For about 2-3 years, Tracey Melchior (I think there was a Lynn in there somewhere) went from soap to soap. She played Benji's nanny/Derek's cohort on Sunset Beach. Then she was Kristen Forrester on B&B for a year or two, with some later guest appearances. Then she was on OLTL for a few months as Kelly Cramer.

Was she just lucky or was she well liked at the time? Was she just a fill-in at OLTL until they could get Heather Tom, or did they just decide she wasn't cutting it?

I thought she was good at B&B, not great, but she did fit in with the Forresters. As often happens with interesting stories on there, they burned through most of Kristen's storyline in no time at all, from her conflict with Stephanie (I think Kristen's relationship with Stephanie is the most interesting of all Stephanie's parent/child relationships -- she was so obsessed with Kristen's bond with her father that she paid a man to drive Kristen away from the family), to her relationship with HIV-positive Tony.

Last I heard of her, she had written an autobiography about how she'd regretted having an abortion and about her deep Christian values.

I hated her character on Sunset Beach, but TM did fine in the role.

I hated her at first when she was Kelly on OLTL bc her rendition of the character was absolutely pathetic. She was dubbed Bland Barbie on a board I posted on bc that pretty much summed her up. She did get better towards the end though

Kristen on B&B was her best role. I really wish she were used more often but I do like that she tends to pop up every so often.. I always thought they should have just killed Tony off and used that to bring her back. Especially with them not using Felicia and LK branching out, it would be good to see them use a Forrester kid who isnt Ridge

She was a 'love to hate' character for me on SuBe.

Liked her, but didn't love her, as Kelly Cramer. The writers made her pretty milquetoast. She never got to display the fire GT's and HTom's characters were allowed to display. I think if the writers gave her more, she could have handled it.

The BnB writers continued the streak when they had her reprise the role of Kristen Forrester. In that case, I thought it worked because Kristen was always a little bland as a character.

I liked her Kelly better than I did Gina Tognoni's.

Well, on a shallow point, her last name annoys me. Every time I see it, since I'm in one, it reminds me of when people misspell "choir."

I have to concur that her version of OLTL's Kelly Cramer was bland. Yeah. That's pretty much it. Bland. I never saw her on other things long enough to form an opinion. That isn't to say I think if her Kelly were to have been written less bland that she couldn't pull it off. Like AMC's Melissa Claire Egan. I thought Annie was absolutely bland, devoid of any personality at all from the moment she stepped onto the scene... until they transitioned her into Crazy Annie, and now I find neither the actress nor the character dull. At all. But if you were to ask me about MCE after having only seen her work her first year as Annie, I probably would've assumed she was just a bland actress as well. I use the comparison, because just like CarlD said about Melchior/Tom, I was thinking Annie was written blandly because the character was a fill-in in hopes of getting Budig back as Greenlee. If the character itself is bland and leaves no real imprint, that leaves room to recast later or scrap the character altogether when something better comes along and it wouldn't really upset anything.

I would agree about her work as Kelly. I wonder how she would have been playing the crazier side of Kelly. I think she was OK at that on SuBe.

I thought she was a very good fit in the Forrester family. I'm still not sure why there are such long periods of time where Kristen simply doesn't exist.

She's like Nicole Forester. Pretty gal, sub-par acting, something distinct about her yet something bland at the same time. All in all, I'm not hoping either one pops up on daytime again. Although Melchior's brief B&B appearances are welcome for Forrester family gatherings.

I rather liked her as the discount special Eileen Davidson on Sunset Beach. But she was absolutely awkward and godawful as Kelly Cramer. It was like some stranger had wandered into Llanview pretending to know everyone and they all had to play along on penalty of violent death. I think OLTL failed to get Gina back and were working on a timeline, and had no choice but to cast someone.

I was so thrilled when they got Heather Tom, who became my favorite Kelly - she played Kelly's insane entitlement issues, arrogance and slight madness with the same edge of irony and camp that Florencia Lozano has as Tea. She and Dan Gauthier's Kevin were a 21st century Alan and Monica Quartermaine, two WASPs trying to drop chandeliers on each other who would never really break up. But, I also grew to love Gina as Dinah on GL, and I will welcome her back based on the incredible work she did there, whereas I grew to hate her portrayal of Kelly by the end of her original tenure.

Edited October 30, 200916 yr by Vee

That's a name I haven't heard in a long time! I remember how unpopular TM was as OLTL's Kelly when they first recasted her. I always liked her on One Life. I don't really remember anything she did as Kelly that stood out for me, but I always liked her regardless.