Count me among the legions of admirers of Beverlee McKinsey who were terribly saddened by the news of her recent passing. To this day, I remain in awe of the performances she gave as Alexandra Spaulding on GUIDING LIGHT (which is not even the role for which she will be best be remembered; that honor goes to her legendary work as Iris on ANOTHER WORLD). Fans of GL will likely join me in remembering her brilliance when, having finally caught on to the true colors of Roger Thorpe, who had married her for her money, Alexandra lured Roger to the country club under false pretenses, made sure all of his enemies (and his mistress) were present, and proceeded to decimate him with her coolly issued words (e.g., her reference to "the stench of [Roger's] presence"). It was perhaps the greatest diatribe in soap opera history. (Didn't see it the first time around, or want to check it out again? Click here.)

But McKinsey's Alex was so much more than an ice queen — another moment I'll never forget was when Alex saw Nick McHenry, who would later be revealed to be her son, for the first time. He was a dead ringer for her beloved, fallen son Lujack, and the look on her face when she believed that a miracle had happened was so poignant and so heartbreaking all at once, it gave me chills. They just don't make 'em like McKinsey anymore — she was an actress of rare power, one of the finest ever to work in our genre, and I consider myself very lucky to have been entertained by her.