Your Top 10 Favorite Soap Women - And Why!

[Mr. Vixen]

I know this has been discussed before but, why the hell not?

Who are your top TEN favorite soap women of all time, and why? Feel free to include videos as you feel the need.

Here is my list.

1). Skye Chandler-Quartermaine (AMC/OLTL/GH)

Skye is, quite simply, my favorite soap woman of all time. From the very first time that I saw her on my screen, I was drawn to her. I think that a lot of it had to do with Robin Christopher. She was always so believable in the role. And even when Skye was doing crazy, evil, or irrational things, Robin played it with a realness that made my heart break for her.

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2) Robin Scorpio-Drake (GH)

I know I've previously said Robin was my all time favorite soap character, but after much deliberation, I've decided she's number 2. Not that I love her any less than I did when I said that she was number one, but because I love the character in a different way than I love Skye. To be honest, Robin is the type of character I usually hate on soap operas. However, there was something about Kimberly McCullough that I fell in love with the minute I first saw her, as the adorable 7 year old girl she was. I feel that my love for Robin is probably not only due to the wonderful Kim McCullough but also because I grew up right alongside of her.

3) Barbara Jean "Bobbie" Spencer (GH)

Bet you're shocked she's not number one, eh? Don't get me wrong, she's right up there. Everyone knows how much I love Jackie, and believe me...Choosing the placement of these three women was like Sophie's choice. I adore them all. But I won't blather on about my Bobbie love...You all know about that already.

4) Nikki Newman (Y&R)

From the moment I began watching Y&R, even just as the casual viewer I was in the beginning, I was drawn to Nikki. She's bitchy, regal, and kind all at the same time. What isn't there to love about her, and the divine Melody Thomas Scott?

5) Tracy Quartermaine (GH/The City)

Tracy is the ultimate soap opera bitch. Has anyone ever *truly* come close to being the bitch with a heart of gold quite like Tracy? She's cold, she's ruthless, she's loving, she's kind. No other soap vixen has encompassed it quite as well. Not to mention, Jane Elliott is one of, if not the, most dynamic actresses daytime has ever seen. There's not a single piece of material she's ever been given, that she couldn't make us believe. If she told me she had a piece of beach property to sell me in Utah, I'd get out the checkbook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmcB2FlHNfQ

6) Monica Quartermaine (GH)

Everyone knows how much I love Monica. Yes, she was a homewrecker. Yes she was mischievous. But Leslie Charleson played it to a tee, and made us all root for this social climbing tramp.

7) Victoria Lord (OLTL)

I have always had a great affection for Victoria, and Erika Slezak. The character is brilliantly complex and there wasn't a single moment that I didn't feel for her.

8) Erica Kane (AMC)

Does anything *really* need to be said about the divine Erica Kane, played by the even more divine Susan Lucci?

9) Angie Hubbard (AMC)

Angie was, to me, one of the easiest characters to root for in all of daytime. No matter what she faced, she stayed positive, and Debbi Williams sold it. She had me wrapped around her finger from the first time I saw her, and I'll never, EVER, forget this moment.

10) Karen Wolek (OLTL)

Karen's story, to me, is still one of the defining moments of daytime. It's something that will definitely be forever remembered in the history of soap, and television, forever. Not only did the story have me glued, but so did Judith Light's amazing performances, culminating in the iconic courtroom scene.

Honorable Mentions:

-Felicia Gallant (AW)

-Susan Martin (DAYs)

-Jill Foster (Y&R)

-Kendall Hart (As portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar) (AMC)

-Lesley Webber (GH)

-Tina Lord (OLTL)

What do you think of my list? What's yours?

