Soap Opera It Girls

[Bright Eyes]

Mary Stuart - the ultimate 'It' girl. The first successful lead heroine.

ATWT - Rosemary Prinz - so beloved that she got a star credit when on AMC

Passions - Lindsey Hartley - how she didn't die from exhaustion is anyone's guess

[Taoboi]

Hehe. THIS.

 

Each time...bad writing or not...when she appears...she has been IT. And if they were to write for her now, I would expect more of the same. 

[Planet Soap]

These are the easy ones: 

B&B Stephanie Forester, I would argue that she was the strongest female lead on any soap

AMC: Erica Kane....the most famous soap actress in the genre, especially to layman audiences. Erica always got the biggest picture in the photo album opening credits lol.

OLTL Viki: the clear center of the show until the 2000s

GL: Reva from the 80s onwards

Dynasty 1.0: Alexis Carrington

Passions: Theresa

More complicated: 

Y&R: Katherine was the lead female star in the 70s arguably...Brenda Dickson was the it girl in the 80s along with Cricket. I wouldn't say Nikki was ever the "it girl" but she was definately the top tier female lead in the show for a good portion of the 80s-2000s. On show posters you typically see Victor, Nikki, and Jack, and Nikki often went first or second in show opening credits.

GH: Laura in the early 80s, Carly from 1996 onwards.

DAYS: one could say Marlena was the first female lead for a while 

Edited November 19, 2022 by ironlion

[carolineg]

You and I always agree about this lol.  Vanessa is the best!

I actually don't think Carly was the it girl until she married Sonny and TB played the role.  Carly was definitely not as favored as Brenda/Robin when she first started on the show.  Once they left and the era of the drab 4 began she moved into it girl status.

I think Marlena is the easiest choice on Days.  She's the most enduring female lead, although Hope is a very close 2nd.  I would probably consider Julie the first female lead/it girl though.

[slick jones]

Brenda Brenda Brenda!   She is by far one of daytime's top "It girls".

Days   Julie--> Marlena --> Hope.  100%

I would suggest Penny Hughes (Rosemary Prinz) would have been first.  The PennyJeff saga probably defines the "It" girl.

[Taoboi]

LOL!!!  And considering OLTL was my ABC soap...that is saying something. Just...can't...take...your...eyes...off...her . Even my coworker who is a DAYS fan and never watched GH know who Vanessa was on that show. 

 

You know what? I never thought of Carly that way, but...I agree. Once she married Sonny, she truly rose up in the ranks.

 

As for DAYS...YES. I have heard Julie was the IT girl back in the day long before I saw her for the first time on screen. But once I did, I have loved her ever since. Her story can err and flow and she STILL runs with very little to give a show and just has IT. For me, I would say the same for Marlena. I'm just as happy to see her as I would be if I saw Brenda pop up. And I do feel that it's because she endures. And I used to love when SOD would fun shade all the time because Marlena has LITERALLY done everything (Going to Heaven coming soon and need we even mention being possessed by the Devil?) so would be the perfect therapist because anything you throw at her, she's already gone through it. Ah, the fun of soaps.

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  After Marelena, I too would say Hope. I am one of the few here that loved Gina, but KA really could turn on a switch and move from Hope to this other person. And she dominated. But I've always been a sucker for a female henchman (Celeste for Stefano comes to mind) and she was a great one for Stefano for a minute. As Hope...when she got a story...she also dominated. She just has that spark. 

 

Oops. I didn't mean to ramble.

 

 

[Soapfan8]

Wht about Brooke on bold? I feel she  had the largest following but I don’t rly remember. 

Edited November 19, 2022 by Soapfan8

[carolineg]

I often wonder if Vanessa had stayed long term if she would have gotten played out or tired like Sonny.  Brenda is just such a 90's icon I wonder how it would have felt to watch her go back and forth between Sonny/Jax/Jason for years having multiple marriages/kids.  Brenda's iconic because she is rather illusive and could just pop anytime and cause chaos.

If I were to define Days leading ladies I would definitely go Julie, Marlena, Hope, but as I said upthread Days had quite a few dynamic female leads that had their moments.

I genuinely think Vanessa Marcil from the 90's/2000's is one of the most beautiful women in the world.  Even 90's fashion didn't do her wrong lol.  She's still gorgeous, but I am not a huge fan of some of her face work she's had done.

To me SJB's Carly was the opposite of the it girl when she appeared.  She wanted to be adored like Brenda, Robin, even Liz but wasn't.  Marrying Sonny gave her a lot of cache and she one upped Brenda by actually getting Sonny to marry her.  Ever since then Carly has been the girl, but I don't think that's what the character was meant for.  Even if Brenda was a bad girl to begin with, she was always set up to be the pretty, rich, popular supermodel that guys fell for.  Even though SJB is gorgeous I think Carly was always supposed to be more plain and much less glamourous.  But obviously, early Carly and current Carly are barely the same character anymore.

Marlena just really does endure.  I've loved her and John since day one when I was probably 8.  There is something really innocuously likable about Deidre Hall/Marlena.  She's pretty (but not too intimidatingly pretty), kind, warm, works well with a lot of characters and her love interests, and has gotten great stories.  What's not to like?  I think KA comes off much colder than DH, but is still likeable.  I also think Hope as a character was blessed/cursed with being locked in with Bo and lost direction when PR left.  Due to Marlena's family/job she stands on her own a little better.

[Dion]

I'd also add Valerie Starrett to that as Diana replaced Jessie as the lead central heroine in the early 70s (even taking Jessie's two love interests!), though after the Phil Brewer murder mystery wrapped up it seems Diana quickly began to peter out (pun somewhat intended lol) with the show finally getting a handle on what to do with Lesley and pushing her to the forefront. And then of course Starrett was eventually replaced as Diana by Brooke Bundy.

[Franko]

Yes, of course!

[Paul Raven]

I would posit Lorie as the it girl of the 70's. Brenda was only on for 3 or so years in the 80's. Nikki definitely received more attention throughout the 80's.

[Joseph]

Marlene actually is one of The Few Character's to work out into more than one SuperCouple Pairing!

Pity Bundy's Diana Was Only Central when she got murdered, She was a good Actress and Very beautiful as well

[Planet Soap]

My mind was definately on Laurie aswell. I guess Kay was more the grand dame/matriarch than it girl.

Edited November 19, 2022 by ironlion

[carolineg]

I was surprised how much I enjoyed 80's Marlena/Roman while watching clips.  Don/Marlena doesn't age that well because he's just kind of a dick to her, but WN's Roman is really adorable-even if he's a lot more misogynistic than John.  They had such nice chemistry.  It's a bit of a shame it all got thrown under the bus for Marlena/John, but I do have a hard time fitting WN's Roman in with JER's 90's Days.  

Unfortunately for KA she didn't real spark with anyone other than PR's Bo.  I don't think her and Drake had bad chemistry, but I can't really recall anyone else she really connected with.  She had chemistry with MV's Jack though, but had no chemistry with Franco-who I think she dated in real life lol.  I think KA's Hope is right time, right place, right co-star kind of girl while Deidre's a little more adaptable with changes in co-stars, writing, and what not.  But they are both great.  Marlena >Hope to me.

[Paul Raven]

Until the Hursleys came along and tried to shift the focus away from Jo.