Eileen Fulton, the minister’s daughter who spent nearly 50 years portraying Lisa Miller, one of daytime television’s first memorable “bad girls,” on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, has died at the age of 91.
Fulton’s family announced her passing in Asheville, North Carolina, on July 14, following a period of declining health.
Fulton joined the then-#1 daytime drama in 1960, initially for a three-month summer storyline, but her role quickly became iconic. Despite three brief exits — including to star in her own primetime spinoff, 1965’s Our Private World — she remained a staple on the show until its final episode in 2010.
Her character Lisa Miller was known for her dramatic life, having eight husbands, with actor Nicolas Coster portraying two. Lisa’s marriages ended variously in divorce, death, or annulment, and she was famed for numerous lovers.
Fulton once said, “She’s a romantic, that’s why she falls in love so much,” explaining Lisa’s enduring complexity and appeal.
Inducted into the Soap Opera Hall of Fame in 1998 and honored with a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, Fulton was one of the first soap stars to have her own publicist. She also famously employed a bodyguard to shield her from angry viewers displeased with Lisa’s storylines, reflecting the intense love/hate relationship the audience had with her character.
In the 1970s, Fulton insisted on a contract clause ensuring she would never play a grandmother, citing the lack of romantic storylines for older women on TV at that time. Eventually, she softened her stance.
Born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty on September 13, 1933, in Asheville, Fulton was the oldest of three children. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father a Methodist preacher. She knew from a young age she wanted to act and pursued drama studies at Greensboro College and later with Sanford Meisner in New York.
Fulton’s breakout came when she was cast as Lisa after a last-minute replacement of another actress. She brought a twist to the character, turning the originally “sweet girl next door” into a conniving, complex antiheroine.
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Alongside her soap career, Fulton performed on Broadway and off-Broadway, demonstrating her theatrical range. She briefly left the soap in 1963 to pursue other roles but returned due to viewer demand.
Her 1965 spinoff, Our Private World, centered on Lisa’s move to Chicago and new marriage but was short-lived. Fulton returned to the original soap in 1966.
Despite a contract dispute in 1983 that briefly led to her replacement, Fulton returned to prevent Lisa’s character from being killed off. She famously said, “I don’t think anybody would believe Lisa is dead unless I do it.”
Outside acting, Fulton authored two autobiographies and several novels, performed cabaret, and launched a clothing line with J.C. Penney.
In real life, Fulton married and divorced three times, contrasting Lisa’s tumultuous romantic history.
Fulton is survived by her brother Charles Furman McLarty, niece Katherine Morris, their children, and sister-in-law Chris Page McLarty.
Fulton once recounted an encounter where a viewer physically confronted her over her character, illustrating how deeply Lisa had embedded herself in the hearts and minds of fans: “I’ve reached them,” she said, reflecting on the power of her performance.