[y&r_fan]

1. Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford), Y&R

2. Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott), Y&R

3. Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), B&B

4. Jill Abbott Fenmore (Jess Walton), Y&R

5. Katie Logan Spencer (Heather Tom), B&B

6. Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), B&B/Y&R

7. Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters), Y&R

8. Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery), B&B

9. Pamela Douglas (Alley Mills), B&B

10. Avery Bailey Clark (Jessica Collins), Y&R

Notable mentions:

Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson), Y&R/B&B

Bridget Forrester (Jennifer Finnigan), B&B

Drucilla Winters (Victoria Rowell), Y&R

Abby Newman (Marcy Rylan), Y&R

Colleen Carlton (Tammin Sursok), Y&R

Amber Moore (Adrienne Frantz), B&B

Veronica Landers (Candice Daly), Y&R

[AdelaideCate007]

1. Lucy Coe, GH- my all time favourite and the other half of my all time favourite couple

2. Monica Quartermaine, GH- who got me hooked on GH

3. Dorian Lord, OLTL- Do I really need to say why? She's just the best.

4. Ashley Abbott, Y&R- I wrote a paper in year 1 all about how I wanted to be just like Ashley Abbott LOL

5. Nikki Newman, Y&R- Y&R isn't Y&R without her

6. Frankie Frame, AW- sigh, worst death ever. I miss Cass and Frankie *sniff* *sniff*

7. Tracy Quartermaine, GH- Because Jane Elliot might be the best actress GH has ever had and nobody was a bigger or better bitch than Tracy

8. Erica Kane, AMC- Because she's Erica

9. Skye Chandler, AMC/OLTL/GH- what Soapboy said

10. Brooke English, AMC- You can't have Erica without Brooke. Best frenemies ever.

Honorable mentions:

Kathleen McKinnon, AW

Viki Lord, OLTL

Jill Foster, Y&R

Vicky Hudson, AW

Bobbie Spencer, GH

Felicia Jones, GH

Ellen Dalton, AMC

Phoebe Wallingford, AMC

Angie Hubbard, AMC

Luna Moody, OLTL (I'll go run and hide now.....)

[Mr. Vixen]

Love your list!

[MissLlanviewPA]

I don't know if I have 10 characters to name, to be honest! I went a LONG time without watching soaps, and overall, I started watching rather late in life (okay, 11 or 12, but whatever ) compared to a lot of you, so I'll just name the few that I'm absolutely sure about.

1.

Gabrielle Medina Holden Holden Buchanan

I may be one of about five people on Earth who consider Gabrielle to be their favorite female character on OLTL, but you know what? She is. A British-Argentinean anti-heroine who could be as innocent as she was jaded, as kind as she was vindictive. And I don't think anyone but Fiona Hutchison could have made that possible. Really, I've fan girled over her enough--do you guys SERIOUSLY want to hear me go another round? I'll just say that both she AND her fans were screwed over. BIG time.

2.

Blair Cramer Manning

The bitch with a heart. The girl who grew up with nothing, yet went on to both start up her own business (quite a few of them, actually!), as well as her own family. Blair had come a LONG way from who she originally was by the time everything was said and done.

These next few aren't necessarily in any order:

3. Tina Lord Roberts, OLTL

4. Lindsay Rappaport, OLTL

5. Dorian Lord, OLTL

6. Anna Devane, GH

7. Tracy Quartermaine, GH

8. Robin Scorpio, GH

9. Natalie Buchanan, OLTL

10. Alex Olanov, OLTL/Heather Webber, GH (tie)

[MissLlanviewPA]

For the record, this is probably the moment where I fell in love with Gabrielle (certainly with her and Max):

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[Eric83]

I don't have a top ten but my fave of all time is Ms. Reva Shayne Lewis Lewis Spaulding Lewis Winslow Cooper Lewis O'Neill Lewis (because I'm sure she divorced that loser Jeffery and remarried Josh )

[Bright Eyes]

The one and only ...

Raven Alexander Whitney (Sharon Gabet), The Edge of Night

[Faulkner]

1. Alexandra Spaulding (ONLY as played by Beverlee McKinsey) - GL

I was eight or nine when I started watching GL, and Alex was always the character who fascinated me the most - out of ANY of the shows I watched. Much of that fascination was owed to Beverlee's performance and that VOICE. I was devastated when she quit the show.

