Damn, I wish that video of Dickson's court appearance where she gave her ex-husband and the judge the Nazi salute was still on YouTube...

Screw Jill, Dickson's greatest role is herself.

lauren koslow is the hotness.

To many, Bond Gideon is the DEFINITIVE Jill.

Lauren Koslow is SO the hotness. Dayumn!

Bond Gideon...definitive...really?! I hardly remember her...wasn't she on for about a year?! That surprises me.

I don't think Jess Walton is bored with the role of Jill...I think Jess Walton was bored with the writing for Jill from 2003-2007...I can see what you're saying about sleepwalking through her scenes, I can't blame her, Jack Smith and LML gave her SH*T to work with. MAB has done wonders for her...

Dickson was good in her first run, really good in fact...but her second run was like she was trying to be Joan Collins, which of course doesn't work, for Joan is Joan and she's the only one who can do it.

Jess has played Jill for 22 years now, that's twice the time Brenda Dickson was in the role...I really believe that as time has gone on, Jess is Jill and Jill is Jess which is, in my opinion, the markings of a truly impressive actress.

Lauren Koslow is SO the hotness. Dayumn!

Bond Gideon...definitive...really?! I hardly remember her...wasn't she on for about a year?! That surprises me.

I don't think Jess Walton is bored with the role of Jill...I think Jess Walton was bored with the writing for Jill from 2003-2007...I can see what you're saying about sleepwalking through her scenes, I can't blame her, Jack Smith and LML gave her SH*T to work with. MAB has done wonders for her...

Dickson was good in her first run, really good in fact...but her second run was like she was trying to be Joan Collins, which of course doesn't work, for Joan is Joan and she's the only one who can do it.

Jess has played Jill for 22 years now, that's twice the time Brenda Dickson was in the role...I really believe that as time has gone on, Jess is Jill and Jill is Jess which is, in my opinion, the markings of a truly impressive actress.

Daytimefan that was just me being sarcastic re: Bond Gideon. lollllllllll. I just LOVE her name. I think she was only on a few months or something.

One thing I believe is that the directors/producers wanted Jill to be like Alexis on Dynasty. That according to Brenda, there was a small war going on between Bill Bell and the show regarding how Jill was to be played. There was something on Brenda's E story about that.. Bill Bell still lived in Chicago I think??

Brenda Dickson had/has? the opportunity to reinvent herself thanks to Deven Green's YouTube parodies. She could've easily marketed herself as a ditzy woman not to be taken seriously and gotten a crazy show on E! or some cable channel. Alas, she lost her chance to return to *h*o*l*l*y*w*o*o*d

Daytimefan that was just me being sarcastic re: Bond Gideon. lollllllllll. I just LOVE her name. I think she was only on a few months or something.

One thing I believe is that the directors/producers wanted Jill to be like Alexis on Dynasty. That according to Brenda, there was a small war going on between Bill Bell and the show regarding how Jill was to be played. There was something on Brenda's E story about that.. Bill Bell still lived in Chicago I think??

Whew, for a second there I thought someone took Bond Gideon seriously!

Brenda can say what she likes about the producers having a war with Bill Bell...In the E! THS Wes Kenney (I think it was him) said it best: nobody disagreed with Bill Bell, if they did they had no business being in his orbit. Bill ran the creative side of Y&R with an iron fist. At the time, Bill Bell was indeed living in Chicago...he moved to LA in late 86/early 87 when B&B was launching. No surprise that when he was at Y&R, day in and day out, he got very fed up with Brenda's ridiculous behavior, scouted out Jess Walton and fired Brenda post haste.

Brenda Dickson had/has? the opportunity to reinvent herself thanks to Deven Green's YouTube parodies. She could've easily marketed herself as a ditzy woman not to be taken seriously and gotten a crazy show on E! or some cable channel. Alas, she lost her chance to return to *h*o*l*l*y*w*o*o*d

She HAD the opportunity. You're absolutely right, she could have marketed herself as an OTT ex soap star and gotten a reality show on E! or Bravo...but Brenda is 'serious' so she lost her chance to return to *h*o*l*l*y*w*o*o*d (LOL Deven Green makes me laugh).

I know it's bad, but I could listen to Jess' smoker's voice all day. Brenda is great fun, she is a hoot, but it's hard for me to reconcile the fact that she and Jess are playing the same character. Brenda is a Standard Poodle, Jess is a Doberman. Kind of a Robin Strasser/Vicky Wyndham sorta thing. I think it would help if Jess was still dressed like she was up until the late '90s. She had that long hair and the power suits. They've given Gloria '80s/'90s Jill's look. Maybe Jill in a not-so-purposeful way has come somewhat full circle in terms of appearance. It's an evolution. They turned a real person into an OTT '80s dinosaur, Jess inherited some of that, and the writing and her acting have matured Jill and brought her closer to her original self. Maybe? Brenda, it is what it is, and what it is is over for Jill. But we're so glad we had that time together.

I'll add that many were downright floored by Jess assuming the role. I remember a fan on another board recalling that he found Jess awkward/gangly/horsey.

To many, Bond Gideon is the DEFINITIVE Jill.

How so? I never saw Bond Gideon as Jill.

Disregard my above post rangethatrover. I didn't realize you already answered that question.

Was it Bond Gideon who made Jill into the bitchier businesswoman? I know Brenda Dickson said she didn't understand what Jill had become after she originally left the role and she had a hard time playing the new Jill.

Was it Bond Gideon who made Jill into the bitchier businesswoman? I know Brenda Dickson said she didn't understand what Jill had become after she originally left the role and she had a hard time playing the new Jill.

No, Bond Gideon was on and off the show within a year...it would be Deborah Adair who became Jill the Businesswoman for 3 years...like Y&RWorldTurner said, she was really dull. Not a bad actress...but really dull as Jill. Then Dickson returned, overstayed her welcome and was fired in 87 to be replaced by the magnificent Jess Walton.

Walton, Walton, Walton.

WALTON!

Jill is such a difficult character to write for. More and more over the years, probably the last 15 years, they've struggled with what to do with her, outside of the drama with Katherine. I fear for her now that she's not Kay's daughter and while Gloria continues to stay in town. Jess is such an amazing actress, what I like the most about her is she's not afraid to go to the wall but she also never lets you forget where Jill came from, how vulnerable Jill is.

I wish I could see more of her work on Capitol. I know she said that show was what really made her.

There was a cool interview with her in Soap Opera Weekly over 10 years ago and she talked about all the times she had in the 60s, like spending a night with Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell, Laura teaching them how to belly dance.

Deborah Adair was good with Jerry Douglas.

She had a warm presence but lacked the firecracker element of Brenda Dickson and even moreso Jess Walton.

EDIT: It was Brenda Dickson's Jill who got her start at Jabot and had a bunch of hunky man assembled in her office to find the proper assistant.

Edited March 10, 200916 yr by sheilaforever

Here's a picture from last year of Bond Gideon and her daughter for anyone else who's wondered what she looks like. I found it on We Love Soaps.

I loved Deborah Adair as Jill.She played the transition when Jill finally met the man of her dreams and she had the money and the lifestyle she had always wished for.

She was thwarted by her own insecurities and felt threatened by her past relationship with Jack,antagonism with Mamie,indifference/distrust from Ashley and Traci and the arrival of Dina.

When Brenda returned,she played it more like Adair's Jill and her own previous Jill.Adair had little to do with Katherine during her stint.

Either through the writing or Dickson's choices(or both)Jill became harder during the divorce and ended up working for Jabot and becoming the Alexis clone she has become notorious for.