I always loved Marj. I can't believe I'm talking about her now in the past tense. RIP Marj  

I barely remember Capitol, but I definitely remember digging Myrna. Honestly, taking over Alexandra was a breath of fresh air for the role.

 

Marj definitely had that 'it' thing - she was always present and engaged. You always knew when she was on the screen and you kinda had to watch.  

Even though the writing for Alexandra Spaulding was hit or miss, Marj Dusay always gave it her all. She could be funny, clever, cunning and devious. I loved watching her as GL's Alex and AMC's Vanessa. RIP to a great lady. 

 

Edited January 29, 20205 yr by Gray Bunny

As much as I loved her as Myrna Clegg on CAPITOL, and lived for her scenes w/ Constance Towers' Clarissa, to me, Marj will always be Blair Warner's mom on "The Facts of Life."  She and Lisa Whelchel had such wonderful mother-daughter chemistry, especially whenever Blair had to be the adult in their relationship (like when Monica was dealing with breast cancer, or deciding whether she wanted to abort her late-in-life pregnancy). 

 

RIP Marj.  You are missed already.

Edited January 29, 20205 yr by Khan

One of her more standout moments on GL, I think. 

 

 

26 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

One of her more standout moments on GL, I think. 

 

 

 

Poor Signy...trying to go toe to toe and failing miserably. 

Edited January 29, 20205 yr by ChitHappens

When she remembered her lines, her version of alex was fine but she needed cue cards a lot. RIP

Oh no!  I loved her beautiful, mellifluous voice and her punchy delivery. She definitely played wealthy soap matriarchs from another age -- that age being the 80s when a strong, sexy, glamorous woman upwards of +45 yrs old was de rigeur (and frankly I miss that era in soaps sometimes). I have a misty memory of her as Myrna Clegg on Capitol, scheming to keep Jess Walton's Kelly from her son. Then I remembered her on Santa Barbara, as a third Pamela Capwell recast -- SB had been casting around for former movie actresses, but they didn't have as much presence as Dusay, who literally burst onto the screen. 

 

She was so damn watchable, so consummate, so smooth and sophisticated. They don't make 'em like they used to, that's for damn sure.

Edited January 29, 20205 yr by Cat

13 minutes ago, Cat said:

Oh no!  I loved her beautiful, mellifluous voice and her punchy delivery. She definitely played wealthy soap matriarchs from another age -- that age being the 80s when a strong, sexy, glamorous woman upwards of +45 yrs old was de rigeur (and frankly I miss that era in soaps sometimes). I have a misty memory of her as Myrna Clegg on Capitol, scheming to keep Jess Walton's Kelly from her son. Then I remembered her on Santa Barbara, as a third Pamela Capwell recast -- SB had been casting around for former movie actresses, but they didn't have as much presence as Dusay, who literally burst onto the screen. 

 

She was so damn watchable, so consummate, so smooth and sophisticated. They don't make 'em like they used to, that's for damn sure.

 

If memory serves (I may be wrong) Dusay's involvement with SB was one of the camel-breaking moments with the Dobsons and New World - didn't they always want her in the role but Anne Howard Bailey wanted another actress (the British actress who was originally in the role)? 

 

It's all blurry to me. 

While Bev was irreplaceable, I thought she was quite compelling in her early GL days. It’s just too bad what they did to her later on. Glad she at least got a great role as Vanessa on AMC, where she was so much fun.

29 minutes ago, RavenWhitney said:

When she remembered her lines, her version of alex was fine but she needed cue cards a lot. RIP

 

Tacky to the last.

Along with show anniversaries, the passage of soap stars on P&G shows would have been an opportunity to show clips and celebrate these actors and their work if P&G had bothered to have a YouTube page.  The only thing preventing this is P&G's absolute indifference to the fans who supported their creative properties for generations.

I absolutely adored her as Vanessa on AMC.  My last truly favorite family to arrive on that show, her, David, and Leo.

 

 

 

 

 

MARJ DUSAY

 

CLIFFHANGERS: STOP SUSAN WILLIAMS    Jennifer Selden      1979

CAPITOL                 Myrna Clegg            1983-87

DALLAS                    Bernice Billings         1985

SANTA BARBARA      Pamela Pepperidge Capwell Conrad   1987-88; 1991

SONS AND DAUGHTERS  Daisy Mercer    1991

DAYS OF OUR LIVES      Vivian Alamaine....   (temporary)    1992-93

GUIDING LIGHT          Alexandra Spaulding Von Halkein Thorpe Foley 1993-97; 1998-99; 2002-09

ALL MY CHILDREN       Vanessa Bennett Hayward DuPres Cortlandt  (aka Proteus)

1998-2002  

GUIDING LIGHT         Radio show Organist     2007  (GL's 70th Anniversary)

 

also......

 

STAR TREK   Kara that stole Spock's brain   1967

THE FACTS OF LIFE      Monica Warner    1981-87

BRET MAVERICK     Kate Hanrahan    1982

Countless Prime-time guest appearances.

 

TV MOVIE

MURDER IN PEYTON PLACE    Ellen Considine         1977

 

 

 

I loved Marj, in all her roles I've seen.  She will be missed  😞

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

If memory serves (I may be wrong) Dusay's involvement with SB was one of the camel-breaking moments with the Dobsons and New World - didn't they always want her in the role but Anne Howard Bailey wanted another actress (the British actress who was originally in the role)? 

 

Yup.  Well, sort of.

 

From the start, Bridget and Jerome Dobson wanted Marj Dusay to play Pamela Capwell Conrad; their HW's, Anne Howard Bailey and Charles Pratt, Jr., wanted either Shirley Anne Field or Samantha Eggar.  (I can't remember which, exactly, but I do recall that Eggar signed on for the role, realized almost immediately she couldn't hack it and quit).  Because the Dobsons believed their HW's should be allowed to write for the characters and actors who excited them most, they acquiesced (sp?).  However, in an ironic twist, Field was so listless in the role that they had to recast (again) with Marj.  Of course, by then, I think the Dobsons had been forced out, but I could have that wrong.

 

Anyway, what REALLY broke the camel's back was New World's resistance toward Bridget's decision to fire Bailey as HW.  The Dobsons claimed they had full control over production; New World claimed they didn't and that firing Bailey would have jeopardized the show.  And, well, we all know the rest.

 

18 minutes ago, slick jones said:

ALL MY CHILDREN       Vanessa Bennett Hayward DuPres Cortlandt  (aka Proteus)

1998-2002  

 

It's amazing what Marj was able to accomplish with one of AMC's worst-ever storylines.

Edited January 29, 20205 yr by Khan