2. Iva Snyder (Lisa Brown) - ATWT

A deeply depressed, damaged, burdened, introverted character who was given such earthy, gutsy complexity and intelligence by Lisa Brown. Probably the soap character who has most resonated with me over the years.

3. Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) - AMC

I've loathed and rooted against her, as well as adored her. And Susan has given some of the best performances I've ever seen in daytime (the Woman of the Year speech) as well as some of the worst (there was a scene in which a bedridden Erica was sobbing and screaming at AM's Kendall, and it was WOEFUL). But she has NEVER been boring.

4. Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) - Y&R

The best crier in daytime. Thought MTS played the hell of Nikki as a barracuda senate candidate, even though it was horrifically OOC.

5. Holly Lindsey (Maureen Garrett) - GL

I didn't see much of the early Roger stuff until YouTube came along, but I loved her sexiness, wit, and sarcasm. She was the thinking person's heroine, very smart, sophisticated, adult, and womanly, but vulnerable as well.

6. Drucilla Winters (Victoria Rowell) - Y&R

One of the most vividly realized characters in my years of watching daytime. Loved the early years when they showed her dance background, her tormented relationship with her mother - all of which added so much dimension to a character viewers who only saw her in the past decade might see as a finger-waving stereotype.

7. Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) - Y&R

I didn't follow her to B&B, so I only know her from her early days on Y&R, but I was genuinely TERRIFIED of her. And I've found most soap baddies to be laughable.

8. Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil) - GH

What can I say? When GL was pissing me off in the mid-'90s, she was one of the reasons I was lured to GH. Not the greatest actress in the world, as her recent stints have more than revealed, but I found her irresistible and relatable in her early years.

9. Gilly Grant (Amelia Marshall) - GL

Such a wasted, scandalized character who was so powerful and could have really been a force on GL had she not been thrown under the bus for LUCY COOPER. Great actress who had remarkably chemistry with Michael Zaslow, Rick Hearst, Monti Sharp, the list goes on.

10. Lorna Devon (ONLY as played by Alicia Coppola) - AW

Loved the guts and edge she had with Alicia Coppola in the role. And I thought the mother/daughter chemistry with her and Linda Dano was absolutely intoxicating.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

Lucy Coe!!! She's my #1 cause she's just awesome. Who couldn't love a woman who had the hots for a shrink and owned a pet duck?!

Tracy Quartermaine: She's a total bitch who has a soft spot in her heart for all she loves. She's just great!

Natalie Buchanan Banks: I love Nat. She's such a feisty redhead. She reminds me alot of myself. This is the soap character I am most like.

Sam Morgan: What a kick ass chick. I've loved her since she first rolled into town.

Those are the only four I can think of right now...Since, I'm a little out of it on my Ambien. Be back with the rest tomorrow.

[quartermainefan]

I love Helena Cassadine on GH. She is always dressed to the hilt and is easily the character with the best diction and vocabulary in all of daytime and she throws out the insults. I love that she is not "street", doesn't dumb down her language, and has no interest in trying to fit in. She knows trash when she sees it, and she tried for 15 years to get her grandson to act like a prince and not a shlock in blue jeans slumming with the commoners.

I also love Skye Chandler Quartermaine because she has a touch of old school glamor about her. Robin Christopher is very elegant and always had Lauren Bacall type hair. She is another one who would not work in jeans very well.

Daisy Cortlandt from AMC just took fabulousness to new levels. She came off as perhaps a little flighty with her hobby career at the Serving Spoon and her furs and whatnot, but she was a person of substance who had Palmer wrapped around her finger more often than not.

Kate Roberts from DOOL. Every soap needs a plug and play bitch, and Kate can be plugged into any story at any time and she fits right in no matter who or what it is about. She is alsp not very nice and doesn't really like anybody she didn't give birth to.

Heather Webber GH. Robin Mattson can do no wrong, and Heather can be crazy or she can be smart blackmailer. She single handedly carried GH this spring and summer.

