I think it's mostly because Erica was always vulnerable underneath - she was never really a bitch.

I was just watching the last of the big Jack/Erica/Travis/etc. clips circa the custody battle, and there is this wonderful moment where, after Erica learns Jack sold his shares in Enchantment to Caera (an awful character, or, as Erica offhandedly described her in a moment which seemed more real than most of their bitchy putdowns and fights - "trash"), and Erica congratulates Jack on hurting her more than anyone ever could have. It's such a melodramatic moment, on paper, but is so poignantly delivered by Susan Lucci.

They also had a lot of characters who called Erica out, which didn't happen with some of AMC's later female disasters.

To me, Julia Barr always played Brooke with an edge, like she was always slightly annoyed. She was definitely Erica's best match. Brooke, like VW's Rachel, always had her inner bitch on call and JB's characterization was always top-notch but the character suffered at the writers' hands. Like when she lost a few brain cells during the Adam/Dixie stuff and of course how she was criminally sidelined in later years.

I think she fell too much into the trap of overaged ingenue/victim starting in the mid-90's. Such a waste of the character, sadly.

Look, it's Erica and Jane......

Some of Brooke's hairstyles....

Edited March 29, 201213 yr by Pine Charles

Brooke had some awful harsh short haircuts in the mid-80s, but I loved that short bob she had in the 90s. It was very flattering on her.

Some of my favourite shots of Ms. Barr as Pine Valley's most tortured soul:

Vintage, showing off her youthful elegence and edgy attitude

Mid-90's sexy, but classy.... no one wears a white shirt and jeans better

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Eva La Rue was one of Rosie's last guests. They talk about All My Children.

<iframe width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.oprah.com/common/omplayer_embed.html?article_id=36936"></iframe><p class='shareTitle'>Eva La Rue Discusses the Demands of Soap Operas</p><p class='shareDescription'>Actress Eva La Rue joined All My Children in one of its heydays. Watch as Eva and Rosie discuss the cancellation of the soap and the high pressure demands of working on a soap opera.</p>

Thanks for the video.

Eva looks good.

Some of my favourite shots of Ms. Barr as Pine Valley's most tortured soul:

Vintage, showing off her youthful elegence and edgy attitude

Mid-90's sexy, but classy.... no one wears a white shirt and jeans better

Julia aged very well. She's always been a very attractive woman, and I didn't think she really started to look like an "older" woman until she and Adam were reunited in 2010 or so. Her eyes looked wider in that "I had a facelift" kind of way, but even so she still looks damn good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB4uI6EGnYg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJUFA6vF0Cc

Man, I loved Brooke and Edmund. Maria who? Adam who?

Man, I loved Brooke and Edmund. Maria who? Adam who?

Same here. I loved that she finally had a man who wasn't a castoff of Erica's!

I still maintain that AMC missed out on a grand opportunity by not marrying Brooke and Edmund to each other back in 1992. Erica, Dimitri, Edmund and Brooke, all married, and all living at Wildwind together had comic gold written all over it.

Look at the undeniable passion in this photo:

John Callahan was such a cutie. I think he, like so many men, began gaining wait after they got married. He was still handsome at the end of the AMC run, but a little time at the gym would have benefitted him greatly.

Another classic photo of Mr. Callahan: