Class act all the way and such a force on screen up until her final one. RIP Eileen. Your presence on All My Children and daytime will be greatly missed.

I'm so sad to hear about this today. There are not too many characters like Myrtle on today's soaps. She was a class act. Rest In Peace

WOW this actually made me cry a bit--I've never had such a strong emotion to the death of a beloved soap star before--I guess because the past two major AMC ones for me--Fra as Mona and Ruth as Phoebe--Mona's happened when I was still pretty new to the show--I had loved her character but didn't feel attached--and Phoebe had already been very backburner even by the early 90s when I started watching, and Ruth was ill for a long time. This also caught me by surprise as, and I hate to even say this, but I thought James Mitchell would be first to go.

You will be missed, great, gracious lady.

A brief bit of her in Hamlet

Edited October 9, 200817 yr by EricMontreal22

I'm truly sad to hear that darling Eileen Herlie has left this world and has gone on to the next.

Myrtle was the last of a type of character that only Agnes Nixon could create.

Rest in Peace Eileen and Farewell Myrtle. You'll both be missed more than you could imagine.

Wow

For me, this woman was a huge part of AMC. Like someone said earlier, Myrtle Fargate was one of those wise, eccentric older characters (like Henry and H.B. on Guiding Light) that really made these soaps like home.

What a rough year for soaps - Beverlee McKinsey, Irene Dailey, Eileen Herlie. Tremendous talents and they are all gone.

RIP

It's true that this kinda role is sadly lacking in soaps now--Nancy on ATWT is one of the only ones left who springs to mind. I hope we get a great tribute episode (Francesca James is a director at AMC so can come back as Kelly!)

RIP Eileen Herlie!

I loved Myrtle. She NEVER became "old", she was the youngest at heart older character in daytime. She had a fiery personality, she told it like it was, and she drank spiked lemonade! Remember scenes of Myrtle and Simone dishing on men and drinking spiked lemonade? Her last scene with Zach was SO GREAT and showed who Myrtle really was. Myrtle was a FORCE. Herlie was spot on in the scene and lucid and focused and never over-the-top. Loved her all over the place, Herlie, and Myrtle, were amazing. She's given me so many great memories.

Travelling to Llanview to give Skye a piece of her mind.

The Myrtle/Rae/Skye relationship...

Myrtle's reaction to learning Bianca was raped in the boarding house on that couch.

Myrtle/Zach's saucy friendship.

Myrtle's relationship with Erica, Kendall and Bianca.

Myrtle's last fun scenes with Palmer at the Valley Inn!

Myrtle's relationship with Red/Santa Clause! She's done SO MUCH.

For a proper tribute they need to bring back:

Francesca James (Kelly)

Peter White (Linc)

Linda Dano (Rae)

Robin Christopher (Skye)

Carol Burnett (Verla)

Luckily they'll have Kendall and Bianca in place... maybe Josh? Brooke!

My God... ANY old characters could come back for this! Who hasn't dealt with Myrtle in some way!

Dinah Lee from Loving should come back since theybonded so much when she stayed with her

I especially loved her drinking spiked lemonade and chatting about men with Simone

Eileen Herlie, you will be missed. She was a talented lady. She's one of AMC's favorite and best castmembers ever imho. Mytle was AMC as only a few other characters are.

RIP sweet Ms. Herlie. I will miss you so much, from those lovely eyelashes to that lovely red hair that matched Myrtle Lum Fargate's fiery spunk.

I agree with All My Shadows, this is a strange feet in daytime today where the character is still so deeply involved with the current canvas. Eileen was featured so much until very recently. I loved her growing friendship with Zach. It added more layers to Myrtle, showing that the character still had a lot of potential.

I think Eileen was placed at such an interesting place on the canvas as a result of her being the proverbial "inn-keeper" of Pine Valley. So many character had spent some time living in the Boarding House. In a way, so many of Pine Valley's citizens were lucky enough to be all her children. Her passing will truly affect much of the current cast.

I hope the show handles Eileen's passing with the respect it deserves. I hope that this is a true memorial episode, one for the archives (ala Fra Heflins). Tptb better be on the phone securing Francesca James, Peter White, Robin Christopher and Linda Dano for cameos.

I agree that Francesca James(as Kelly), Peter White)(as Lincoln), Robin Christopher(as Skye) and Linda Dano(as Rae) should all return for a tribute to Eileen and Mytle. It would be nice to have Carol Burnett back as Verla too, and maybe Richard Van Vleet(Chuck), Candi Earley(Donna) & Julia Barr(Brooke).

MAN, this is really kinda effing me up... I know that I've already commented in this thread, but was anyone else born in the late '70s like me and watched this show as a little kid with their parents/grandparents? I lost my mom this year, about a week after Beverlee McKinsey, and my mom and I talked on the phone about Ms. McKinsey's death, how sorry she was to hear that. About two days later, my mom was gone. AMC was her "story" and she will FOREVER be a link to that show for me. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be on this board right now. I know it sounds lame to the "outsiders" but when you've watched a soap for damn near 30 years, crap, these "characters" really take on an emotional connect to our lives. That's the power of the actor. Whether they realize it or not, for every fan letter they get, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of more fans who don't put that pen to paper and express just how much these actors and their characters mean to us. God bless Ms. Herlie, and God bless the Pine Valley that Agnes Nixon created which was SO POWERFUL, that for all of the ups and the many many downs, we have stuck with it. OUR "story".

Imagine if they can do a reunion of all of Myrtle's former residents, gather together reminiscing about their lives in the boarding house. I can't even begin to think of everyone who lived there: Kelly Cole-Tyler, Greg Nelson, Jenny Gardner, Opal Gardner, Frank Hubbard, Simone Torres, Maggie Stone, Bianca Montgomery, Brian Bodine, Kendall Hart Slater, Ceara Connor, Skye Chandler-Quartermaine.... I know there are so many people I am missing.

Edited October 10, 200817 yr by AMCHistory

I'd even love to see Kendall have a NDE during her coma and when she wakes up she says "I saw Myrtle while I was in Heaven. She's in a very peaceful place and very happy"

Also. I'd love to hear Opal say. She's in Heaven with my Jenny now.

I guess it's just hitting me now what a HUGE blow is this to AMC.

There's no more "mother figure" on the show -- that character that EVERYONE could go to for advice and comfort. Myrtle was truly a mother to all.

Grandma Kate is gone... Mona is gone... and now our dear Myrtle is gone

Edited October 10, 200817 yr by Pine Charles

I can't imagine Pine Valley without Myrtle, but I felt the same with Langley, Ruth, Phoebe and Mona. EH acted with some giants. Here she is with Laurence Olivier in "Hamlet"

I will miss her and yet another dagger to the heart for those who loved AMC during its heyday.

oh, about Myrtle..

when I think of Myrtle I don't think of Erica and Bianca, I think of Langley and Phoebe and Phoebe trying to get to the bottom of their secret and calling her "Myrtle LUM" with disdain usually reserved for that no good hussy, Donna BECK. Those were the days when AMC was actually great.