[teplin]

1. Rachel Cory, AW

2. Iris Carrington (Bev McKinsey), AW

3. Julie Williams, DAYS

4. LIz Chandler, DAYS

5. Pre-1990 Marlena, DAYS

6. Dorian Lord (Robin Strasser), OLTL

7. Leslie Webber, GH

8. Phoebe Wallingford, AMC

9. Geraldine Whitney, EON

10. Trish Clayton, DAYS

[VirginiaHamilton]

Since I refuse to rank them, I shall list my top 10 in no particular order:

Drucilla Winters

Brenda Barrett

Blair Cramer

Cassie Layne Winslow

Robin Scorpio

Dorian Lord

Angie Hubbard

The Real Lily Winters

Evangeline Williamson

Taylor Roxbury Cannon 1.0

[Cheap21]

1. Tina Lord Roberts

2. Skye Chandler Quatermaine

3. Taylor Hayes Forrester

4. Tea Delgado

5. Annie Lavery Chandler

6. Erica Kane

7. Billie Reed

8. Steffy Forrester

9. Livvie Locke

10. Kendall Hart

[JellicleCat]

10. Stephanie Forrester - The Bold and the Beautiful

Stephanie is not actually a character I like. I have sometimes loved to hate her, but most of the time I have just hated her. But she's on the list because of the moments of great pleasure she's given me when her schemes and manipulations have blown up in her face. Those have been the highlights of B&B for me. Susan Flannery's performances have always been phenomenal, and she will be missed, but that doesn't make Stephanie any less of a monster.

9. Carrie Brady - Days of Our Lives (1992-1999)

Carrie was the perfect soap heroine during the 90s, when she battled constantly with her scheming sister Sami. I never quite understood why she wanted Austin though. In my mind she found the perfect match in Mike Horton instead. Her returns have been disappointing and preferably ignored.

8. Susan Stewart - As the World Turns

Sadly I missed Susan in her heyday, and the last few years of ATWT she was sometimes hardly more than a glorified extra. But even those brief glimpses made such an impression that she deserves a place on the list.

7. Vivian Alamain - Days of Our Lives

Yet another Days' character who was great during the 90s, but whose return was disappointing. Her decline started as early as the end of her 90s run though, when she was played more for laughs. But when she was good, she was fabulous.

6. Lily Walsh Snyder - As the World Turns (played by Martha Byrne)

Yes, Lily could be whiny, spoiled and selfish. But when Martha played her she also gave Lily warmth and vulnerability. And her chemistry with Jon Hensley's Holden was also a plus. When Noelle Beck took over the role Lily lost of all those qualities. Where Byrne's Lily had been a blend of the characters' Snyder and Walsh sides, Beck's Lily lost the Snyder part and became all Walsh.

5. Sally Spectra - The Bold and the Beautiful

Loud, feisty and seldom lost for words, Sally Spectra personified the bold in "The Bold and the Beautiful". Her absence has left a gaping hole on the show, and she is sorely missed.

4. Sheila Carter - The Bold and the Beautiful (1992-1998)

One of the best (if not the best) female villains ever on daytime, at least before the horrible returns of later years. (I sense a theme.....) No-one could be as menacing as Sheila Carter.

3. Barbara Ryan - As the World Turns

One of the brightest spots during the last dismal years of ATWT. Played to the hilt by the fabulous Colleen Zenk, even during her illness those last few years, Barbara was a treat that lit up the show every time she appeared.

2. Lucinda Walsh - As the World Turns

Another larger-than-life diva played by a fabulous actress. Just like many other vets Lucinda was shoved to the back for long periods, but you can't keep someone like Lucinda Walsh on the back-burner for long, and when ATWT was winding down Lucinda was once again taking center stage doing what she did best: meddling and interfering.

1. Brooke Logan - The Bold and the Beautiful

I admit it, I'm a Brooke-fan. Always have been, and always will be. I really don't know why, but she got my sympathy from the beginning. She's really not a heroine, yet she's not a villain either, although she's done some questionable things during the years. Her battles with Stephanie have been must-see-tv, especially when she's gained the upper hand.

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