Actors & Actresses who were Divas/Difficult on their soap sets

[YRfan23]

Well that's kind of a shame to hear

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  compare that to someone like Jeanne Cooper who probably found no else's job to be that important from the other person.

[mikelyons]

Jeanne Cooper was pure class. If she had an early call time, the show would send a town car to pick her up, drop her off at the studio, and take her room at the end of her day. She radiated Katherine Chancellor, but the fun bits! From my interactions with her, she didn't have a bad word for anyone. She even told little funny tales of Brenda Dickson, who she still liked (as did Doug Davidson).

I'll share this one Jeanne Cooper tidbit: My mother used to watch Y&R when it was half an hour and then AMC, but when AMC expanded, she gave up Y&R (but my mom was ALWAYS a Katherine fan). I told this to Jeanne, she said with a wicked laugh and smile, "Tell your mother she can KEEP Erica Kane!" I still love that. 

Edited October 24, 2019 by mikelyons

[YRfan23]

Haha that’s an incredible story!

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 I didn’t realize you had this much interaction with the cast! 
 

i miss Jeanne so much!  

[Markjeh]

 

I loved her as Jennifer. I heard the rumors of her not getting along with her co-stars for years but always wondered what the details were.

 

I never took to Jennifer Ferrin in the role.

[Soapsuds]

I don't know the details but Todd and Colleen didn't get along with Kim. I also preferred Kim over Jennifer. I thought Jennifer was boring/meh in the role.

[pdm1974]

Does anyone believe the rumor about tension between Deidre Hall and Suzanne Rogers on DAYS? It's so odd how their characters were supposed to be best friends, but they NEVER have scenes with each other. I know there was a rumor floating about it...but what could possibly be the cause of it if true?

I remember reading rumors that Jane Wyman would often get people fired that bugged her.

[Soapsuds]

Didn't Jane Wyman and Robert Foxworth not get along and loathed each other. I remember reading where Robert thought he was the star of the show.

[pdm1974]

I think I remember a rumor that they had a showdown one day on whose trailer was bigger!

[Contessa Donatella]

I heard great things about Joan Collins when she was at GL for 6 months. That she worked hard to get along with everyone & that she worked hard, like a demon!

[mikelyons]

One thing I will say about the actors on Y&R and B&B from my time there is that they were very hardworking casts. They weren't in the concourse of CBS TV City fooling around or playing pranks on each other. These casts came to work, rehearsed their scripts in their dressing rooms with or without their scene partner(s), went to set, and performed. There were times you could sit on the stage to watch scenes unfold like a Broadway play. Sheer beauty. The Y&R and B&B sets were run very professionally, so if you hated your scene partner, you didn't bring that mess to set. You just didn't. But, yes, some actors took diva behavior very seriously, although it was rare.

Melody, for instance, had it known to the production office that NO ONE could knock on her dressing room door. You had to drop her scripts, etc. in her mailbox and come back later for the material. Susan Flannery, on the other hand, would belittle you for the sake of doing it because she could and you had no power. Which is worse? It's up for debate. However, ever since my encounters with Susan, I have disliked her and that, my message board friends, will never change. Especially when John McCook, Katherine Kelly Lang, and Ronn Moss were very professional and polite to those "beneath" them. (Side note: KKL was one of the few soap stars I met where I was like, "Oh my god. It's Brooke" even though B&B was never "my show".) (Second side note: Victoria Rowell's nickname for John McCook was/is "Cookie".)

Granted, my memories are from the late golden age of soaps, so maybe things have changed one way or another... 

[Contessa Donatella]

It seemed like Beth Ehlers was one of many who disliked Pratt. Ehlers had for the most part gotten along with everyone on every soap. Then, kerblooey, she had an experience with Pratt just like Tamara had & like "AMC" girl had had.

[Kimmy]

Excuse moi!!  I love and miss Beth Ehlers!  Still a fan girl right here! I also love strong opinionated women.  Karma has a funny way of working but I think your perception of Beth's karma is off and just wishful thinking on your part. I mean Martha Byrne, Liz Kieffer, Beth Chamberlin, Grant Aleksander, are also off the remaining soaps.  Did they give their honest uncensored blunt opinion about their coworker ONCE??  Is karma punishing all the ex soap stars or is it just targeting Ehlers? How would we know?  And quite frankly, if Ehlers was somehow being punished by the industry for that interview it would be for what she said about the powers that be not Martinez. 

I could also imagine that she would be getting some wonderfully well deserved positive karma if she's saving lives and counseling rape victims...wouldn't you think? I believe she started training for EMT around 2007 and from what I remember in one of her interviews, before quitting GL, she claimed she had no glamorous ideas about acting anymore.  She literally just wanted to pay her mortgage. In my opinion the child actor turned soap actor had left the building. She doesn't seem to act like she wants any acting gigs or attention, otherwise the least she could do is get on social media for goodness sake.

[Roman]

don't know why MTS is still a diva. IMPO her acting is AWFUL. but I'm glad to hear that about EB. has MTS alienated everyone else on set?

so she is a real piece of work. she was one of my faves for YEARS. but had heard little tidbits of her behavior. One thing....why in the world did she just stop talking to JC? that makes no sense at all. and she treats Eric like that? you're supposed to be a loving couple. and that eye rolling....aye Melody....as I just posted, YOU CAN'T ACT ANYMORE. YOU'RE HORRIBLE. STOP WITH THE DIVA BEHAVIOR. One person on that show who had the right to be a diva and wasn't was Jeanne.

[Contessa Donatella]

I hear ya & love what you're saying about Ehlers. I think Pratt treated all the females in his cast poorly at about that time.

[SoapDope]

These diva stories are hilarious. I would love to have seen some these people go head to head with each other.

 

Imagine a showdown with:

 

Larry Hagman and George Peppard

Melody Thomas Scott and Deidre Hall

Susan Flannery and Mary Stuart

 

etc...