of her on GL if there are any -- a lot of her AW work isn't on YouTube or seen anywhere. She took every scene and attacked it as if it were a Tennessee Williams play.

RIP.

It is such a shock, RIP Miss McKinsey. I will treasure my memories of Iris and Alexandra forever.

It always sort of bugged me the way Bev left GL; I totally understand her need to rest, but I felt like it was a slap in the face to her fans. Still, that never stopped me from wishing she'd come back. Regardless, she left us with decades of soap goodness. A true legacy. It's just a shame that the vast majority of her work as Iris will never be seen again.

BUt for me, she will always be the one and only Alexandra Spaulding. Her work transcended daytime, and she took a stock character and infused it with energy, life and charisma. The character of Alexandra has never been the same since McKinsey left the role.

It's not hyperbole when she is called the greatest soap opera actress of all time. If there's any justice, she'll get a tribute worthy of her in Soap Opera Digest.

Best wishes to her family.

Beverlee will be sadly missed and never forgotten!

It always sort of bugged me the way Bev left GL; I totally understand her need to rest, but I felt like it was a slap in the face to her fans. Still, that never stopped me from wishing she'd come back. Regardless, she left us with decades of soap goodness. A true legacy. It's just a shame that the vast majority of her work as Iris will never be seen again.

I see where you're coming from, though I was shocked when she left GL and I've never accepted anyone else as Alexandra, I'm glad Bev did what she did. I have no sympathy for someone like Jill Farren Phelps, who can be a nasty woman in her own right at times. As far as I'm concerned, Bev gave Jill exactly what she should've been given - a good kick in her egotistical ass.

Since Beverlee's son Scott is a director for GH (where Beverlee appeared briefly in 1994), I often wonder if he and Jill ever talk about Bev.

This woman is the whole reason I'm a soap fan, I'll never forget the first moment I tuned into GL and saw Alex and Roger Thorpe (the equally missed Michael Zaslow) going at it. Even as an 8 year old, I was impressed. They were the reason I watched day after day, and the sad thing is, both are now gone. I know Beverlee And Michael didn't get along too well in real life, but boy did they bring it while they were on screen together.

To add to what I said earlier, this is one soap legend death that has effected me. My earliest soap watching experiences are with Ms. McKinsey. They are times I will cherish forever, I still hold early 90's GL as some of my favourite soap opera viewing experiences, and she was a big part of that. Thank you, Bev!

Wow..how terribly sad.

Sometimes, you can measure the importance and greatness of an actress or actor not only by the work they do on screen, but the void thats left when they are gone.

I remember watching as McKinsey made her exit from GL and thinking "First Zimmer and now this, How will GL make it?" I thought of McKinsey as the bigger loss, and I think GL's performance since that point proves that Mckinsey, in just a few years time, became the heart and soul of GL, the reason many of us watched this great drama.

She left an equally big (if not bigger) hole when she left AW. Everytime she left the canvas, the show she starred on never seemed the same again. That truly is a sign of greatness. Not just a great talent, but a great prescence.

She will be greatly missed.

Very sad news. I saw some of her work on youtube and she was very good.

Our friend, Tom Casiello, wrote about Beverlee in his recent blog:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...iendID=31817970

Monday, May 05, 2008

Long Live the Queen - Beverlee McKinsey (August 9, 1940 - May 3, 2008)

Current mood: nostalgic

I woke up this morning all ready to blog about the travesty of Joe Mascolo's firing, or possibly take a step back from my soapbox and talk about how excited I am for the My Chemical Romance concert I'm going to at MSG on Friday... but then I learned about the passing of Beverlee McKinsey, and all of that was immediately thrown out the window.

Beverlee was a powerful symbol of a daytime that no longer exists. A daytime that stood tall, its head held high in quiet dignity, its stare intense and powerful - you didn't mess with *that* daytime world. Beverlee didn't star in "soap operas" - she starred in daytime dramas. You'd hang on every articulated syllable that came out of her mouth - analyze every inflection in her voice, to the point where you truly believed you were inside the head of her character. She could destroy a marriage with a single word, and not only would you sympathize with her, you would grant her complete absolution.

Iris Wheeler and Alexandra Spaulding were two giants - women who no longer exist in this daytime landscape. (Well, Alexandra still exists, but she is a shadow of her former self) We have lost a legend, but more importantly, we have lost a good friend. Because in spite of the many horrors she perpetuated on other characters, the fans of Another World and Guiding Light will always consider Iris and Alexandra "their friends". And that's all Beverlee. She entered our homes day after day, let us into her high-powered life and gave us all a glimpse into the mind of a character most of us would never have the opportunity to meet otherwise.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Scott and the rest of her family. We all share in your grief, but rest easier in the knowledge that she will be admired and respected for decades to come.

Beverlee once said she was never irreplaceable on Guiding Light - in fact, she could "think of ten actresses off the top of her head who could play Alexandra Spaulding"

Perhaps, Beverlee - but none of them are you.

Edited May 5, 200817 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

RIP to such an amazing talent and remarkable woman.

My mom was a huge AM fan in the 70s and as a young kid I'd sit by her side every day during summer vacation and watch it with her. The scene where she learns that Mac isn't her biological father remains permanently etched in my mind. It's right after Rachel gives birth to Amanda, and Iris overhears Mac confiding to someone in the hospital (possibly Ada or Pat??) that Amanda is his first biological child and that Iris was adopted. The look on Iris's face is priceless as she learns the man she loves more than life, the man who is essentially the motivation for all her many schemes, is not her real father and that she had been lied to all these years. I don't recall any dialogue from McKinsey, just incredible facial expressions that conveyed what she was feeling. She was absolutely fantastic.

RIP, Beverlee. What a talent. The only vet to ever get the best of Phelps at GL. I cheered Beverlee all the way.

This woman is the whole reason I'm a soap fan, I'll never forget the first moment I tuned into GL and saw Alex and Roger Thorpe (the equally missed Michael Zaslow) going at it. Even as an 8 year old, I was impressed. They were the reason I watched day after day, and the sad thing is, both are now gone. I know Beverlee And Michael didn't get along too well in real life, but boy did they bring it while they were on screen together.

To add to what I said earlier, this is one soap legend death that has effected me. My earliest soap watching experiences are with Ms. McKinsey. They are times I will cherish forever, I still hold early 90's GL as some of my favourite soap opera viewing experiences, and she was a big part of that. Thank you, Bev!

I can only echo these words. I was also young when I watched her on GL, and Alexandra Spaulding, as played by her only, was my favorite character even then. I rooted for her character even when she was being horrible because she was such a full-blooded human being - and we ALWAYS knew her motivations. She made it look so easy.

It was a dream of mine for her to make a triumphant return to daytime. For me, a daytime with Bev McKinsey was a daytime worth preserving. I would watch anything with her in it. I remember what an event it was when she did that guest spot on GH as Myrna Slaughter! Thank God she retired from daytime before it crumbled to its horrible current state. But there was always that childish hope that we'd see her on soaps again, and she'd magically restore it to its former glory, simply by her presence.

But to ask any more of an actress who has given us so much would be criminal. Brava, Ms. Kinsey!